Thom S Rainer: Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 11 Things I Learned

Posted on April 28, 2013 by ginny

This is the item I mentioned in the planning workshop today – the list is cut down greatly, please read the full post at Thom S. Rainer’s site. How do you think we’re doing? Which of these points are we actually doing well? Which are you worried about?

I worked with the church for three weeks. The problems were obvious; the solutions were difficult.

On my last day, the benefactor walked me to my rental car. “What do you think, Thom?” he asked. He could see the uncertainty in my expression, so he clarified. “How long can our church survive?” I paused for a moment, and then offered the bad news. “I believe the church will close its doors in five years.”

I was wrong. The church closed just a few weeks ago. Like many dying churches, it held on to life tenaciously. This church lasted ten years after my terminal diagnosis.

My friend from the church called to tell me the news. I took no pleasure in discovering that not only was my diagnosis correct, I had mostly gotten right all the signs of the impending death of the church. Together my friend and I reviewed the past ten years. I think we were able to piece together a fairly accurate autopsy.

Here are eleven things I learned.

The church refused to look like the community.

The church had no community-focused ministries.

Members became more focused on memorials.

The percentage of the budget for members’ needs kept increasing.

There were no evangelistic emphases.

The members had more and more arguments about what they wanted.

With few exceptions, pastoral tenure grew shorter and shorter.

The church rarely prayed together.

The church had no clarity as to why it existed.

The members idolized another era.

The facilities continued to deteriorate.

Though this story is bleak and discouraging, we must learn from such examples. As many as 100,000 churches in America could be dying. Their time is short, perhaps less than ten years.

via Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 11 Things I Learned.

Holy Saturday Easter Vigil 8pm Tonight: The Light Is Coming Into The World

Posted on March 30, 2013 by ginny

The late Father Paul Brouillette presides at Easter Sunday 2011

The late Rev. Paul Brouillette presided at Easter Sunday 2011, in the semidarkness before all the lights were turned on. Father Paul loved chanting the Exultet. -- Photo credit David Gibbs.

Tonight, the long Easter Vigil begins in darkness, and ends in light with joyful alleluias. There are a lot of readings, as the Creation story is retold and the Salvation is recounted. Each must have a musical response, and one or two have special choral responses. It is quite a long service - beginning at 8pm and ending at around 10:30pm or so, it runs the gamut from sorrow to overwhelming joy. Again this year, we are happy to have Alex with us again to act as trumpeter during the Gloria, also for a special choral piece called "Sound The Trumpet," and during another traditional piece to end the service. In a new tradition beginning this year, the bell-ringing at the Easter Acclamation and during the following Gloria will be a little more glorious thanks to our parishioners who came from St Bede's!

It will be a night of light bravely pushing back the darkness, both in the world and in our hearts. We will be moved to shout "Alleluia! He is Risen! He is Risen indeed," and mean it.

A great deal of preparation goes into celebrating Easter at St Nicholas, as there are two "big" services back-to-back (after several other services each night of the Triduum, the three culminating days of Holy Week). Indeed, for each service this week, the worship space is rearranged to set the proper mood for each service; a handwashing station for Maundy Thursday, a simple wooden cross for veneration on Good Friday, and tonight a vast array of flowers and all the candleabra we've got will be arranged around the altar).

Easter Flowers being arranged for church

Many people have worked hard in the planning and preparation for Holy Week, and tonight's Easter Vigil is really "the big one" in our hearts. Tomorrow's triumphant and joyful Easter Sunday will have lots of wonderful music and fun for the young and young at heart (yes, the rumors are true, the Easter Bunny shall appear after church, and there will be many eggs to hunt).

But tonight is the only time of the year that the New Fire is kindled, and as the weather is likely to be reasonable, it will be done outdoors, at the Holy Innocents altar that stands out in front of the church. Plan to arrive early and dress warmly if you wish to watch outdoors, but the liturgy will be watched from inside by many (and there is a covered area across from the altar also).

Tonight, flames will be kindled from some of the dried palm leaves from Palm Sunday, and the big Paschal Candle will be lighted (not without some difficulty). Father Manny will push nails into it with incense - more symbolism of Christ's crucifixion and burial in the tomb. And then the altar party will process slowly into the church, where the waiting congregation and choir will stand ready with hand candles.

As Father Manny enters the sanctuary, he will intone:

"The light of Christ!"

And the assembled will respond,

"Thanks be to God!"

He will repeat this twice more, and the acolytes will begin lighting everyone's hand candles, so that the light spreads slowly into the church as we move to our seats.

The Exultet will be chanted in the semi-darkness, by several cantors and Father Manny:

Rejoice now, heavenly hosts and choirs of angels, and let your trumpets shout Salvation, for the victory of our mighty King. Rejoice and sing now, all the round earth, bright with a glorious splendor, for darkness has been vanquished by our eternal King. Rejoice and be glad now, Mother Church, and let your holy courts, in radiant light, resound with the praises of your people. All you who stand near this marvelous and holy flame, pray with me to God the Almighty for the grace to sing the worthy praise of this great light; through Jesus Christ his Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

You may have heard of the phrase "C and E Christian," which refers to the attendance of church services only at Christmas and Easter. Well, if you only attend church sporadically, or are looking for a faith community, this is the night to attend. This night is a good night for beginning to walk the path of faith in community, a good night to follow the call to serve others.

