Part 2: Pluralism Impact on the Future of Church Presentation by Susan Boddaert

This shift suggests other potential changes for the Church of the Future.

Effects of this shift on the Church are…  The average age of Church members will be lower.

Effects of this shift on the Church are…  The average age of Church members will be lower. “The Christians of the next century […] will be young, since two-thirds of the populations of the ‘South’ are under 25.” - Taylor

Effects of this shift on the Church are…  The average age of Church members will be lower. “The Christians of the next century […] will be young, since two-thirds of the populations of the ‘South’ are under 25.” - Taylor By 2050, there will be an ever-growing contrast between the age profiles of the global South and North, between the world of the young and very mobile and the world of the old and static.” - Jenkins

Effects of this shift on the Church are…  The average age of Church members will be lower.  The commitment of Church members will be higher in terms of belief and practice.

Effects of this shift on the Church are…  The average age of Church members will be lower.  The commitment of Church members will be higher in terms of belief and practice. “…they will be dynamic, despite the apathy that accompanies malnutrition, because their hope is strong.” - Bishop Newbigin

Effects of this shift on the Church are…  The average age of Church members will be lower.  The commitment of Church members will be higher in terms of belief and practice.  They will be poor.

Effects of this shift on the Church are…  The average age of Church members will be lower.  The commitment of Church members will be higher in terms of belief and practice.  They will be poor. “All the churches in the industrial wealthy nations will be painfully adjusting their habit of thought to take in the fact that they are members of the church of the poor – no longer the church for the poor.” - Taylor

Effects of this shift on the Church are…  The average age of Church members will be lower.  The commitment of Church members will be higher in terms of belief and practice.  They will be poor.  There will be changes in belief and theology.

Effects of this shift on the Church are…  The average age of Church members will be lower.  The commitment of Church members will be higher in terms of belief and practice.  They will be poor.  There will be changes in belief and theology. “Demographic changes naturally have their religious consequences, since the new immigrant groups follow cultural patterns more akin to their home societies than to the host nations.” - Jenkins

Globalization, therefore, is inevitably partnered with

Globalization, therefore, is inevitably partnered with pluralism.

Globalization, therefore, is inevitably partnered with pluralism. And together they expand each other’s influence.

Pluralism & Globalization "[Globalization] can be incredibly empowering and incredibly coercive. It can democratize opportunity and democratize panic. It makes the whales bigger and the minnows stronger. It leaves you behind faster and faster, and it catches up to you faster and faster. While it is homogenizing cultures, it is also enabling people to share their unique individuality farther and wider." The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman

Pluralism & Globalization “If demographic change just meant that Christianity would continue to be practiced in more or less its present form, but by people of a different ethnic background, that would of itself be a fact of some historical moment. But the changes of the coming decades promise to be much more sweeping than that.” - Jenkins

Pluralism & Globalization “The types of Christianity that have thrived most successfully in the global South have been very different from what many Europeans and North Americans consider mainstream.” - Jenkins

New models of “Church” are the direct result of the global shifts that have been going on and the acceptance of cultural pluralism within society and within Christianity itself.

Characteristics of ‘new’ models  They are far more enthusiastic.

Characteristics of ‘new’ models  They are far more enthusiastic.  Much more centered on the workings of the supernatural.

Characteristics of ‘new’ models  They are far more enthusiastic.  Much more centered on the workings of the supernatural.  Much more open to spiritual gifts such as speaking tongues, prophecy, and healing.

Characteristics of ‘new’ models  They are far more enthusiastic.  Much more centered on the workings of the supernatural.  Much more open to spiritual gifts such as speaking tongues, prophecy, and healing.  Much more open to ecstatic expressions especially in dancing and music.

There is a fear among the traditional Christian communities, that cultural pluralism, caused by the shifts of globalization, will result in religious pluralism.

“At what point does inculturation end, to be replaced by the submergence of Christianity into some other religion? When cultural assimilation reaches a certain point, Western observers complain that what is being transformed is not merely the trappings but the core of the faith.” - Jenkins

Perhaps the greatest impact on the future of the Church of these two partners, globalization and pluralism, will be a re-evaluation of essentials.

To Keep the Core of Faith…You must define it. For in order to keep the core of the faith the essentials of the faith must first be defined.

Defining and Defending the Core of Faith For in order to keep the core of the faith the essentials of the faith must first be defined… And then defended.

“A growing religious pluralism will cause us to visit various articles of the faith in the future, especially the doctrines of soteriology [… ] and Christology [… ] The Church must always be visiting and revisiting theological issues.” - Reggie McNeal in The Present Future.

Preparing for the Future of Church “Church leaders mostly whine about how the church is suffering under this cultural shift rather than making serious adjustments to make the church more available to people…” -Reggie McNeal in The Present Future.

Preparing for the Future of Church These challenges to the future of Church, many suggest, are not new. In fact, McNeal suggests they are the same challenges faced by the apostles.

Preparing for the Future of Church.”..the challenges to church leaders in the emerging twenty-first century parallel those that faced leaders in the first Christian century (commonly called the apostolic era). These include religious pluralism, globalism, and the collapse of institutional religion, accompanied by an increased interest in personal spiritual development.”

Preparing for the Future of Church The North American response to these changes is not one of indifference. Webber, in his book, The Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New World, explains this response.

Preparing for the Future of Church “Youth are open to the supernatural, ready to commit their lives to a cause they can believe in, ready for a leadership that sees the church as made up of many tribes and nations – a church that is intergenerational and intercultural.”

Preparing for the Future of Church Far more than in earlier generations, Christians are looking to establish a new “Church” which lives out its faith in the presence of other faiths, in peace.

Preparing for the Future of Church “Religious pluralism will certainly be a significant fact of life in the next century and a new quality of relationship among the major religions is bound to develop…

Preparing for the Future of Church “Instead of seeing one another are rivals … they are likely to become more aware of the rise of irreligion and spiritual indifference in the world, and may see themselves as fellow witnesses to the reality of God.” -McManners