Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
Dr. Jay Gary of Regent University’s School of Global Leadership and Strategic Foresight gave tonight’s lecture on “Mapping the Future of Christianity.” He outlined a model for thinking about and planning for the future. His suggestion was to envision three possible types of future: 1) The expected future that one can forecast, 2) The alternative future which one thinks about by suggesting different scenarios of what might happen, and 3) the surprise future, the ensemble of unexpected futures that would represent a radical break from our assumptions about how things will play out. The surprise futures are the least expected and have the lowest probability of happening but would have the most impact, represent the greatest opportunity for change, of the three.
Once again our group discussion included people from around the world. We used Dr. Gary’s list of “15 Provocations from the Future” to orient our conversation. These 15 provocations were statements of dichotomies that might impact organized religion in the next 10 years. The first one we addressed was Dilemmas of Difference –Will clergy and laity engage others outside their own religious tradition, or just listen more exclusively to those with whom they agree? We all agreed that engaging with those of other religious traditions is important and that clergy should model such engagement, but we differed on how likely it is that that will happen in the future. A kind of “market” model of church means that often parishioners are consumers, selecting a church because they “fit in”, have the same values as their fellow parishioners. This creates homogeneous communities of faith and does not encourage conversations with those who disagree with us. Will congregations be focusing their conversations inward or outward?
We also addressed the issue of Extreme Climate: Will the adverse impacts on society from climate change and its proposed solutions unite nations or re-ignite culture wars? We heard from one of our members that South Korea has been forced to start dealing with this issue. There the climate has changed significantly; it’s getting warmer and there has been a shift from 4 seasons to 2. This has reduced the capacity to grow food, a factor which further aggravates the problem of the limited amount of arable land. How should the church plan for the repercussions of such change? Suggest gardening? What about the impact on North Korea? Perhaps the church in South Korea should be prepared for an influx of hungry (or starving?) people from North Korea? How would the global church engage in this situation?
Bruce Yoder, discussion moderator
Showing posts with label Future of Christianity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Future of Christianity. Show all posts
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Uncertain future of Christianity
Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
On December 8th, we gathered for our final class. Appropriately, we switched from discussing the past 100 years of Christian history to imagining the future. Dr. Jay Gary introduced us to the art of strategic foresight, and encouraged us to create our own futures.
As we gathered as a small group, one student began the conversation expressing his unease. In Dr. Gary’s presentation, he had talked about possible scenarios for Christianity in the United States over the next 20 years. He ended that section by asking, “Is your church ready for these changes? Will it be able to respond to the various possibilities that may occur?” These questions, the student explained, made it sound like it was the responsibility of the church to perpetuate itself in the face of change. Somehow it is our responsibility to help the church survive. “But,” he added, “that seems to fly in the face of Jesus’ own words: ‘I will build my Church…’” If imagining the future is about engineering the present, then it seems out of sync with the gospel that is not worried about tomorrow.
Other students disagreed, or at least felt strategic foresight did not have to be reduced to such crass manipulation. Their positions were different. One student simply stated that forecasting the future was ridiculous, because chaos – not constancy – seems to reign. Another student countered that even the forces of chaos were under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and so the destiny of the world was secure, even if the path travelled is unpredictable. A third student added that she felt speaking about the future was important, because the stories we tell ourselves now, will be self-fulfilling. If we imagine a world of war, then we will prepare for war, and ultimately engage in battle. If, on the other hand, we imagine a world of peace, we will make entirely different choices. Stories of the future are important for influencing our lives right now.
As a group, we selected one issue from the news this week that may significantly impact the future: North Korea. As a country it is, what Jay Gary described, a “wild card.” It is difficult to predict what North Korea will do. One student saw in North Korea evidence of the rise of neo-nationalism and jingoism, a force that will mark the face of the future. He also commented that the politics around North Korea are unpredictable. Although the state actors want more stability in the region, China, Japan, and the United States are not particularly eager about reunification. This, he contended, complicates the very volatile situation.
With our time gone, it was a reminder that the future is uncertain, but its unpredictability endlessly fascinates our imagination, and draws our attention.
Daryl Ireland, discussion moderator
On December 8th, we gathered for our final class. Appropriately, we switched from discussing the past 100 years of Christian history to imagining the future. Dr. Jay Gary introduced us to the art of strategic foresight, and encouraged us to create our own futures.
As we gathered as a small group, one student began the conversation expressing his unease. In Dr. Gary’s presentation, he had talked about possible scenarios for Christianity in the United States over the next 20 years. He ended that section by asking, “Is your church ready for these changes? Will it be able to respond to the various possibilities that may occur?” These questions, the student explained, made it sound like it was the responsibility of the church to perpetuate itself in the face of change. Somehow it is our responsibility to help the church survive. “But,” he added, “that seems to fly in the face of Jesus’ own words: ‘I will build my Church…’” If imagining the future is about engineering the present, then it seems out of sync with the gospel that is not worried about tomorrow.
Other students disagreed, or at least felt strategic foresight did not have to be reduced to such crass manipulation. Their positions were different. One student simply stated that forecasting the future was ridiculous, because chaos – not constancy – seems to reign. Another student countered that even the forces of chaos were under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and so the destiny of the world was secure, even if the path travelled is unpredictable. A third student added that she felt speaking about the future was important, because the stories we tell ourselves now, will be self-fulfilling. If we imagine a world of war, then we will prepare for war, and ultimately engage in battle. If, on the other hand, we imagine a world of peace, we will make entirely different choices. Stories of the future are important for influencing our lives right now.
