Looking for green shoots

Yesterday, at our District clergy meeting, Paul Nixon spoke on I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church (also the name of his new book). Paul is seeking to plant a new church called Epicenter DC based in Arlington, VA.

For years now, we've been hearing from church growth "experts" as if all we need to do is get with the plan (whatever one is current) and our churches will grow. The truth is that we are in a changing world. The world into which many of us were born and grew up is not the world with which we have to deal today. Not only do we have many more technological advances in our lives, but we also face a far more scattered, globalized society. The same thing is true about the church. The church in which I was ordained and sent into ministry is not the church of today. The rapid changes with which we have to deal, the constantly moving "targets" are enough to make some of us wish for the good-ol' simpler days. Yeah, I confess that sometimes I wish things were more constant, more simple, that I could just coast for a while. But that is not our reality.

Paul talked about there being things that we cannot control--such as where we are appointed, the changing demographics of our community, the increasing average age of a congregation, and, oh, so many things. But there is one thing we can do--look for the green shoots. Look for where life is and tend it. Choose life over death.