End of the Road for Small Congregations?

The word came to me today that the Methodist Church is moving away from Local Shared Ministry. They have a new word for whatever it is that they are going to put in place. It seems to be ministry teams of lay people. But it doesn’t seem to pick up the simple essentials of Local Shared Ministry.

In a sense, this is no surprise. My denomination’s commitment to LSM has never run much deeper than putting some provisions into the law book a few years ago. Dedicated leadership in implementing the policy hasn’t been given. The revitalisation of dwindling papalagi congregations has not had high priority in a church with multi-ethnic responsibilities.

Now, after decades of being ignored, small congregations are learning that all Methodist buildings be closed unless they meet twice the level of earthquake security that the government requires. It must seem as if the denomination is deliberately planning their demise.

Perhaps it is. Who knows?

Strength for the day?

Around 6am today, the NZ Herald on my phone informed me that earthquake strengthening Auckland’s buildings will cost $10 billion. On a statistical basis, it was claimed, this would probably save seven lives in a hundred years. However, five to seven other lives would be lost due to stress of the strengthening process.  The article pointed out that if the $10 billion were spent on improving our roads, quite a few lives would be saved each year.

The article rang some bells for me. I have been uneasy about the huge cost of earthquake-proofing every Methodist church in the country against the long odds of a serious earthquake hitting with no warning on a Sunday morning at 10am. So I rushed to the newly set up computer to put a post on my blog.

I went to check the facts and found this interesting piece had disappeared from the Herald App. My suspicious mind reminded me that it is April 1^st. Could the now invisible “report” be an April Fool stunt? That would be in pretty bad taste just when we are all agonising over the personal stories as the inquests and investigations continue.  Christchurch has taught us that earthquakes have to be taken very seriously, even in low-risk zones. 

But life teaches us also that stuff happens. Earthquakes, tsunamis and the effects of global warming are part of the reality of our existence. We all live just one day at a time. At the end of the day we cannot protect ourselves or those we love against every possible contingency. Faith is not doing everything we possibly can to ensure that we will be here tomorrow. It is living today as if there will be a tomorrow. That should be enough for us. 

All the same, I'm glad that our new home is also more than 30 metres above sea level.