Emerging Churches in the 21st century

If the current rate of decline is not arrested theMethodist Church will have zero membership by 2037.Philip Richter & Leslie Francis: Gone but not Forgotten (London: DLT, 1998)

If it continues to shrink at the present rate, the Church of Scotland will close its last congregation in 2033.Callum Brown: The Death of Christian Britain (London: Routledge, 2001)

Unless something happens to reverse the decline it is experiencing, the Church in Wales will be unsustainable by 2020Heather Wraight: ‘Strategic Thinking from a Christian Perspective’ (London: Christian Research Association, 2002)

Meltdown:

A very short history of

social changes in the 20thcentury

• The rise of consumerism• The end of colonialism • The sexual revolution • The emergence of youth culture • The rise of pop-music • The explosion of information

technology

The Postmodern Psyche

'EPIC' Leonard Sweet, Post-Modern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the 21st Century

world (Broadman and Holman, 2000) pg11

ExperientialParticipatoryImage-drivenConnected

Experiential

A psyche that does not so much want t o have God explained as t o

; experience God it is more amenable .t o myst ery than to def init ion

Participatory

Young people growing up in such a learning cult ure are less like ly t o

accept the t radit ional passive .sermonic f ormat f or conveying t ruth

Image-driven

Af t er f orf e it ing t o the media the role , of st oryt e ller the church now ent ers

a world where st ory and metaphor are . at the heart of spirit ualit y

Connected

The boundaries of f riendship are no .longer geographical but t echnical

What is "Emerging church"• broad term, with many bedfellows

• it is church from below

• desire to express church in the culture of the group involved.

• it is church shaped by the context, not by "This is how we have always done it.“

• Starts not with an invitation, "You come to us on our terms", but offer instead, "We'll come to you. we'll help you to be church at a time that suits you, in a place that is convenient to you and in your style, not ours.“

• Key words : 1. contextual2. customised3. diverse4. flexible5. experimental.