Thousands of churches face closure in ten years
Thousands of churches face closure, demolition or conversion in the next decade, leading to the demise of some branches of Christianity in Europe, according to experts.
In some parts of the country, former churches are being turned into centres of worship for other faiths. A disused Methodist chapel in Clitheroe on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales is the latest, destined to become a mosque for the town’s 300 Muslims.
There are more than 47,000 churches in Britain today, and 42 million people, more than 70 per cent of the population, consider themselves to be Christian. It sounds a lot, but behind the figures lies a story of decline in the country’s established religion.
Although the Pentecostal and Evangelical branches of Christianity are growing, worshippers often prefer modern, functional, warehouse-style buildings to the traditional neo-Gothic landscape of British ecclesiastical architecture.
Read the rest of the report
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Any Hope for Mainline Churches? From Bill Easum
80-85% of all mainline and established churches are either on a plateau or in decline. This trend has been going on for thirty years (2000). Unless their is a miracle intervention from God little hope is seen.
Online Conversations
"I had an interesting exchange with a Lutheran lay person last night. He approached me and expressed some anger over the way his church just "sprang" some of that contemporary music on "them" in church on Sunday. I asked what his real concern about the music was and he stated that church is supposed to be "quiet." He spoke of tradition and the need to safeguard it at all costs. He gave the massacre at Columbine High School as an illustration of the consequences of failing to follow tradition. It was a very powerful conversation, which was amplified when I shared my own thoughts about church music and the need to test all tradition for its continued value to the church and the culture.
I had this picture in my mind of Jesus standing before the Pharisees and the Sadducees having a similar discussion. Luke tells us that Jesus was very regular in his attendance at the Synagogue. We know that He participated in the ritualistic reading of the scripture and the prayer life of the synagogue. We also know that there was something different about the way He read the scripture, as well as with the way He prayed. He followed the tradition in as far as it was helpful, but was not above adapting the old ways in new and more meaningful ways.
The synagogue was a place where religious people gathered every Sabbath to do religious things. They came in and sat down (probably in the same place every Sabbath), participated in the recitation of the Shema (a confession of faith in the one God), prayed, listened to readings from the Law and the Prophets, heard a sermon, and a benediction. And all of this went off like clockwork. There was no room for a young upstart carpenter to come in and throw a wrench into the works. The Pharisees made sure they were there to police it. Sound familiar?
Jesus was frequently in trouble with the gatekeepers in the synagogue. Does that sound familiar? He warned against the hypocrisy of those who paraded their righteousness in the synagogue. He warned against giving and praying in order to be seen and praised. He also rebuked those who sought the chief seats. As opposition increased, He warned His disciples of a future time when they would be persecuted in the synagogues; and as persecution developed, the believers were forced out of the synagogues. Sound familiar?
This is where my problem with the redevelopment effort begins. Don't get me wrong. I am one hundred percent behind the efforts of church redevelopment, but I am growing more and more skeptical that anything short of a total reinvention of the Church will have any long-term effect. When it came right down to it, Jesus never changed the synagogue. He never redeveloped it, but simply created something new with which to replace it.
Jesus was not satisfied with the model of the synagogue. He was not content to sit within its four walls waiting for people to come and make themselves welcome. He was not content with the idea that anyone who wanted to participate in the synagogue must first conform to look, dress and behave like all the other members of the synagogue community. Jesus did not limit his understanding of that community to the "contributing" members. Jesus went out to the people. I think He dressed like them. I think sometimes He smelled fishy like them. In short, Jesus went out and messed it up with them. In fact, Jesus was probably the most unreligious religious leader of all times.
Press here to read the rest of the article
Online Conversations
"I had an interesting exchange with a Lutheran lay person last night. He approached me and expressed some anger over the way his church just "sprang" some of that contemporary music on "them" in church on Sunday. I asked what his real concern about the music was and he stated that church is supposed to be "quiet." He spoke of tradition and the need to safeguard it at all costs. He gave the massacre at Columbine High School as an illustration of the consequences of failing to follow tradition. It was a very powerful conversation, which was amplified when I shared my own thoughts about church music and the need to test all tradition for its continued value to the church and the culture.