As a group, we selected one issue from the news this week that may significantly impact the future: North Korea. As a country it is, what Jay Gary described, a “wild card.” It is difficult to predict what North Korea will do. One student saw in North Korea evidence of the rise of neo-nationalism and jingoism, a force that will mark the face of the future. He also commented that the politics around North Korea are unpredictable. Although the state actors want more stability in the region, China, Japan, and the United States are not particularly eager about reunification. This, he contended, complicates the very volatile situation.
With our time gone, it was a reminder that the future is uncertain, but its unpredictability endlessly fascinates our imagination, and draws our attention.
Daryl Ireland, discussion moderator
Translatability and future of Christianity
Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
It was fitting that our last guest lecturer for Global Christianity, Dr. Jay Gary of Regent University, tried to encourage the class to think about the ‘future scenarios’ for Christianity in the next century. Dr. Gary looked at 15 scenarios that are projected into the next century, such as the rich-poor gap, ecological crisis, technology, many of them dilemmas of difference, and encouraged us to think about which might be more relevant to the future of Christianity.
Dr. Gary encouraged us to use our intuition to envision the factor we thought would be determinants of Christianity growth and transformation. A few of us thought that technology was important for Christianity. Hee Jin discussed how churches in Korea were already trying to close the technological generation gap by engaging in smart networking and creating applications about church activities and spirituality for smart-phones. We discussed, however, the fine line churches must walk between becoming too commercialized and thus loosing the mystery and tradition that goes beyond refashioning spirituality to the mundane and popular vernaculars of the day.
Many of the future scenarios that emerged predict a much darker future of conflict and competition for Christianity, yet with fragmentation possibilities for renewal. Many settings envisioned were resonant with worldwide clashes of differences and how Christian communities might deal with conflict and rise above it. One of many concerns was for an East Asia in conflict with the West, but such generalizations are hard to pin down. Some of the situations projected intra-religiously cultural conflict – through Christianity of the North clashing with the rising Christianity of the South (Phillip Jenkins, The Next Christendom). Perhaps this would play out less in terms of North-South, but more along the lines of a more Charismatic, personal faith in contrast to a more traditional-historical and corporate faith. To some, the common prediction of an inter-religious clash between Islam and Christianity resounds as more likely. As The Atlas of Global Christianity aptly states, the history of Christianity indicates that growth is fragmentary and punctuated. Christianity has risen to prominence and fallen from many regions, only to rise in others (decline and North Africa, and the fast growth in sub-Saharan Africa are just one set of example). By contrast, Islamic growth tends to be steady and territorial. As Brad pointed out, scholars like Lamin Sanneh and Andrew Walls argue that the translatability of Christianity is part of the reason for this fragmentation and punctuated growth.
Perhaps it is migration patterns that will be most likely to decide the future of Christianity. Christianity has defied prediction of decline due to secularization and privatization of religion. The translatability of Christianity could very well create more fragmentation, yet with it seeds of renewal to forge future adaptations.
Eva Pascal, discussion moderator
http://theredconnection.blogspot.com/
It was fitting that our last guest lecturer for Global Christianity, Dr. Jay Gary of Regent University, tried to encourage the class to think about the ‘future scenarios’ for Christianity in the next century. Dr. Gary looked at 15 scenarios that are projected into the next century, such as the rich-poor gap, ecological crisis, technology, many of them dilemmas of difference, and encouraged us to think about which might be more relevant to the future of Christianity.
Dr. Gary encouraged us to use our intuition to envision the factor we thought would be determinants of Christianity growth and transformation. A few of us thought that technology was important for Christianity. Hee Jin discussed how churches in Korea were already trying to close the technological generation gap by engaging in smart networking and creating applications about church activities and spirituality for smart-phones. We discussed, however, the fine line churches must walk between becoming too commercialized and thus loosing the mystery and tradition that goes beyond refashioning spirituality to the mundane and popular vernaculars of the day.
Many of the future scenarios that emerged predict a much darker future of conflict and competition for Christianity, yet with fragmentation possibilities for renewal. Many settings envisioned were resonant with worldwide clashes of differences and how Christian communities might deal with conflict and rise above it. One of many concerns was for an East Asia in conflict with the West, but such generalizations are hard to pin down. Some of the situations projected intra-religiously cultural conflict – through Christianity of the North clashing with the rising Christianity of the South (Phillip Jenkins, The Next Christendom). Perhaps this would play out less in terms of North-South, but more along the lines of a more Charismatic, personal faith in contrast to a more traditional-historical and corporate faith. To some, the common prediction of an inter-religious clash between Islam and Christianity resounds as more likely. As The Atlas of Global Christianity aptly states, the history of Christianity indicates that growth is fragmentary and punctuated. Christianity has risen to prominence and fallen from many regions, only to rise in others (decline and North Africa, and the fast growth in sub-Saharan Africa are just one set of example). By contrast, Islamic growth tends to be steady and territorial. As Brad pointed out, scholars like Lamin Sanneh and Andrew Walls argue that the translatability of Christianity is part of the reason for this fragmentation and punctuated growth.
Perhaps it is migration patterns that will be most likely to decide the future of Christianity. Christianity has defied prediction of decline due to secularization and privatization of religion. The translatability of Christianity could very well create more fragmentation, yet with it seeds of renewal to forge future adaptations.
Eva Pascal, discussion moderator
http://theredconnection.blogspot.com/
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