Changing world, changing church – Part 11

From February 22 to 26, the Jamaica Baptist Union held its 173rd general assembly. On the opening day, Dr Scott Thumma, professor of sociology of religion at Hartford International University, gave the assembly lecture titled, ‘Changing World – Changing Church’ inside the Boulevard Baptist Church, along Washington Boulevard in St Andrew.

The essence of his presentation was that while our cultures and social structures are vastly different, in some regards, our spiritual needs have remained similar and just as urgent, and “yet, while these spiritual needs and the God we serve remain constant, the Church itself must continue to adapt and evolve with society, if we are to reach new generations for Christ”. He was informed by his new research in the US church context and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the lecture, which was delivered in a session called ‘Mission in a post-pandemic world’, Dr Roderick R. Hewitt, president of the International University of the Caribbean, said, “Much of what he (Dr Thumma) has shared are indeed applicable to the Jamaican/Caribbean context because of the dominant influence of American religio-cultural and economic influences on our context. However, there are some unique contextual trends that are shaping the post-pandemic mission of the Church.”

One of his observations is that “we have entered in an era of situationship. According to relationship coach and counsellor Nicole Schafe, situationship is defined as ‘a romantic or sexual relationship that is not formal or established’,” he shared. It represents the grey area between friendship and a romantic partnership.

“A situationship offers flexibility to come and go essentially as you please, in hopes of avoiding stressors of what a typical relationship brings,” he said. “This is also becoming normative in church relationship.”

Another dimension of this “situationship” phenomenon is described as “living apart together” in which people are opting not to get married and/or cohabit. In essence, they are shying away from committment and … relationships. He sees it as “a contemporary form of concubinage shift in human relationships”, and “this, too, has entered into the religious trend where traditional membership in a church is no longer attractive to the young”.

Also, within the current context of Jamaica, the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged/questioned some of the traditional ways of how churches operate, how the current Church administration, its ministry and mission, are financed to become viable, as many local congregations can no longer support full-time paid clergy. Thus, there ought to be greater focus on training lay people “for more direct pastoral leadership of churches”.

The “traditional four years of residential training of student ministers is no longer viable within the economic landscape. New models of theological education that are transformative must be employed to meet the changing times,” Professor Hewitt argued. These changing times call for “new ways of being Church”.

“Church without walls must be explored because the experience of COVID with its accompanied threats and opportunities has empowered the general public to ‘do what is right in their own eyes’,” Dr Hewitt put forward, directly indicating that the Church must embrace the digitisation of the changing world.

“Our young people are increasingly becoming trans-human. Their phones are attached to their brains and they cannot function without them. Our babies are being born digitised. God’s mission in the fast-changing digital world requires a proactive Church that can find authentic and culturally meaningful ways of sharing our faith and making disciples, and answering the spiritual needs of the digital community,” he asserted.

“In this era when the Church has become a matter of choice for some, as they can watch any sermon online, others are not ready to embrace a more digitised world due to their choices and access to digital tools. This thought must be taken up, prayerfully and thoughtfully, and must be put into how the contemporary resources of God’s people can remain proactive in mission.”

Churches must therefore have secure access to the Internet, especially for live-streaming. All of this requires good-quality equipment/devices and great upload speeds. Congregations must invest in a church management software that integrates text messaging technology “to quickly respond to any situation, such as bad weather, security concerns, or communicating urgent needs churchwide. All of these cost monies that the church budget must plan for,” Dr Hewitt stated.

“Finally, I wish to comment on the urgent need for investment in leaders who are willing to be equipped with new skills and capabilities, because today’s digital world requires proficient and strategic leaders who are humble servants with integrity, willing to make bold decisions while being great listeners with her/his leadership team,” Dr Hewitt said.