new church life: september/october 2017
congregations, and shifting needs for the furtherance of our mission in this
world, Chuck led a brainstorming session on restructuring churches in healthy
ways, founded on trust between ministers and congregations.
Groups identified patterns and trends they have observed, projected
where each is headed, and then suggested implications and possible solutions
for dealing with those trends. The wide-ranging discussion touched on trends
from social media use, to declining attendance by males; from the expansion
of Sunday sports, to impatience with ritual.
The afternoon ended with two more optional sessions. The Rev. Nathan
D. Gladish showed a 31-minute video of a presentation the Rev. Frank S. Rose
had given at the western clergy meetings the previous year, and then led a
discussion of the contents. The presentation was called, “Hope for the General
Church.”
Frank told of his appreciation for the General Church and his desire to
support its growth and prosperity. He presented charts of statistics showing a
slowing rate of growth in North America, such that he projected it could take
100 years to double its current size there. He said we need to “repent of ” (re-
think):
1. Growing the church through doctrine (when all doctrine must have
life as the end in view);
2. Relying on New Church education for growth (when the same
money, deployed for ministers’ salaries, has a much better projection
for growth);
3. Relying on communities for growth (when they actually create
barriers to growth such as the “insider”/“outsider” distinction.)
He concluded with an overview of some of the commitments made by
the Sunrise Chapel pastor and congregation when its average attendance rose
from 18 to 120 in 21 years. He said the story is told in his two books: Growth
Pains and Pleasures and The Art of Effective Preaching. Discussion followed in
small groups.
Testimony from Life
The other optional session was led by our guest minister from The Church
of Truth in Louisville, Kentucky, Ronald D. Schnarr, M. Div., who presented
his paper: “Testimony: Speaking from Life.” He led with Apocalypse Explained
392:4 which says: “’Testimony’ signifies the Lord, and with man the confession
of the Lord from the heart . . . because the Lord testifies respecting Himself
with all who accept His testimony, and these are such as live a life of love to the
Lord, and a life of charity towards the neighbor.”
He then asserted that a passage from the Word is just as much the Word
whether it is copied onto a paper, memorized, or lived (even when the words
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