Commerce and Church

In the last sixty years, the trend in commerce and the trend of the church in the United States can be tracked on a similar path. From sustainable stores in every community to Amazon. From viable congregations of multiple denominations in every town to thousands of congregations closing annually. In the words of the American troubadour, Bob Dylan, “The times they are a changin'.”

We can trace the changes in our past. It is difficult to predict the changes yet to come. Once thriving business centers in small towns now stand desolate. Even though some still have a post office most do not have a grocery store. Dollar General stores sprout up to fill a need in rural areas. They are mini-WalMarts offering everything from milk to tools. Those who once owned and operated the businesses on Main Street blame the ubiquitous presence of the real WalMarts for killing off their stores.

Larger towns saw the development of malls with national brand “anchor stores.” Malls were once bustling arenas for shopping and cross-cultural engagement. For decades stores like Sears, Macy’s, and J.C. Penney were stable brands. Over the last few years, these behemoths have disappeared from the malls and have gone the way of the mom and pop stores of previous eras. Now, the malls are struggling to survive. What do they do with these massive empty shells? Are they to be turned into casinos and indoor playgrounds? Can they be turned into multi-resident facilities?

Of course, the malls and the once major brand stores blame the rise of Amazon for their demise. One can stay home wearing their PJs and order about anything one can imagine and have it delivered within two days by UPS, Fed-Ex or the USPS. What will be the next innovation in “shopping” which will be the stressor which jeopardizes the future of Amazon?

The above three paragraphs are illustrative of the decline of the situation the Church in Europe and the United States in the last sixty years. Once flourishing congregations in towns, country and cities are mere shadows of their former being. Depending on whose statistics one reads, between 5,000 and 10,000 congregations close annually. Congregations, mid-councils, and denominations search for reasons, methods for “turn-around,” and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars maintaining facilities hoping to one day get butts in the pews and bucks in the offering plates which were once there.

The “church of what’s happening now” down the street appears to be bursting at the seems of their metal buildings with a non-descript front door. Worship is criticized as being more entertainment than with which traditionalists are comfortable. Preachers are accused of delivering sermons which are pablum and re-enforcing of what attendees already believe.

Some “non-traditional” congregations have grown into “mega-congregations” which seat hundreds in theatre style worship areas. Multi-campus congregations gather under the name of the spawning congregation with local worship leaders and sermons live-streamed from the “mothership.” Will these congregations eventually go the way of the once vibrant malls?

We can count on one truth, the future of commerce and church
will be different than it is today.

Language and Culture

(CreoFire.com)

What holds a culture together? What are the elements of cultural cohesion? No doubt there are many items which could be suggested such as language, rituals, shared values, and community/organizational structure. 

  

When a language dies or is overtaken by another language, the culture changes or dies. Consider what happened with many First Nation cultures as they were forbidden to speak their mother tongues. Tribal elders remember a time when Indian culture was nearly lost because speaking the language, conducting the dances and putting on the ceremonies was forbidden by authorities. (https://www.heraldandnews.com/special_reports/culture-and-traditions-the-glue-that-holds-our-society-together/article_5c3a041c-5b56-11e1-9530-0019bb2963f4.html) Mandatory American boarding schools forbade native languages to be spoken. Children, alienated from their families, began to lose their languages and their cultures during their stay at these institutions. Unable to perform ceremonies and traditions in native tongues, a slow loss of tradition and identity became inevitable. (https://www.nps.gov/articles/negotiating-identity.htm) 

Language is important, critical, for cultural cohesion and transmission. Across the world, languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Linguists estimate roughly half of the world's 6,000 languages will vanish within 100 years. (http://news.psu.edu/story/141259/2008/02/11/research/probing-question-what-lost-when-language-dies) When a language dies or is overtaken by an imposed other language a worldview is lost. As Connor P. Williams states, ...(L)osing a language means losing knowledge of the world that is at once subtle and comprehensive, unique, and intuitive. It means losing pieces of information, certainly, but it also means reducing the number of perspectives we have for viewing the world. Or, to put it best, it means losing worldviews. Think of a language as a shortcut that obscures some things about human experience and elevates others. (https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/multilingualismmatters/) 

Even within subgroups within societies identifying languages are dying. Take the Presbyterian Church as an example. What one calls something carries with it a theological understanding as well as a functional meaning. In the last couple of decades, Presbyterians have not been able to agree on what to call those who function as "pastor." At one time, there were several names in the Book of Order, based on various functions. After some time, the official name for the functional role became "Minister of Word and Sacrament." When the Book of Order was rewritten, the term "teaching elder" was introduced to indicate an equality yet functional difference with "ruling elders." Almost immediately a rebellion arose. Two years ago, the denomination reverted to Minister of Word and Sacrament as the official term. One of the reasons claimed for the reversion was that our members and our ecumenical partners did not know what a "teaching elder" is. 

One of the things I have noticed in my nearly forty-eight years of ordained service in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and its predecessors is we have lost much of what once was our common language. This has seemed true since the 1983 coming together of the former PCUS and UPCUSA denominations. At one-point sessions, presbyteries, synods and the General Assembly were known as "judicatories" which were then called "governing bodies" and now, with the adoption of the rewritten Book of Order, they are referred to as "councils." No longer do we have a common language to describe the various functional areas. For instance, ministerial relations became committees/commissions on ministry, and now each presbytery can choose its own name for the group carrying out these functions. The list of changed and changing terms goes on and on. 

The result of all the changing nomenclature is a loss of a common language supporting a particular ecclesiological culture and a particular theological understanding. Some would applaud the freedom to restructure and give their own names to various functions. On the other hand, it is far more confusing and difficult to identify who is doing what across the denomination. How can we who are elder elders pass on the culture of the denomination if the language is constantly changing? What has been lost, and what has been gained?