Issues facing the church

Ok, so this last week we had a chance to get a group of people together to discuss the next steps for us as a church as it relates to reaching the next generation. We had Chuckk Gerwig to share with us about his personal experiences and research in the field of the emerging church. It was a great discussion. There were about 25 people in the room including elders from Evfree, pastors from Evfree, members of Evfree and a few people from other churches as well. One of the things that made it a great discussion is that there was a large number of people there who were interested in figuring out what it's going to take for us to build a church that ministers to and captures the passion of the next generation of society.

On a side note, I say the "next generation of society" because we all agreed that this doesn't have anything to do with age breakdowns. While the younger generation is leading the way in terms of numbers of people that think/act/live in a certain way, that way has affected the older generations as well and it seems to make sense for people up into their 60's.

I don't know if there is any way to identify this generational shift. If I say emergent or emerging, it casts a bit of a shadow on the discussion because in a lot of people's minds that communicates compromised theology or music and lighting changes. I don't know that any of that really captures what is happening in this new generation of followers of Jesus Christ. What was scary, what Chuckk helped us to see was the fact that younger people who are a part of this mindset shift are not going to church. Not only are they not going to church, but they are scared of church and scared of Christians.

One of the biggest potential solutions to this issue is for individual followers of Jesus Christ to work hard to be Christ in our community. The Conejo Valley is a tough place to do ministry because, well, there's wealth and comfort here. Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. We live in a valley full of rich people (check your status here). If we as individual believers get out into this community and love, care for, serve and share the Gospel with the passion that Jesus Christ gave to us, we will see more people coming to Christ and more people connecting to his body. I would love to hear thoughts on how you as an individual/family can be Christ in the community.