Is the Presbyterian Church(USA) like General Motors?

The Outbox: Is the Presbyterian Church(USA) like General Motors?

...What can the church learn from all of this? I think it’s safe to say, that like GM, the church has been slow to adapt to the changing culture around us. We built a church model for the previous era that worked really well at the time. Many of our church programs and worship services were so successful in the 1950s, that we have never changed them, not realizing that the old models aren’t working any more. But now, a permanent shift has taken place in our culture. We can’t turn the clock back. If we don’t learn to adapt, we will be closing more church plants just like GM is closing auto plants. Are we still trying to get people to buy the “church SUV” model, when few can afford it or even want it anymore? I don’t think we’ve been particularly adept at anticipating where our world is going, and thinking about what adjustments we need to make. When panic sets in, we cave in to the consumeristic mindset of our culture, and we do anything to get people to come to our churches. There is more pressure and more temptation to do whatever it takes to attract a crowd then there is to maintain scriptural, theological, and missional integrity. We have tried to find technical solutions for adaptive challenges, and its not working.

 The good news is that the auto industry is waking up. I think it’s kind of late, but at least it’s finally happening. The good news is that there are pockets in the church that are waking up. ...

This piece was written by Clark Cowden, who I understand will join me on the General Assembly Council upon the GA's approval later this month.

 

Comments

[codepoke]

Not to pick on the PCUSA to the exclusion of any other denomination, but yeah. In more ways than I could begin to count.

[Michael W. Kruse]

LOL.

[ZZMike]

I've always been suspicious of "designer religions" - those that are made up to appeal to a wide group (like the Hare Krishnas, or Scientology (which I include in the discussion of religion only because they say they are, and because LRH told his friends, "if you want to make real money, start a religion)).

A church that changes its basics isn't a church of God any more, it's a chucrch of man.

Clearly, though, there's a problem with that line of argument, else we'd all be Calvinists. Or Lutherans. Or, going further back, Catholics.

I think I can accept his point that the Church stays the same, it's the mission that has to reach a different bunch of people.