A few years ago I was talking with one of those kind of “cool dude” guys in his 20’s who was part of the worship team of a church I was working with. He had stumbled on an old hymn book and was telling me about the lyrics he discovered there. With tears welling up in his eyes he began reading lyrics like:
Cast your cares on Jesus today, leave your worry and fear, burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near”
.
…..or…
“What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief to bear, what a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer, oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.”
He was astonished and overwhelmed at the depth and promise. I grew up with those hymns and have taken them for granted I guess. So at first glance was surprised he was so impacted.
This past week I had the opportunity to share an early morning presentation on culture with a group of pastors near Indianapolis. Even though the group was mostly white boomers in the mid forties to late fifties they were very engaged and passionate group of pastors anxious to ponder what they were feeling in the shifting culture around them. I asked them to share changes they observed the past five years. They shared:
- The use of Power Point and video
- Casual dress
- Consumer mentality
- Church was no longer the center of their life
- Aging population needs more help
All stuff we’ve heard before right. Then they shared they were seeing a reverse trend as they called it. They were observing an increasing interest in, yes, old traditional hymns. The Catholic priest with us shared there’s an increasing interest in Latin mass as well.
And yet one other story that ties in. We are working on a $15 M dollar addition for one of the fastest growing churches in America. The church has grown 25-30% annually for ten years or so and the pastor confidently shared he had a clear sense from God what to do through all the past building programs. But this time he was confused and perplexed just where culture and ministry were headed. He was thinking of building a 4000 seat auditorium which is a big leap from the current 1700 seater built 3-4 years ago. After weeks of “Visioning “ exercises it became clear there was a fresh wind blowing. That big 4000 seater mega church feel may not align with this fresh breeze. It was clear fresh thinking and a fresh space was needed as well.
After much prayer and planning we are moving forward with a 600 seat traditional chapel (video venue to augment the current 1700 auditorium). It features vintage stained glass and laminated arches. In addition, they are investing several million in enlarged and enhanced “Connecting and Belonging” space to help facilitate a ministry that addresses the “Six Underlying Movements” we’ve been pondering here, This space is addressing the younger generations:
What a dramatic shift from where the conversation began.
So what is happening here? And, how do all these Underlying Movements tie in?
