Today began the General Assembly, our annual gathering to do the business of the larger church. I was asked to be a teller, so I arrived bright and early to assist in distributing packets, etc.
A fairly typical GA so far, with the usual agenda items punctuated with various advertisements and public relation gestures. Two things in particular stood out to me:
1. Attendance continues to decline. I've noticed this at the evening services but wasn't sure if the bad weather was having an impact. But, when I saw Reardon auditorium less than half full I knew that something more was going on here. I remember not that long ago when the main floor was almost packed for GA. Are more people staying home because they can watch the NAC on the Internet, or is there frustration with the business side of the church? Or, is it just plain apathy? Last year, roughly only 1/4 of our churches were represented at GA. I doubt this year was even that good. All of this suggests that we must revisit the role of our annual gathering and how it is delivered, and whether or not having an event-driven movement is still appropriate in this day and age. I hope to come back to this topic at a later date.
2. Ron Duncan gave a very straightforward and direct talk about giving to the World Ministry Advance budget. The trend is definitely downward and it is already having an impact on what can be done, and this will become even more pronounced in the future if things continue in this direction. We were told that roughly 1 out of 2 churches actually contribute financially, and that it is a small number (1/5) that actually keep it afloat, contributing 60% of the total budget. I am certain with these financial challenges there is a link with #1 above. Again, another topic for another day.
A fairly typical GA so far, with the usual agenda items punctuated with various advertisements and public relation gestures. Two things in particular stood out to me:
1. Attendance continues to decline. I've noticed this at the evening services but wasn't sure if the bad weather was having an impact. But, when I saw Reardon auditorium less than half full I knew that something more was going on here. I remember not that long ago when the main floor was almost packed for GA. Are more people staying home because they can watch the NAC on the Internet, or is there frustration with the business side of the church? Or, is it just plain apathy? Last year, roughly only 1/4 of our churches were represented at GA. I doubt this year was even that good. All of this suggests that we must revisit the role of our annual gathering and how it is delivered, and whether or not having an event-driven movement is still appropriate in this day and age. I hope to come back to this topic at a later date.
2. Ron Duncan gave a very straightforward and direct talk about giving to the World Ministry Advance budget. The trend is definitely downward and it is already having an impact on what can be done, and this will become even more pronounced in the future if things continue in this direction. We were told that roughly 1 out of 2 churches actually contribute financially, and that it is a small number (1/5) that actually keep it afloat, contributing 60% of the total budget. I am certain with these financial challenges there is a link with #1 above. Again, another topic for another day.
5 comments:
Lloyd,
I just wanted to chime in regarding my experience at NAC this year. I'm a young pastor, and this was my first trip to Anderson. I had been prepared by several pastors that I respect to "not expect too much." "NAC just isn't what it use to be." I came with low expectations. But I left VERY encouraged. I realize that most people who have been to this event during times of great revival lament that those days are gone (for now), but I found the entire gathering to be uplifting and challenging. Even the worship during GA, and the prevailing spirit was beyond what I expected.
I left with an excitement of where the Church of God is going, and what God will do with us in the future.
Thanks,
Steve Baker
Reading your post makes me wonder if the decline in attendance at NAC is in any relation to the decline in attendance in some of our churches...There are some who think that our services need to be updated to encourage new growth...What are your thoughts on this? You can e-mail me your answers. amileesmiles@yahoo.com
Thank you. Amy Mendoza
Amy,
I'm not really convinced that the NAC attendance decline can be blamed on decline in congregations. Certainly many of our congregations are in decline, but there is growth within newer congregations. It could be that the newer congregations are not showing up because they do not have the same heritage ties among the membership, and/or find the NAC not that relevant.
Lloyd,
The development I find most interesting in GA is the switch from a deliberative process to a ratification process. Gone are the days of pontification by a handful of objectors. Now we get business done win three sessions of 90 minutes or so. The old way was dysfunctional, but the new alternative seems overly managed. Still, we had one objection by one of the objection corner.
Jerry Hickson
I would suggest that the decline is in part due to natrural attrition of people who realize that they are participants of the movement in the first place. Many of the newer churches (such as mine) are growing at record paces. However, a large portion of the congregation is not aware of my church's affiliation with ChOG. It is never mentioned (I assume it is to not scare people away who are looking for a non-denominational way of finding Christ, which is why we are actually here in the first place). But, this trend of the ChOG affiliation being some secret that only the informed ones are aware of is a growing trend in the large "community" churches like mine, which must certainly contribute to the lack of participation caused by a lack of awareness.
Mike G.
OKC, OK
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