(Some of the following information is summarized from the book Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture, by Michael Frost. Special Thanks to Zach Langford for bringing it to my attention.)
In the book, Post-Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strange New World (2004), author Stuart Murray writes about the decline of the church in the United Kingdom, “the Methodist Church will have zero membership by 2037…the Church of Scotland will close its last congregation in 2033…the Church in Wales will be unsustainable by 2020.” By such numbers, Murray indicates that the United Kingdom is in the grip of post-Christendom which he defines as follows: “Post-Christendom is the culture that emerges as the Christian faith loses coherence within a society that has been definitively shaped by the Christian story, and as the institutions that have been developed to express Christian convictions decline in influence.”
One of the five Church of God congregations will be closing down this year. One is a new congregation beginning out of a home Bible study in London. The Church in the United Kingdom is definitely at a crossroads.
Is America too far behind? George Barna reports that only 13 % of adults and 7% of teens make decisions based on Biblical principles (The Barna Update, February 2006, “Americans Are Most Likely to Base Truth on Feelings”). Dan Kimball, in his book Emerging Worship, states that there is a growing restless with the increasing reality that the majority of our churches are 35 years and older, while asking where have the younger generations gone?
Our Church’s Vision has been “Touching the World for Christ;” to accomplish this, we want to be in missional partnerships with a nation on every continent by 2010. Working with and learning from the congregations in the United Kingdom help us not only create partnerships to Europe, but could help us increase our ministry effectiveness within the U.S. as well.
We invite you to come serve, love, and pray with us. reply to this post with your e-mail address to receive more information.
In the book, Post-Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strange New World (2004), author Stuart Murray writes about the decline of the church in the United Kingdom, “the Methodist Church will have zero membership by 2037…the Church of Scotland will close its last congregation in 2033…the Church in Wales will be unsustainable by 2020.” By such numbers, Murray indicates that the United Kingdom is in the grip of post-Christendom which he defines as follows: “Post-Christendom is the culture that emerges as the Christian faith loses coherence within a society that has been definitively shaped by the Christian story, and as the institutions that have been developed to express Christian convictions decline in influence.”
One of the five Church of God congregations will be closing down this year. One is a new congregation beginning out of a home Bible study in London. The Church in the United Kingdom is definitely at a crossroads.
Is America too far behind? George Barna reports that only 13 % of adults and 7% of teens make decisions based on Biblical principles (The Barna Update, February 2006, “Americans Are Most Likely to Base Truth on Feelings”). Dan Kimball, in his book Emerging Worship, states that there is a growing restless with the increasing reality that the majority of our churches are 35 years and older, while asking where have the younger generations gone?
Our Church’s Vision has been “Touching the World for Christ;” to accomplish this, we want to be in missional partnerships with a nation on every continent by 2010. Working with and learning from the congregations in the United Kingdom help us not only create partnerships to Europe, but could help us increase our ministry effectiveness within the U.S. as well.
We invite you to come serve, love, and pray with us. reply to this post with your e-mail address to receive more information.
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