I thought this was an interesting thread and had some comments. I should point out that I haven't read anything beyond the initial post yet so my apologies if this is redundant.
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Originally Posted by DAII
Coon speaks of internal research indicating only 3 out of 10 Home missionary works have been successful ... and those ministers who are "not effective" are leaving the fellowship in droves. (Me: Are they not effective because they can't get a plant started or have moved in a different ideological direction?)
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Don't forget all of the works that aren't actually classified as home-missions because the church has been on the books for years but has never been self-supporting. Some of these towns are stagnant with no hope of any decent jobs, but a handful of longtime church members as well as those who come and go. Many ministers would not even consider taking a church that isn't self-supporting (I know several preachers advised my dad against taking churches that were not self-supporting), yet there are some who believe God has called them to these areas and even though they struggle on a weekly basis for years on end just to keep the lights on (and then still have to defend to the church people how they are spending the church money... which isn't even enough to keep the lights on), they do not feel like they can leave because God hasn't "released" them.
I believe there are a lot of areas which are frankly just not viable for growth due to no jobs in the area other than grocery stores, etc.
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Also there is a recognition by both that 3rd, 4th and 5th generation UPCIers are leaving and the only way to deal with it is to reach new 1st generation converts and "grow our way out of it" ....
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I blame a lot of this on the information age... there was a time when there really wasn't any recourse if things just didn't add up... you had to either trust the preacher or move on... now everyone all over the world is able to compare notes and are realizing that some things that have been taught as biblical just do not add up. Personally, I believe FCF, NFCF, and AFF have been the flagships in this... and I do believe that the "viewership" of these forums was far greater than the "membership".
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Coon also feels that a new stress on "apologetics" is necessary. While Bernard feels more training is necessary but an experiential approach will reach this postmodern culture. Just bring them to an "apostolic service" then make the connection to biblical authority.
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The problem here is that no one can make any verifiable claims of having biblical authority in any religion (unless you are the one who started the religion). When someones states that they have it, people either follow them or they don't, but whether they have followers or not, it does not indicate any proof of biblical authority. The only thing that would actually constitute verifiable biblical authority would be if God himself issued ministerial licenses.
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