Change Needed in Churches, Bishop Says
Jackie Campbell
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12/7/2009
If United Methodists want to make new Christian disciples, things will have to change in many local churches, Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton told clergy and laity during visits to each of the 10 districts in Western Pennsylvania.
Citing declining statistics on worship attendance, baptisms, and church membership in each district, the Bishop said that to change the current downward trend, “we have to: realize that what we are currently doing isn’t working; organize ourselves around workable solutions, and get focused.”
He noted that there are only a handful of churches in each district that have the resources and the capability of dealing with the problems facing this region.
“Whether it’s transforming the church or transforming the world, it’s bigger than any one of us. The problems besetting your local church are bigger than your local church,” he said.
The Bishop expanded on five areas of ministry that are the focus of efforts to revitalize the denomination: Developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world; Creating new places for new people; Dismantling Racism; Fighting Poverty; and Eliminating killer diseases.
“We have to pull together to train leaders and discuss creative ways that we can invite people to consider ministry as a vocation,” he said. To determine where change is needed in each congregation, he asked people to consider four questions:
- Is your church pastor centered?
- Is it dominated by a few people who have served for a long time?
- What is your approach to developing new leaders?
- What is the message you can provide that will help everyone sense that they are called into some form of ministry?
“We have to unite our forces to cause a wave of determination…to revitalize our churches,” he said. If members truly want to revitalize the church, he called for a concentrated effort to reach children and youth; conversations to determine how to evangelize our communities and training and accountability to keep us moving forward.
The Bishop said he has asked each District Superintendent to identify regions in the district where a new church could be planted, “a place where new people can be reached with a new effort to give this region Jesus Christ.” He said existing churches should not see a new church as competition, but as a project that all could support together.
Ministry WITH the poor, he said, is “not just about feeding and housing the poor,” which must be done in every community. It means “inviting the poor into our fellowship, offering them Jesus as an alternative to their current lifestyle, and valuing them as equal partners as we continue our journey of faith,” he explained.
Ministry with the poor extends beyond our own communities and our nation, the Bishop noted. “We have to realize that this world is getting smaller every day. And if we are going to live in this world we have to become responsible for our sisters and brothers around the world.”
The Bishop highlighted United Methodist efforts to partner with other groups to achieve the goal of eliminating killer diseases. He heads the denomination’s Global Health Initiative.
The areas of focus are not just top-down directives coming from the General Conference and the annual conference, according to the Bishop. “These are vital areas of focus that can and should flow up from the people into a congregation and beyond,” he said. “They are areas of focus that make us all participants in a revival of a “movement” within United Methodism that is absolutely essential if we are to position ourselves as a viable denomination in the 21st Century.They are, for me, the keys to transforming a church and re-positioning itself as a movement for Jesus Christ.”