By Robin G. Jordan
While this phenomenon is not confined to North American
Anglicans and Episcopalians, it has become characteristic of the churches in a
number of North American Anglican jurisdictions. Once a new church is up and
running, it focuses on its own needs even though it is surrounded by numerous
opportunities to multiply new disciples by multiplying itself and planting more
new churches. It quickly becomes inward-looking. One hears such excuses as
“we’re not big enough,””we can’t spare the people,” “we don’t have the money,”
and so on. A tragic statistic is that if a new church does not plant a new
church within the first five years after it was planted, it is not likely to
plant one any time in its lifetime.
In the Episcopal Church one finds dozens of struggling
missions. A number of churches have been a mission for more than a century. Or
they became a parish at some point in their existence and then reverted back to
being a mission. In some instances they are the wrong kind of church for the community or neighborhood in which they were planted. In other cases the theological climate in the
Episcopal Church has created barriers to their growth.
In a number of instances the demographics of the community
or neighborhood in which a church is located have changed. The church is tied
too closely to a shrinking population base and to shriveling relationship
networks.
But likely as not, most of these missions suffer from a
common malady. While they may have experienced numerical growth at various
stages in their life cycle, they have not grown in the vital area of disciple
multiplication. They have added new church members to their membership rolls
but they have not added new disciples.
Church members and disciples are not the same thing. Someone
can be a church member, attend church services, hear sermons, pay tithes,
receive communion, and not be a disciple. A disciple of Jesus Christ makes Christ the focus of his life
and seeks to please Christ in all areas of his life. He follows Christ’s example and teachings. As he surrenders each area of his life to Christ, his life undergoes a noticeable change. He becomes increasingly more like Christ in his thoughts, words, and actions. He not only evidences a deepening love for his fellow disciples but he also shares the good news of Jesus Christ with others and makes disciples of them.
This malady besets the Anglican Church of Canada and other
North American Anglican jurisdictions, including the Anglican Church in North
America. Churches may be multiplying new members but they are not multiplying new
disciples. I would hazard that it is the single greatest reason for the waning
influence of Christianity in North America and the decline of the various
denominations.
Disciples at the local level do not rationalize away their
failure to plant new churches and to multiply new disciples. They ask questions
like “How can we reach and engage this population segment?” “How can we reach
and engage that one?” They are always looking for additional ways to close the
gap between their church and their community or neighborhood, to penetrate its
relationship networks, and to be salt and light to its people. They are deeply
involved in the life of the community or neighborhood, intimately aware of its
people’s hopes, aspirations, and dreams. They share in its people’s struggles
and minister to them in time of need.
Disciples at the judicatorial level are constantly seeking
better ways to mobilize the resources of the judicatory in support of disciple
making and church planting. The multiplication of new disciples and new
churches is their number one priority. They do all in their power to foster a
strong culture of disciple making and church planting in the judicatory.
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