Africa and the U.S. - A Contrast

The United Methodist Church in Africa is growing, and the UMC in the U.S. is declining. Many Africans live difficult lives, with poverty and disease all too common. They are grasping for something that provides hope, and the Christian faith provides it. In addition, the UMC often brings aid in many forms through United Methodist Volunteers in Mission and the general agencies. Isolated villages often have no electricity, so village life slows after dark. There are few entertainment outlets. When a church starts, complete with preaching and music, there is something to do.

In the U.S., church has lots of competition. When the sun goes down, vast options remain in sports, recreation, entertainment, and the media. Most Americans are not struggling with poverty and disease. Hope is not in short supply, so church is not as compelling. If the U.S. tends toward more socialism as Europe has, will church attendance decline still more as Europe's has? Some people interpret that European governments replace the need for God and the church for many. Even so, those who are doing well still have basic spiritual needs. The challenge is to find a more effective way to communicate that reality.

[John H. Southwick, Background Data for Mission, General Board of Global Ministries, December 2008.]

Urgency's Blessing

John Kotter, Harvard business professor, says most change efforts that fail do so for a lack of true urgency -- contrasted with false urgency. False urgency is frenetic, panicked and energy-sapping. True urgency is steady, unrelenting, and powerful. It is intense, but not body- and soul-destroying. Is the pastor of a church feeling urgency from lessening worship attendance and finances, or from increasing conflict? Great! Are the key leaders? Wonderful! How about the average person in a pew who attends church once or twice a month? Until urgency is felt throughout the entire congregation, very little shifts. Pastors and lay leaders sometimes think they are serving the congregation by shielding them from problems and feel it's their duty to put on a happy face. Jesus and the early church felt a gut-level urgency. Look around at the congregations that are thriving, that are spiritually alive, that are venues of hope, healing and transformation and you will find a sense of urgency about people giving themselves to worthy work and moving forward to serve in new ways. Crises present a congregation with opportunities to revisit and re-anchor itself in its mission as a church.

[Dan Smith and Mary Huycke, CourageousSpace newsletter, February 2009, CourageousSpace.com.]