To Become 21st Century Churches, Part One

by Mark Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

In order to live into greater expressions of church in this 21st century context, there are three realities congregations must accept. Our experience at Pinnacle tells us that congregations will inadvertently and unconsciously undermine their progress until they shift their perspectives in these specific ways. This is the first of those three articles.

“This is a time for a dramatically new vision. The current predicament of churches in North America requires more than mere tinkering with long-assumed notions about identity and mission of the church. Instead, as many knowledgeable observers have noted, there is a need for reinventing or rediscovering the church in this new kind of world.” --George Hunsberger, Missional Church

We must accept that church- as-we-have-known-it is not returning, letting go of our expectations that it will return, along with our actions designed to bring it back.

Letting go is difficult, especially when what we are losing is dear to us. To those who have been a part of the Christian movement for some time, letting go of the ways we have been church can be heart-wrenching. These faith practices and approaches to being church have formed and shaped our lives. Believing they have run their course and new ways of being church are needed involves quite a faith makeover.

But many of us are there. Many have tried over and over to do what used to work… better, with more vigor, with nuanced change. Yet, the inevitable result of putting more effort into an outdated church paradigm is frustration. The harder we work, with lesser results than we expect, the quicker we reach crisis stage. That’s when we grow more open to change; when we are convinced our previous church model is no longer sufficient for partnering with God on mission.

We hear and see this struggle between paradigms regularly in churches. I remember one older gentleman involved in a consultation process. During the conversation about their church he described his struggle this way: “We raised our family here, and now my grandkids are here. We had so many significant, life-giving experiences in this church (pausing while tearing up)… I want this church to continue to do those same activities so that my grandchildren can have those same experiences. At the same time, through this exploration we are doing, I’m becoming aware that if we continue doing church as we have, my grandchildren may not stay around to experience it. I guess I need to be open to change and following the Spirit’s lead.”

What a poignant confession of the struggle for many Christ-followers… letting go is necessary in order to take hold of the new. This gentleman is on the way to embracing a new reality, motivated by his love for God, his children, and grandchildren. Letting go of church-as-we-have-known-it involves changing our expectations. Then we also lay aside our efforts to reinvigorate a worn-out church paradigm.

Through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, may we seize the courage available to us for becoming vitalized and life-giving expressions of God’s Church.