I had this picture in my mind of Jesus standing before the Pharisees and the Sadducees having a similar discussion. Luke tells us that Jesus was very regular in his attendance at the Synagogue. We know that He participated in the ritualistic reading of the scripture and the prayer life of the synagogue. We also know that there was something different about the way He read the scripture, as well as with the way He prayed. He followed the tradition in as far as it was helpful, but was not above adapting the old ways in new and more meaningful ways.
The synagogue was a place where religious people gathered every Sabbath to do religious things. They came in and sat down (probably in the same place every Sabbath), participated in the recitation of the Shema (a confession of faith in the one God), prayed, listened to readings from the Law and the Prophets, heard a sermon, and a benediction. And all of this went off like clockwork. There was no room for a young upstart carpenter to come in and throw a wrench into the works. The Pharisees made sure they were there to police it. Sound familiar?
Jesus was frequently in trouble with the gatekeepers in the synagogue. Does that sound familiar? He warned against the hypocrisy of those who paraded their righteousness in the synagogue. He warned against giving and praying in order to be seen and praised. He also rebuked those who sought the chief seats. As opposition increased, He warned His disciples of a future time when they would be persecuted in the synagogues; and as persecution developed, the believers were forced out of the synagogues. Sound familiar?
This is where my problem with the redevelopment effort begins. Don't get me wrong. I am one hundred percent behind the efforts of church redevelopment, but I am growing more and more skeptical that anything short of a total reinvention of the Church will have any long-term effect. When it came right down to it, Jesus never changed the synagogue. He never redeveloped it, but simply created something new with which to replace it.
Jesus was not satisfied with the model of the synagogue. He was not content to sit within its four walls waiting for people to come and make themselves welcome. He was not content with the idea that anyone who wanted to participate in the synagogue must first conform to look, dress and behave like all the other members of the synagogue community. Jesus did not limit his understanding of that community to the "contributing" members. Jesus went out to the people. I think He dressed like them. I think sometimes He smelled fishy like them. In short, Jesus went out and messed it up with them. In fact, Jesus was probably the most unreligious religious leader of all times.
Press here to read the rest of the article
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Immigrants' Creed
I believe in Almighty God, who guided the people in exile and in exodus, the God of Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon, the god of foreigners and immigrants.
I believe in Jesus Christ, a displaced Galilean, who was born away from his people and his home, who fled his country with his parents when his life was in danger, and returning to his own country suffered the oppression of the tyrant Pontius Pilate, the servant of a foreign power, who then was persecuted, beaten, and finally tortured, accused and condemned to death unjustly. But on the third day, this scorned Jesus rose from the dead, not as a foreigner but to offer us citizenship in heaven.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal immigrant from God's kingdom among us, who speaks all languages, lives in all countries, and reunites all races.
I believe that the church is the secure home for the foreigner and for all believers who constitute it, who speak the same language and have the same purpose.
I believe that the Communion of the Saints begins when we accept the diversity of the saints.
I believe in the forgiveness, which makes us all equal, and in the reconciliation, which identifies us more than does race, language or nationality.
I believe that in the Resurrection God will unite us as one people in which all are distinct and all are alike at the same time.
Beyond this world, I believe in Life Eternal in which no one will be an immigrant but all will be citizens of God's kingdom, which will never end.
Amen.Rev. Jose Luis Casal- General Missioner- Trs Rios Presbytery. PC (USA)
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Prophets Of A Future Not Our Own (A Poem)
It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of
saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession
brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals an objectives include everything.
This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one
day will grow. We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s
grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not
messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.
Oscar Romero
Profetas de Un Futuro que No es Nuestro (Un Poema)
De vez en cuando, nos ayuda dar un paso atrás y contemplar el vasto panorama.
El Reino no solamente está más allá de nuestros esfuerzos, sino que trasciende nuestra visión.
Cumplimos en nuestra vida solamente una ínfima fracción
de la magnífica empresa que es la obra de Dios.
Nada de lo que hacemos es completo, lo cual es otra forma de decir
que el Reino siempre nos trasciende.