Of course, Christmas Eve is hugely important at St Nicholas, as our patron saint the good Bishop of Myra has now morphed into the secular Santa Claus (and is beloved by children all over the world). And Easter Sunday is certainly a very big day at St Nicholas, when families bring children in their brand new Easter outfits (sometimes with baskets ready for the egg hunt after the service) and there's still a lot of special music and color and beautiful liturgy, traditional in the Episcopal church but familiar to many.

But tonight is the night that defines Christianity for us: the Light comes into the world, and Salvation is ours for the asking.

For as the Exultet continues:

This is the night, when you brought our fathers and mothers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea on dry land.

This is the night, when all who believe in Christ are delivered from the gloom of sin, and are restored to grace and holiness of life.

This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave. How wonderful and beyond our knowing, O God, is your mercy and loving-kindness to us, that to redeem a slave, you gave a Son.

How holy is this night, when wickedness is put to flight, and sin is washed away. It restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to those who mourn. It casts out pride and hatred, and brings peace and concord. How blessed is this night, when earth and heaven are joine danll are reconciled to God.

Holy Father, accept our evening sacrifice, the offering of this candle in your honor. May it shine continually to drive away all darkness.

May Christ, the Morning Star who knows no setting, find it ever burning -- He who gives this light to all creation, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

And we all respond, Amen!

The Light Coming Into The World, Haleakala

The banner image for Holy Saturday was taken at dawn from the summit of Haleakala, Maui. Photo credit Ginny Gibbs

Tridu-what? Holy Week at St Nicholas

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Douglas

We encourage you to experience the entire Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Great Vigil of Easter) this year. Here are some words about what we'll experience together during Holy Week:

Three Days *

The Three Days (or Triduum) slow down time as we move through the climax of the story of faith, Jesus' betrayal, death, and resurrection. Worship throughout the rest of the year skims the surface in some ways, whisking us through the story of Jesus' life. But in these three days we linger. There is so much centered here. We have to take our time to be able to receive it. Worship on these days will cover it all: creation and redemption, death and life, fire and water, desolation and celebration. These days enact the great Christian drama, and the liturgies are, in many ways, dramas that embody the story, the tensions, and the teachings at the core of our faith. The Triduum liturgies are, in effect, one continuous rite spread over three consecutive days. Thus, there is no blessing or dismissal until the conclusion of the First Mass of the Resurrection on Easter Eve.

Maundy Thursday - March 28, 7 PM

Thursday evening marks the beginning of the Triduum. We reach back to the beginning of Lent to recall the confession we made on Ash Wednesday. This service is clearly different from the regular flow of the Eucharist as we celebrate it weekly, because what we commemorate this evening is different. Tonight we begin a celebration that will not end until the exultant conclusion of the Great Paschal Vigil. Tonight, we hear the words of forgiveness in a new way. It is only with the knowledge of being forgiven that we can engage the rest of the story. We watch and we eat a last supper with Jesus. We hear him offer all of himself to us, even his body and blood. We end the service with the stripping of the chancel. Adornment after adornment leaves the sanctuary as the words of the psalm drift through the air, and we are reminded of what this love will cost Jesus. We leave the service lingering. It is holy time.

Good Friday - March 29, 7 PM

When we return to the sanctuary on Good Friday, hours have passed. We hear about Jesus' betrayal, capture and trial. We hear of his humiliation, his interrogation. We know the night was long for him, and lonely. Our visual center is the cross. There is nothing else to distract us. The pace is slow, as those final hours must have been for him. We move relentlessly toward the end. We pray, interceding for the world around us, for our church, and ourselves. We are reminded that Jesus' death was paradoxically, the moment of his triumph. Through his death, he defeated death.

The Great Vigil of Easter - March 30, 8 PM

REMINDER: There is no 4:30PM Saturday liturgy on March 30

Now we are almost there, almost at the hour when Jesus' death itself was overcome, the death become life -- the victory we so need. Now time stands still for us to remember all that has gone before. No other service is so full of the heritage of faith; no other time in the year do we gather together all of the richest metaphors and symbols of faith. We gather around new fire, itself a sign of creation renewed. From it we light the paschal candle to illumine our way. As the pillar of fire led the people of Israel in the wilderness, so the paschal candle will lead us to Easter -- the light of Christ our beacon. In the silence from Good Friday, the light is rekindled. Gathered around the light, we wrap the great stories of faith like a blanket around ourselves.

We recall our ancestors and God's saving work among us throughout the ages -- creation from a word, the earth washed clean in the flood, the deliverance at the Red Sea, dry bones given life again. The baptismal font beckons to affirm our baptisms, to remember our welcome into the community of faith, and to welcome others newborn into the faith. The Gospel reading draws us out of our holy recollections and into the events of the story again. Now we are prepared. We know where we have come from before we peek into the tomb with the women and Peter. When we hear the angel say, He is not here, but has risen, we know again that life is always God's way with us. Death is defeated. We dance through the holy meal, now each one confessing the truth of the story.

Light the church! Shout Alleluia! Celebrate with high praise! He is risen!

*Adapted from Sundays and Seasons 2004 (Augsburg/Fortress, 2003), pp. 158-159.

St Nicholas Episcopal Church

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