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Mohawk District
Welcome to the Mohawk District
We include 92 churches of the North Central New York Annual Conference. The District is located near the Adirondack Mountains of New York State along the Erie Canal and Mohawk River in the northeastern United States. Contact us at mohawkdistrict@centralny.twcbc.com Rev. Dr. Sung Ho Lee District Superintendent |
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Why Is Our Church Declining? The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has recently produced “U.S Religious Landscape Survey 2008.” Let me share with you a few findings from the survey: · Among Americans ages 18-29, one-in-four say they are not currently affiliated with any particular religion. · More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion – or no religion at all. If change in affiliation from one type of Protestantism to another is included, 44% of adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from being unaffiliated with any religion to being affiliated with a particular faith, or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition altogether. · The Landscape Survey confirms that the United States is on the verge of becoming a minority Protestant country; the number of Americans who report that they are members of Protestant denominations now stands at barely 51%. (Source: http://religions.pewforum.org/reports) Why is our church declining? Why is our denomination declining? There is no simple answer for that. There is not “the answer” that fits every church. So, of course, I don’t think my answers are “the answers,” but I hope they will help you see the current reality of the church more clearly. I think the reasons why our church is declining are: · Lack of the Power of God · Misunderstanding of the Nature of Christian Faith · Separation of Evangelism and Social Concerns · Absence of the Process Ministry Beginning this month, these issues will be discussed one at a time. First, the Church declines when the power of God is lacking. No matter how good your understanding of God is, the church declines if you don’t have the power of God in you. The power of creation! The power of resurrection! We just celebrated Easter. We sang, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” We sang, “I serve a risen Savior, he’s in the world today. I know that he is living… He lives in my heart.” Does the risen Christ live in you? Do you have the power of the resurrection in you? Do you remember the rich young man who consulted with Jesus (Matthew 19:16-30)? He said, “I have kept all these [including ‘love your neighbor as yourself’].” I think he was pretty good. But sadly enough he was not one of those who were involved in the birthing and explosive growing of the church. Who started the church and grew it? Those who were filled with the Holy Spirit did it. What is the Holy Spirit? I don’t want to make a theological articulation in this column. I just want to share with you a practical definition from my perspective and experience. When you feel in your body, mind and spirit the power of God, the power of creation and the power of resurrection, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Can you see the difference between the rich young man and the apostles who were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost? We are the people of the God of creation. We are the people of the Christ of resurrection. The driving force for our ministry is neither our will nor our moral conviction. They are our GPS. The driving force for us is the power of God. Below is a picture of a hurricane.
(Source: http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/science/images/hurricane.jpg) Imagine that God is in the eye of the hurricane. You are present with God right there just like Moses encountered God in the burning bush. Do you feel the amazing power? It is in you now. Of course, the power of God is much greater than the power of a hurricane, which means the power of God in you is much greater than the power of a hurricane. It is strong enough to change our lives. And when we are driven by that power as we love our neighbors, it is powerful enough to change their lives. Those who are driven by the power of God are disciples and not volunteers. Those who are filled with the power of God are not driven by duty but by passion. Those who are full of the power of God are not minimalists who seek to minimize or reduce to a minimum in their commitment to ministry but want to give as much as they can. Those who are driven by the power of God do not keep their lives under control just to maintain the status quo. Instead, they are passionate about growing, even willing to take the risk. How can we experience the power of God? We need to meet God where we are, through Bible study, studies on different theologies both contemporary and traditional, understanding of cosmologies of different times, interweaving understandings from these studies. More details will be found in the Mohawk District website, www.mohawkdistrictumc.org. If you have questions or want to discuss, use the message board on the Mohawk District website. Christ is risen! Alleluia!
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