Hide and/or Seek

"We are in the midst of a perfect storm of change, and the mainline church hasn't got a clue." - Roland Wells

An old seminary classmate came over to visit yesterday. Rev. Roland Wells has a passion for the future of the church and an urgent message which the mainline needs to hear.

The future of the church and the future of urban missions are one in the same. And our teenagers may hold the keys to both.

"In 1800, 3% of the world's billion people lived in cities. In 1900, it was 10%. In the year 2000, it was 50%. By 2025 it will be 75%. We are in the midst of the greatest migration in the history of the world. People from everywhere are moving everywhere. A single government initiative in China is moving over 450 million peasants into cities."

What happens when young people move to the cities? Isolation. Culture shock. Loss of family and the support structures that go along with it. Physical abuse. Sexual abuse. Drug abuse. Poverty. Marriages break up. "The nuclear family becomes nuclear waste."

The cities of the world - and the cities of the USA - are the new mission field. Any plan for the future of the church must not only include, but focus on the cities as the centers for outreach and the immigrant's children as the target.

In the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul alone over 549,000 new immigrants have arrived in the last decade.  75,000 Somalis have settled. 150,000 Hispanics. 150 languages are spoken. One out of six residents is a first generation immigrant. As the metro area grows by 1 million people in the next decade, one half will be immigrants.

"Most of them have not been, are not being, and will not be reached by the Gospel," says Wells. "The church has got to figure out how to reach people in their own language and culture. Yet, in my own denomination in my own area of the city, we're not doing it. Out of 28 Lutheran churches, 25 have lost 10,000 members in the last decade. Only three are holding their own. What does that tell you about our willingness to step out of our comfortable lives for the sake of the Gospel? A half million new immigrants, and we're losing members?"

Wells has a surprising answer for the outreach problem. It has to do with teenagers.

"The best ambassadors you've got in the church is kids. If we can train our junior high and senior high youth to be the welcoming agents for the church, we will see growth."

I have always thought and taught that the most receptive age level for outreach is junior high kids. They want to fit in. This is even more true in the immigrant communities. Parents and grandparents may continue to speak in the mother tongue, but kids want to speak the language, make friends, absorb and embrace their new culture. They also want to find a place where they can develop trust, intimacy, and security.

So, what does this mean? If we can intentionally recruit, train and motivate our teens to be a welcoming force for this new wave of immigration, and create outreach instruments targeted at  immigrant teens and urban outreach through our small group ministries, we'll see amazing things happen for God, for the church, and for the future of our changing society.

Give this some thought, then give it some action. Don't wait. "Ready or not, here I come," is the proclamation for the children's game of "hide and seek." It is also the reality of the future of the church.

We've got to quit hiding and start seeking or the game is over.

(Sidebar: Got people in your church who don't like all these immigrants moving in? Ask them if they want to have their Social Security checks rolling in when they retire. A little-discussed topic in Washington is the $42 billion illegal immigrants are paying to prop up the system - a system they are contributing to, but from which they will never collect a dime.)

Comments

[Trogdor]

I agree with the comments about youth groups being foundational. Our church is most certainly assissted by the youh group.

That and God.

[fatherfitz]

Hey Rich!
Just added to my blog about another dimension to the exodus to the cities: "nature deficit disorder". From a book by Louv called Last Child in the Woods. Unfortunate name but important idea.

Not too many folks will likely want to talk about your sidebar.