new church life: march/april 2015
Among strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats he included:
Strengths: Powerful message, commitment to outreach, increasing global
culture, education.
Weaknesses: Communication, hanging on to traditional forms, not
attracting the next generation, a culture of criticism and strong opinions, need
for improved professional development, our complex structure.
Opportunities: Spiritual guidance for children, young people who want
to make the world better, technology, international potential, increased roles
for women, growth of small groups.
Threats: Cultural environment, time, General Church perceived as out of
touch, gaps between clergy and laity.
General Church values: Turning to the Word, developing faith and trust
in providence, outreach, self-examination and repentance, participation in the
life of the Church.
Major Goals: New Church education and equipping our young people for
regeneration and a life of use; reaching out to share the truths of the Threefold
Word, especially using technology; strengthen engagement with the Church,
using individual gifts; clarify our purposes and values.
Among concerns and questions raised by those in attendance:
• How are church plants doing? Can we see more of them?
• Glaring lack of communication in recent years. Budget cuts forced
cutbacks, but there is a cost to not communicating also (i.e. loss of
trust and support). Administration, clergy, board, etc., need to be more
proactive about sharing information throughout the Church.
• Cost of sending ministers to small groups when we can transmit services
to them for nothing.
• General Church schools on life support: when does the Church bite the
bullet? (Bishop Buss said we need an infusion of energy around New
Church education. Decisions will be made at the local level; we will
support societies as much as we are able.)
• Appeals for contributions are too fragmented (General Church, Bryn
Athyn College, Academy Secondary Schools, local societies, etc.) They
used to be coordinated so you could just write one check and designate
how it was to be divided.
• Why aren’t we attracting our young people? It was mentioned that a
consultant told an Academy administrator that “you do a great job with
religious education, but you don’t close the deal.” He was amazed that a
religious institution would just let graduates walk away without “signing
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