Ninguna declaración expresa todo lo que puede ser dicho.
Ninguna oración expresa totalmente nuestra Fe.
Ninguna confesión deviene en perfección.
Ningún programa lleva a cabo la misión de Cristo.
Ninguna meta o serie de objetivos incluye la totalidad.
Eso es lo que proponemos.
Plantamos las semillas que algún día brotarán.
Regamos las semillas que ya han sido plantadas,
sabiendo que contienen una promesa futura.
Echamos los cimientos que necesitarán posterior desarrollo.
Proveemos la levadura que produce efectos más allá de nuestras aptitudes.
No podemos hacer todo,
y al darnos cuenta de ello nos sentimos liberados.
Eso nos permite hacer algo y hacerlo muy bien.
Será incompleto pero es un comienzo,
un paso a lo largo del camino,
y una oportunidad para que la gracia del Señor aparezca y haga el resto.
Quizá nunca veremos los resultados finales.
Pero ahí está la diferencia entre el maestro de obras y el albañil.
Somos albañiles, no maestros de obra, ministros, pero no Mesías.
Somos los profetas de un futuro que no es el nuestro.
Oscar Romero
El Reino no solamente está más allá de nuestros esfuerzos, sino que trasciende nuestra visión.
Cumplimos en nuestra vida solamente una ínfima fracción
de la magnífica empresa que es la obra de Dios.
Nada de lo que hacemos es completo, lo cual es otra forma de decir
que el Reino siempre nos trasciende.
Ninguna declaración expresa todo lo que puede ser dicho.
Ninguna oración expresa totalmente nuestra Fe.
Ninguna confesión deviene en perfección.
Ningún programa lleva a cabo la misión de Cristo.
Ninguna meta o serie de objetivos incluye la totalidad.
Eso es lo que proponemos.
Plantamos las semillas que algún día brotarán.
Regamos las semillas que ya han sido plantadas,
sabiendo que contienen una promesa futura.
Echamos los cimientos que necesitarán posterior desarrollo.
Proveemos la levadura que produce efectos más allá de nuestras aptitudes.
No podemos hacer todo,
y al darnos cuenta de ello nos sentimos liberados.
Eso nos permite hacer algo y hacerlo muy bien.
Será incompleto pero es un comienzo,
un paso a lo largo del camino,
y una oportunidad para que la gracia del Señor aparezca y haga el resto.
Quizá nunca veremos los resultados finales.
Pero ahí está la diferencia entre el maestro de obras y el albañil.
Somos albañiles, no maestros de obra, ministros, pero no Mesías.
Somos los profetas de un futuro que no es el nuestro.
Oscar Romero
Saturday, June 17, 2006
When God Comes Down
The narrative of the
However, the inhabitants of the
Considering that the energy with which we can set ourselves to try to erect the towers of our group identity at the peril of all others, we can ask ourselves: Could it be that being scattered, more than being a curse would be God’s blessed way of liberating us from becoming self enclosed to the extent of turning into a rigid “insider’s club”. God “went down” and intervened in favor of diversity. It was only after the inhabitants were prevented from building a colossal “city” that they were able to begin building different and distinct “cities” in places where they were once again scattered.
The same type of openness and sending occurred in the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:5-12). God “comes down” upon those that were gathered in the upper room and they go out to speak in a way that others could understand them. With that initial impulse the apostles were set in a trajectory toward “the ends of the earth”. It would be only as they ventured into the foreign lands of the
The openness that Spirit carves into the heart of the community of faith prevents it from being stuck in a set conception of God, itself and those around it. The Spirit is the only impulse that can turn our often self serving institutions into communities that live in the risky reality of being sent to transform and being transformed as they go. As soon as a society, organization or church begins using all its energies to hang on to a crystallized identity, vocabulary or system of thought, it begins to die. Before God comes down our rootedness becomes confinement, our apotheosis degenerates into sclerosis. When God comes down the apparent weakness of being scattered becomes our true strength. My confidence is that the living presence of the Spirit promised by Jesus to his Church will continue to give us the courage to be the people of God scattered beyond our walls and among the often unfamiliar realities and territories of today’s society.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Friday, January 20, 2006
Friday, January 06, 2006
At the Bellagio- Maricela's favorite in Vegas
En el Hotel Bellagio. El favorito de Maricela en Las Vegas
Monday, December 26, 2005
Friday, August 26, 2005
A trip to Remember...
