Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday

It’s easy to blame church problems on COVID. But many trends were impacting Christian churches a long time before the pandemic. Historian and theologian Phyllis Tickle describes it as “Every five hundred years, the Church cleans out its attic and has a giant rummage sale.” Methods and programs that once nurtured faith in congregations no longer connected with many people, forms of worship seemed hollow, structures that once supported vital activities now suffocated people’s souls. There were similar trends with Sunday night, prayer night, Sunday School, vacation bible school. Christian education taught guidelines but did not form believers who look like Jesus. Then COVID came and sped up the decline. Where is the Jesus movement heading? In this series we look at signs of life for clues and a church of the future.

January 22 - Jesus Christ: Our Hope (Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday) (Luke 18:35-43) Churches in Europe learn how to live in post-Christian cultures where the church no longer holds high social status. Churches in third-world countries learn about being alternative communities of support without abundant financial resources. As North American churches are losing status and financial capacity in their communities, what might brothers and sisters around the world teach us about being faithful? Congregants were encouraged to wear bright and colorful clothing to church this week as a celebration of worship.