Each year the President delivers a “State of the Union” message. This usually is a combination of celebrating who we are, what has been accomplished in the last year, and the President’s agenda for the next year. Last night had all these elements.
Over the years the Presiding Bishops of TEC have given the
same kind of talk at the beginning of General Convention with about the same
content. In addition, at each convention
we get a report from the Committee on the State of the Church. While our Presiding Bishop’s message is
usually filled with reassurances that all is well, the committees of late have
been fairly direct about the problems and issues before TEC. Of course, few people, especially Deputies
and Bishops pay much attention to these reports but a re-reading of them for
the past ten General Conventions will pretty much describe how depressing
things are.
Obviously, I have no position of authority to give such a
“State of the Church” speech, but I do have 42 years of experience as a priest
and many years of ministry to congregations and clergy. Here is my general sense of “the way things
are.”
When I think of TEC,
I have very divided feelings and thoughts.
When I think of TEC on a national level especially concerning “815”, the
House of Bishops, and our many Committees and Commissions, I get
discouraged. We are in serious decline
and I do not see the present leaders who got us into this situation as able to
get us out of it. I am hopeful about two
dynamics.
First is the Committee on Restructuring the Church. We have needed such work for a long time and
I am mildly optimistic about their work. I find it predictable that the
greatest resistance to their work is coming from some of the Church’s most long-term
progressive leaders. My observation is
that, having fought so long to take charge of the Church and occupy its
structures, this group is strongly reactionary when any change is
proposed. What they most want is for our
leadership to continue the focus on justice issues and marriage equality and to
reassure them that all is well.
The second dynamic for me is the number of new and younger
leaders in the House of Bishops. I think
these leaders are much more in touch with “our current realities.” I am not so sure they know what to do about
them, but I hear good reports from a number of dioceses.
In summary, I am
generally pessimistic about the future of TEC. As I have often said, “Until a new generation
of leaders emerge with a new vision for our common life, what you see now is
what you get.” What you see is declining
numbers, an aging constituency, smaller and fewer congregations, and current
leadership committed to the status quo while repeating clichés about multi-culturalism
and inclusiveness.
When I think about
congregations, I feel much differently.
Everywhere I have traveled in TEC, I have seen vibrant and exemplary
congregations of all sizes full of committed, dedicated people, carrying out
extraordinary ministry to their communities.
While I see these congregations, I think it
is also true that they comprise only about 20% of our communities. Whether this
20% can sustain the rest especially the near 60% in serious decline seems
doubtful. Yet, we do have healthy and
vibrant places and they can be and should be models to us of what the future
could be.
What is clear to me is that we need to radically rethink the
preparation of people for ordained leadership of local congregations. Now, let me be clear. I am not arguing against our current seminary
education, nor do I think seminaries can add more to their present demanding
work. What I believe we need is the
creation of a “Mission Training Center” pre/post seminary that would educate ay
leaders and clergy in the best practices of building congregations and
recruiting unchurched people.
All over the Church we have town parishes that once
maintained a “pastor size” congregation with a full time ordained priest. Now these congregations have 30 to 50 folks
on a Sunday and are supplied with part-time, bi-vocational, and retired
clergy. The problem is that seldom does
this mode of leadership build up churches.
It is mostly intended to sustain and maintain them.
I have floated the idea of such a Mission Center to several
church leaders. Most admit we need
something like this, but there remains little energy or resources to do it.
In summary, while we
have many vibrant congregations, TEC as a whole looks like the aging downtown
church that is living off its endowments, losing members, and will soon have to
dedicate all its resources to maintenance.