There are events in everyone’s life that leave a special taste in our mouth. The couple of weeks Maricela and I spent in Cancun was one of those...
Last minute changes in our flight itinerary gave us the opportunity to visit Atlanta for the first time together. MARTA (local train system) took us to some of the city’s landmarks in an only three hours!
Pilar (Juan’s mother) and Andres (brother-in-law) were waiting for us upon our arrival at Cancun International Airport. It had been five years since we had seen them last. After felt hugs and kisses we transited through the picturesque streets of Cancun on board the family car, listening to the tunes of U2’s “How to Disarm an Atomic Bomb”. Arriving at the Zambrano’s home was indeed disarming: Last time we had spent time with them (including Thania -Juan’s sister- and Mayela - niece-) was in Margarita Island in the Venezuelan Caribbean. And now, here they were, settled and prospering in a whole different country !
Cancun is a unique place. Its beaches with turquoise waters and white sand. The majestic natural beauties of the Riviera Maya with its cenotes, (sink-holes) thick tropical jungles side by side, the incredible coral reefs where schools of multi-color fish allowed us to dance with them. The quiet spirit of the local Mayan people. The awe-inspiring ruins that testify to one of the most sophisticated and long lived civilizations in human history. The glamour of the Zona Hotelera with its fancy malls, restaurants and hotels in Las Vegas style. (Juan had a great chance to reflect on his background in the hotel industry during those days). We had never seen any other place with the tourist infrastructure of the area.
In many ways, Cancun has more of what is commonly perceived as an “American feeling” and less of a “Mexican feeling” than, let’s say, East Los Angeles. We did, however, have the privilege of visiting villages in the Yucatan area that did not look like anything you would find in this country. We also got to savor the rich typical food . By the way, you may know that “burritos” are actually an American creation and not commonly found in typical food restaurants.
What we enjoyed the most was being able to spend time with our family. Although Mayela is now a very beautiful and bright young lady she preserves the sweet personality of the nine-year-old we once met for the fist time. Along with Thania and Andres, she is part of one of the most loving families we have ever seen . We were also impressed by how much all of them (including Pilar that is currently residing in Venezuela) are into health and wholeness. Not only are they in great shape but they talk as fitness and nutrition gurus.
Either watching a gorgeous sunset, enjoying an “Asadito” (Argentinean Barbeque), at a bohemian winery or simply in the Zambrano’s living room (with the loyal company of Sheri, an unforgettably smart Venezuelan poodle?), our conversation was always captivating. We recounted our memories with deeply felt gratitude to the One that made the beauty of those moments possible. Stories of people being transformed by the testimony of Christ through Thania and Pilar gave us a fresh appreciation of the powerful ways the Spirit moves:
• A single mother of two lives in desperate emotional and financial conditions. She puts her trust in Christ and regains emotional and financial stability for the first time in many years.
• A young lady is dying hopelessly in a hospital. Through intercessory prayer she instantaneously recovered in a misterious way.
• A mother that that desperately saw her son drawn into apparently hopeless drug abuse. They both find abundant life.
The gentle of breeze of Cancun… and then, the gentle breeze of the Spirit: We overheard people talking about the Way in stores, restaurants and on the beach. Beautiful praise and worship music could be heard at the “Mercado 28” (A souvenirs’ open market). As we drove in Yucatan we saw how, very often, the largest buildings in the area’s small villages where Presbyterian Churches. Worshipping at First Presbyterian Church of Cancun we learned that they have a big problem: In each of their three Sunday services their 400 seats sanctuary is filled to capacity. Theirs is only one of the seven Presbyterian churches in that town of around 800,000 people!
