Toward 2035

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No it’s that her MO on all threads is sooo irritating on purpose. She’s a right wing agitator. She can’t admit that’s the camp she’s in though.

She’s a brat for the wrong reasons. Her brother was a brat for good ones.
 
Okay but let's not turn this into a discussion about individual posting styles.

Interested in comments from anyone who has followed the link to the United Church website and/ or the video.
 
At this point, I have only looked quickly through the material provided for congregations. But it seems to be focused on examining our purpose for existing. Plus striving to be of more service to our local communities. And of course, seeking to make our congregations more diverse.

Great. Hard to argue with these things. But are they the answer to declining membership?

Feeling a tad cynical I guess. I am inclined to agree with some of the points in the video.
 
chansen said:
Just that she's pretending she's new here. It's mind-boggling.
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Oh!…the “long time members…but I did not”. What a lying little b too.

It’s because not only is she using familiar annoying tactics to disrupt (notice it works but you have to call people on this stuff anyway because it’s ruining the world and it benefits the far right) and surreptitiously promote garbage, she is pretending she’s only fairly recently here as WhyCzar. Both reasons are dishonest and problematic.
 
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If the topic is "Toward 2035", I think we all know nothing will really come of it. There will be some statements. Some conservative outrage machines will be offended by maybe a statement of solidarity with Gaza or something like that. There will be nothing about the marriage of Christianity with conservative politics, fascism or maple-flavoured MAGA. No domestic feathers will be ruffled. No church or school board will be offended or even know about this effort. It will end in a PDF and be forgotten within a year.

And I'd love to be wrong, but I have no faith in the United Church to do anything "daring" or "bold". Backs against the wall, nothing to lose really, and I still bet there will be no rally cry, no local controversial statements made, and no need for anyone to reply because it will not register in the media and be hardly noticed inside the very churches who are being asked to think boldly.

We've all seen this before. We know what will happen. You're all so worried about offending people that you're frozen in place. No one knows you exist. No one thinks of you as an alternative. You should have been a landing spot for people leaving stupid churches, but you blew it because you never differentiated yourselves, and your idea of a renewal movement is to look more like the stupid churches.

Rita's bogus claim is a welcome distraction from the misery of this topic.
 
The United Church was daring and bold in 1988 but we are no longer outliers in the liberal/ progressive Christian world. We were also out there with our apology for our role in the residential school system but this got us much less traction.

The original WC was a bold move too. The advertising alone was great PR for the denomination.

However I don't think WC ever had a very clear mandate beyond experimentation with a new form of outreach. And I still think it was short sighted to cancel the initiative.

Not sure what we are going to do next to be bold or daring. Or deep.
 
You know what, you're right. It was bold in 1988. And it paid a price. And maybe that's why it's been hesitant to be bold since.

But you can't go half way. Standing with LGBTQ is great. Now is the time to be a Christian denomination that stands against other Christian denominations who align with fascist and racist ideology. Piss off some other churches. They've been talking s**t about you guys for years.
 
Nothing suggests to me that this new thing is about opposing conservative/ evangelical Christians.

It is about looking inward and doing more community service. Or at least I think so.
 
There's been very little activity on this thread. And it's a snow day here in southern Ontario so presumably a lot of folks are not exactly out and about doing things.

Back in the day a thread like this one would have generated considerable response. So what's up?

I personally think we are declining in the same manner as our bricks and mortar congregations.
 
paradox3 said:
The United Church was daring and bold in 1988 but we are no longer outliers in the liberal/ progressive Christian world. We were also out there with our apology for our role in the residential school system but this got us much less traction.

The original WC was a bold move too. The advertising alone was great PR for the denomination.

However I don't think WC ever had a very clear mandate beyond experimentation with a new form of outreach. And I still think it was short sighted to cancel the initiative.

Not sure what we are going to do next to be bold or daring. Or deep.
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The problem with the initiative that included WC was very basic (in my opinion). At the time I was attending a UUCan congregation. The people in the pews were not educated about the initiative ahead of releasing the wonderful ads. Many were horrified because they personally weren't open to that type of theology. It was a typical 'top down' thing and landed like a lead balloon. In this small town there were plenty of people who didn't accept LGBTQ folk or people of a different colour.

Cancelling WC cancelled access to people who were searching for a place where it was safe to ask questions and discuss non traditional viewpoints. For quite some time it was considered the BEST discussion group run by any Christian based denomination.

Head honchos got cold feet maybe?
 
paradox3 said:
Now it seems evangelical denominations are losing members too but not as rapidly as we are.
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The church's vision statement for Toward 2035 explicitly says:

"In The United Church of Canada, inspired, resilient, and diverse contextual communities of disciples seek to continue the story of Jesus by embodying Christ’s presence in the world."

So I maybe mistook the initiative as another try at increasing the membership when what it may be looking for is more disciples "picking up their crosses" and carrying them into the streets instead of remaining in the safety of the church buildings?
 
Hard to believe it has been almost twenty years since those ads landed in many popular magazines!

In the congregation I was attending at the time, some of the members were shocked and dismayed by the campaign.

Others saw the necessity of reaching out to beyond our walls.

I think all congregations received a glossy print of each advertisement. But possibly they lacked context or information. My minister used them to hold a series of excellent discussion groups.

The campaign (Including WC) was designed to run for a limited time. I am not aware that any real evaluation took place.

Interesting chapter in our history.
 
paradox3 said:
Hard to believe it has been almost twenty years since those ads landed in many popular magazines!

In the congregation I was attending at the time, some of the members were shocked and dismayed by the campaign.

Others saw the necessity of reaching out to beyond our walls.

I think all congregations received a glossy print of each advertisement. But possibly they lacked context or information. My minister used them to hold a series of excellent discussion groups.

The campaign (Including WC) was designed to run for a limited time. I am not aware that any real evaluation took place.

Interesting chapter in our history.
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Does it indicate a closed area of thought? That's tough, like pigskin and foot Baal ... basic?
 
WhyCzar said:
The church's vision statement for Toward 2035 explicitly says:

"In The United Church of Canada, inspired, resilient, and diverse contextual communities of disciples seek to continue the story of Jesus by embodying Christ’s presence in the world."

So I maybe mistook the initiative as another try at increasing the membership when what it may be looking for is more disciples "picking up their crosses" and carrying them into the streets instead of remaining in the safety of the church buildings?
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Or more likely a bit of both...
 
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