Dr. King and the Need for a New Church

As I reflect on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today, I can’t help but meditate deeply on something he wrote within an article entitled, “The Case Against Tokenism” for the New York Times, August 5, 1962-

“…it is still true that the church is the most segregated major institution in America. As a minister of the gospel, I am ashamed to say that eleven o’clock on Sunday morning-when we stand to sing ‘In Christ There Is No East Nor West’- is the most segregated hour of America, and that Sunday school is the most segregated school of the week.”

So what is the state of the church in the United States of America today, some 40 years after the murder of Dr. King? Christian sociologist Michael Emerson, who co-wrote the important book, “Divided By Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America”, has said that today only about 7% of the church in the U.S. would be deemed multiracial. Of all the institutions in the United States could it be that the Christian church has struggled the most in living out the dream and vision of Dr. King? It seems so. But, in order to be missional into the future this must change. I am actually very hopeful about this happening.

On the website, churchleaders.com, Sam Rainer recently wrote about “Ten (Unexpected) Church Trends to Surface by 2020″ (http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/157452-10-unexpected-church-trends-to-surface-by-2020.html). The very first trend he mentions deals with something that champions of the multi-ethnic and missional church have known for a long time. Rainer points to the trend that the heterogeneous (or homogeneous church principle) church will explode. The question becomes what will cause this and are we preparing emerging leaders for this reality?

Let me deal with the issue of preparing leaders. No longer can we afford to make multi-ethnic and missional ministry simply a “track” within a leadership conference or a “Pre-conferene” before the general conference begins. Multi-ethnic and missional ministry must become the central issue of every denomination, church planting association, seminary, and leadership conference. I’m so glad, that the Evangelical Covenant Church, the denomination I serve, has done just that (www.covchurch.org).

Theology, preaching, church leadership, and ministry practice must be connected to this central issue of multi-ethnic and missional ministry. Multi-ethnicity is important, not just because of the current and future multicultural realities, but also because Jesus walked the earth as a multi-ethnic human being and the Bible is the most multi-ethnic story you will ever read. Being missional is about the church having a sense of urgency concerning evangelism, outreach, and biblical justice. These are the key components of the advancement of the kingdom of God.

To live into this multi-ethnic and missional movement, we can learn much from Dr. King the theologian. I encourage you to engage his writings and then return to the Scriptures with new eyes. Allowing Dr. King to influence how we engage the Scriptures allows us to see the God of salvation, deliverance, and liberation. The new church that is needed today can be developed as the words of Dr. King allow us to see the true church of the Scriptures. This church takes on the mission of advancing what Dr. King called, The Beloved Community. The Beloved Community is realized as the church embodies reconciliation, redemption, transformation, and justice.

My Take on, “9 Reasons Not to Plant a Church in 2012″

Here is my take on a piece written recently entitled, “9 Reasons Not to Plant a Church in 2012.” I originally thought this was written by DJ Chuang, but that is not the case. It was passed on by him, but written by a guy named Andrew, I believe. I still think you should read it and then decide if you agree with my disagreements or not. Here are the links below to what he said or just google it.

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2012/01/9-reasons-not-to-plant-a-church-in-2012.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20Tallskinnykiwi%20(TallSkinnyKiwi)

Short link- j.mp/ycnSi1

Here’s my response-

One, the advice on church planting begins with C. Peter Wagner’s outdated principles on church planting. If this is where we are beginning, not only should we not plant churches this year, we should stop completely. Planting churches doesn’t begin with what C. Peter Wagner says, it begins with what Scripture says. For example, “How does the book of Acts speak to whether we should plant churches or not?”

Second, the writer then roots his advice in his travels to Europe and Asia. Many theologians have been saying for the last few years that the new center of Christianity is in Africa, Central America, and South America. Why don’t Africans, African-Americans, or Hispanics get any say in the writers’ commentary on church planting? We are in a multicultural reality and I believe he should have diversified the foundation his comments more.

Third, his #8 reason for not planting churches in 2012 is, “Church planting normally thrives in wealthier areas or suburban areas but ignores the urban poor.” Well, maybe the answer is not to stop planting churches this year, but to plant abnormal multi-ethnic and missional churches.” You don’t have to separate missional ministry from the experience of corporate worship. The writer presents an “either or” instead of a more holistic and biblical, “both and.” I wonder if he has experience in planting multi-ethnic and missional urban churches. I do, and I know others who are leading a new movement of church planting that is needed in 2012.

Here are reasons to plant a church in 2012-

1.) The church in the US remains over 90% racially segregated. Church planting is the best path to the multi-ethnic and Kingdom Church.

2.) For those of us who believe in the call of women to pastoral leadership, church planting is one avenue to providing opportunities for our Sisters to live out their calling.

3.) It’s biblical. Without the biblical mandate for church planting, some of the books in the New Testament might not be needed or make sense. (Book of Acts, etc.)

4.) The challenges of urban and rural poor communities calls for the planting of new church models.