It’s hard not to get carried away with what God is doing among the nations. As members of a family that is scattered around the globe we are truly excited to have opportunities for witnessing of the all embracing love of the One that has called a people through which “all the families of the earth” will be blessed (Genesis 12:3, NLT)
Last minute changes in our flight itinerary gave us the opportunity to visit Atlanta for the first time together. MARTA (local train system) took us to some of the city’s landmarks in an only three hours!
Pilar (Juan’s mother) and Andres (brother-in-law) were waiting for us upon our arrival at Cancun International Airport. It had been five years since we had seen them last. After felt hugs and kisses we transited through the picturesque streets of Cancun on board the family car, listening to the tunes of U2’s “How to Disarm an Atomic Bomb”. Arriving at the Zambrano’s home was indeed disarming: Last time we had spent time with them (including Thania -Juan’s sister- and Mayela - niece-) was in Margarita Island in the Venezuelan Caribbean. And now, here they were, settled and prospering in a whole different country !
Cancun is a unique place. Its beaches with turquoise waters and white sand. The majestic natural beauties of the Riviera Maya with its cenotes, (sink-holes) thick tropical jungles side by side, the incredible coral reefs where schools of multi-color fish allowed us to dance with them. The quiet spirit of the local Mayan people. The awe-inspiring ruins that testify to one of the most sophisticated and long lived civilizations in human history. The glamour of the Zona Hotelera with its fancy malls, restaurants and hotels in Las Vegas style. (Juan had a great chance to reflect on his background in the hotel industry during those days). We had never seen any other place with the tourist infrastructure of the area.
In many ways, Cancun has more of what is commonly perceived as an “American feeling” and less of a “Mexican feeling” than, let’s say, East Los Angeles. We did, however, have the privilege of visiting villages in the Yucatan area that did not look like anything you would find in this country. We also got to savor the rich typical food . By the way, you may know that “burritos” are actually an American creation and not commonly found in typical food restaurants.
What we enjoyed the most was being able to spend time with our family. Although Mayela is now a very beautiful and bright young lady she preserves the sweet personality of the nine-year-old we once met for the fist time. Along with Thania and Andres, she is part of one of the most loving families we have ever seen . We were also impressed by how much all of them (including Pilar that is currently residing in Venezuela) are into health and wholeness. Not only are they in great shape but they talk as fitness and nutrition gurus.
Either watching a gorgeous sunset, enjoying an “Asadito” (Argentinean Barbeque), at a bohemian winery or simply in the Zambrano’s living room (with the loyal company of Sheri, an unforgettably smart Venezuelan poodle?), our conversation was always captivating. We recounted our memories with deeply felt gratitude to the One that made the beauty of those moments possible. Stories of people being transformed by the testimony of Christ through Thania and Pilar gave us a fresh appreciation of the powerful ways the Spirit moves:
• A single mother of two lives in desperate emotional and financial conditions. She puts her trust in Christ and regains emotional and financial stability for the first time in many years.
• A young lady is dying hopelessly in a hospital. Through intercessory prayer she instantaneously recovered in a misterious way.
• A mother that that desperately saw her son drawn into apparently hopeless drug abuse. They both find abundant life.
The gentle of breeze of Cancun… and then, the gentle breeze of the Spirit: We overheard people talking about the Way in stores, restaurants and on the beach. Beautiful praise and worship music could be heard at the “Mercado 28” (A souvenirs’ open market). As we drove in Yucatan we saw how, very often, the largest buildings in the area’s small villages where Presbyterian Churches. Worshipping at First Presbyterian Church of Cancun we learned that they have a big problem: In each of their three Sunday services their 400 seats sanctuary is filled to capacity. Theirs is only one of the seven Presbyterian churches in that town of around 800,000 people!
It’s hard not to get carried away with what God is doing among the nations. As members of a family that is scattered around the globe we are truly excited to have opportunities for witnessing of the all embracing love of the One that has called a people through which “all the families of the earth” will be blessed (Genesis 12:3, NLT)
Monday, August 15, 2005
Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta
En nuestras recientes vacaciones a Cancun nuestro vuelo hizo escala nada mas y nada menos que en Atlanta. Que buena oportunidad de mostrarle a Maricela un poco de los encantos de la ciudad a la que viajo con frecuencia
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