St Joseph's Church in the Kansas Flint Hills
How long will the Christian Church survive? Can it last another 1,000 years? Is it changing to the point where something might survive, but will it be recognizable as the Christian Church?
I’ve been thinking about the survivability of things…not just whether something will be here tomorrow. I’ve been thinking about durability.
Durability = the ability to survive a long time without significant deterioration.
Given this definition, how durable is the Christian Church?
Last week I attended a political party caucus. It was my first experience and I was very interested to see how the process of grassroots democracy works. The location was a new church that has been growing up out of the ground in a nearby sub-division in my suburban location near Kansas City.
Driving up, I parked and walked into the newly-designed and built church. From the exterior, it looks like every other recently designed evangelical church building. From a distance there is little to suggest it is different from those nice new buildings in a strip mall. Obviously, there are a few identifiers that suggest it is a Christian Church.
The caucus itself was proceeded by a mandatory period of listening to speakers address the virtues of their particular candidates. This was taking place in the “sanctuary.” There is a reason why I just inserted quotation marks around the word.
Inside, the ceiling is black, the duct work for the HVAC is exposed and painted black. There are no windows anywhere. The floor was carpeted with a dual purpose carpet that permitted the area to become a basketball court. Above were motorized backboards ready to be suspended for play at the push of a button.
On the walls in the front (an area traditionally known as the Chancel) was a small stage area large enough to host a praise and worship band, with the de rigueur plexiglass podium.
Nowhere was the presence of one religious icon. There was no cross but there were three screens for viewers to watch during services. There was no reference anywhere to the Christian faith tradition whatsoever. In all fairness, maybe they transport such objects d’ worship in and out as they set up the room. However, as I walked about the premises, I couldn’t see much that referenced the timeless symbols of our Christian faith tradition.
Durability = the ability to survive a long time without significant deterioration.
If the points of emphasis were social activity, e.g. basketball games, recreation (all hyphenated with the term ministry) what’s to guarantee some other agency couldn’t do those things, or provide those things just as well? What is the one thing the Church does that cannot be matched by any other agency or social organization?
Grace and Peace!
David Felter
Durability. What does it take?
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