Sermon for Sunday 15.4.18 (Vision 2018)

About a week ago was the 50^th Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s death – which was a big thing in America. And his example of Christ inspired leadership for human rights has influenced and inspired thousands (perhaps millions of people) throughout the world. And who cannot be moved by his words:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal….. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”

And in that speech he goes on to connect with the gospel which is the source of his strength: “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

It is impossible to be a Christian without being influenced by the person of Jesus; and that means we take note of his life, his ministry, his death, and his resurrection.

In our reading from Luke’s gospel today, Jesus commissions us to bear witness to his life. As a church, both as individuals and communally we are to tell the story of Jesus. For we know as forgiven Christians, the reality and power in our lives of God’s love and mercy – the reality of what it means to be ordinary people who have experienced God’s mercy and the forgiveness of sins, and something of repentance which changed and helped us to live as better people.

It is out of our own personal experience of what God has and can do in our lives that we bear witness to Jesus. Some of this is about who we are and who we become through forgiveness and the change of heart and mind that this brings (metanoia is the Greek word used in the New Testament that relates to this).

But because it is based upon the action of God – an act of grace – through the action of God’s Holy Spirit, it is out of our control… our only response is FAITH. When we are forgiven and are at peace with God, it becomes part of our DNA – we proclaim it by being who we are – we proclaim it through love, friendship, worship and our priorities in live which are influenced by the way Jesus lived and taught and died and had total faith in Abba – his heavenly Father  – and our Father.

Today, I want tell you why we in the church have embarked upon the Vision 2018 process, which started over two months ago with a congregational questionnaire that tried to involve you all, and how subsequently we have tried to involve all our elected leadership in both churches in the discussions which followed.

We are doing this not because it is a good thing to do – we are doing this because we cannot not act. It is a necessity.

Why? There are two ways of answering this – and it depends upon how you choose to view it.

On the one hand, we must act because our congregation is declining in numbers, the pool of potential leaders is getting smaller, our expenditure based upon current rates, cost of labour, price of services is getting larger, and our income is diminishing. In fact, in an aging congregation the argument is that people have fixed incomes and too many other demands to increase their giving to the church. These are all facts.

But the other reason why we should be doing this – that is Vision 2018 and other outreach initiatives, is that the gospel expects it of the church. It is a sign that God is living and acting through us in the world. We are called – no the gospel uses even stronger language – we Christians are Commissioned to bear witness to the LIFE of Christ, and to the reality of repentance (that people can change for the better) and to forgiveness (the great message of hope that is at the heart of Easter message).

Now already I have had criticism, that we are moving too fast, and that we run the risk of splitting the parish – essentially those who are happy to see things remain the same, at least for a bit longer, and those who are willing to change the way do things.

I want to quote some words from Stephanie Robson’s excellent research on the decline of our congregations. She talks specifically about the Anglican Church but it is representative of all mainstream denominations.

“The [sic] church in [sic] New Zealand is no-longer the default religion of the majority… [church] affiliation and parish attendance figures show significant decline and … the movement of the [Christian] church from the centre of society to its margins. Christianity is utterly unfamiliar to an increasing proportion of the population. It is no longer the case that within our local neighbourhoods the people of God have a clearly understood function or a visible presence.” [Trends and Perspectives, p.1, Stephanie Robson.]

It furthers says, “The [sic] Church in [sic] New Zealand has functioned out of the attractional model of church growth which rested primarily on people being born in to the faith, and secondarily upon the assumption that the church had a significant profile in society that those who were not already within the fold could find their own way in. There have been signs for some time now that neither of these strategies can be relied on if the church is going to grow and flourish in the future.”  Then there are these harsh truths -that:

“Congregations facing decline are likely to be anxious and fearful and engage in defensive and self-protective behaviours which affirm existing identity but do not support growth. A congregation may appear to welcome others but when it is assumed that any newcomer will be expected to ‘become like them’ rather than making room [for them], a culture of subtle exclusion develops.”

But the good news is that “In international research it was consistently observed that [congregations] when given permission and support, combined with radical hospitality – were associated with growth.” [Trends and Perspective, p.2, Stephanie Robson.]

I must say that my reading of scripture, the teachings of Jesus, the example of the early church, and the meaning of Holy Communion bring me constantly back to the importance of hospitality in the church. As Christians we need to talk together, we need to eat together, we need to have fun together…. and that’s about being church… and it doesn’t all happen on a Sunday morning.

That’s why the leadership of our combined congregation is working on Vision 2018… working to identify direction and priorities for the future.

Where is the process at moment? As you know we have had the questionnaire returned, we have had the questionnaire analysed and summarised, we have had a meeting of the leadership of our parish meet to discuss the findings under the facilitation of Jan Rogers, who is the Director of Community Development for the Anglican Diocese. These results were recently summarised for you in a recent church newsletter, and again last Thursday representatives of Vestry, the Presbyterian Church Council, and the Outreach committee took time to reflect on our conclusions in order to start prioritising what needs to be worked upon.

The result of which were five initiatives:

(1)  Was to look at increasing our church membership and Clive has kindly offered to coordinate a working party on this.

(2)  There was an identified need to develop a children’s and youth ministry. Now this is not a hypothetical exercise, due to the Alpha course we have three families with children who would like their children to have some involvement in our church. Now we can’t expect to run a Sunday school as we did in years gone by… these parents haven’t yet found a niche within our congregations – let alone their children. As research tells us, we can’t expect new people to come to church and become just like us…. That’s not hospitality … they must find their own space, and we must help to make a space for them. Simon is coordinating this working party.

(3)  There was clear feedback from a number of our regulars that we need to keep working on making our worship interesting, worshipful and engaging. Rachel has agreed to coordinate this working party.

(4)  Some of the most negative comments in our questionnaire related to how people said that change has been difficult and that there is still evidence of an us and them attitude in our church. This includes Presbyterians and Anglicans, it includes conservatives and progressives, and it includes Akaroa and the various Bays. Our leadership acknowledges that we have come along way, but there are still things we could work on to become a stronger more united as a church. Annette is willing to coordinate a working party on this issue.

(5)  Finally, while this wasn’t an issue that people raised in the questionnaire, several of the parish leadership felt that we could do a better job in the pastoral care of our parish. I know that traditionally it was expected that pastoral care would be done by the minister. However, a number of us believe that a team approach would work better and give better accountability. Chrissy is willing to take on the coordination of this.

If anyone has been stirred by what they have heard this morning and are interested in being involved in any of the working parties mentioned this morning please speak to me, or Simon or any of the coordinators who have been identified.

Finally, I would like to remind us of our Lord Jesus Christ, because of whom we are here…. “We follow the Son of Man, who came eating and drinking, who loved the birds and the flowers, who blessed little children, who was a friend to tax collectors and sinners and who sat at the tables of both the rich and the poor. We delight in fun and laughter, rejoicing in God’s world, its beauty and its living creatures, calling nothing common or unclean. We mix freely with all people, ready to bind up the broken-hearted and to bring joy into the lives of others. We carry within us an inner peace and happiness, which others may perceive, even if they do not know its source.” [from the Principles of the Third Order, Society of St Francis.]

But we know its source. For this is good news, in fact this is the good news, and this is how we are to share the gospel – by radical hospitality!