한국 개신교신학과 윤리

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기말과제(Future Role of The Church)
교수님! 제가 실수로 비밀번호도 못치고 밑에 글을 올렸습니다. 죄송합니다 삭제해 주세요..

Pacific Vision International Conference - Future Role of the Church
Presenter: Pastor Mark Lau Young

The Church and Pacific Communities:
The role of the Church in the New Millennium

E muamua ona faafoi le viiga male faafetai i le Atua, ua mafai ona tatou mafuta faatasi ile nei aso.

O lona lua, ou te faatalofa atu ile paia ma le mamalu ua aofia i le nei maota. Ou te faatalofa faapitoa i auauna a le Atua i le au faafeagaiga.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr Chair and fellow servants of God.

The first thing I would like to do is to give the Lord praise, honour and thanksgiving for bringing us together this afternoon.

Many of you will not be aware, but this conference has been built on a foundation of prayer since its conception. And, not surprisingly given my line of work, I truly believe that without God's favour we would not be here this week.

Secondly, I would like to greet you all in the name of Jesus.

Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Taloha Ni, Malo e Lelei, Ni Sa Bula Vinaka, Fakaalofa Lahi Atu, Talofa Lava.

Introduction

Pacific people think collectively. For many of us, who we are is defined by where we have come from. For example, when I'm introduced to older Samoans, their first questions are often something like -

Who's your father?
Who's your mother?
Who's your family?
Are you related to "so and so"?
Where were you born?
And so on.
So, before going any further, I'd like to tell you a little bit about where I've come from. My name is Mark Lau Young. I'm a Samoan, with Chinese and German blood. My father's name is John, and he grew up in Matauutu. His matai title is Masoe from Asau. My mother's name is Ritah, and she is from the village of Malie. I was born in Motootua Hospital, Samoa, and I migrated with my parents to New Zealand in 1965 when I was about a year old. Since then, I've lived all of my life in the Wellington region.

I'm married to a beautiful Samoan woman named Merita. Her parents are from Safune (Pesefea/Peleti) and Fogaapoa (Taulapapa) in Savaii. We have three children - Matthew (7), Esther (5) and Ruth (almost 3).

Hosanna World Outreach Centre

I'm a pastor and the Chief Executive of Hosanna World Outreach Centre, which is based in Taita, Lower Hutt. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Taita, I often describe it to people as being like Otara or Cannons Creek, but on a smaller scale. It has the lowest deprivation ranking in the city of Lower Hutt, and was identified by a group of government departments as an emerging low socio-economic "hotspot".

Hosanna is a member of the Baptist Union of New Zealand. We are a relatively new church, and will celebrate our 5th birthday in October. Our church was planted after the original Taita Baptist Church was closed down due to a declining membership over many years. Reflecting the make up of the local community at the time of its establishment, the congregation had remained predominantly papalagi. The local community, however, had become ethnically diverse and home to a significant Pacific population.

Hosanna began as a Samoan church. However, the church quickly became multi-cultural as people from other Pacific groups, particularly young New Zealand-born Pacific people, began attending our services.

Our membership is predominantly Pacific (approximately 80%) and youthful (approximately 65% under the age of 25). We provide a range of social services to members and local communities, ranging from a foodbank, to budgeting advice and work with at risk youth.

As a church, we are known locally for being contemporary and reflective of changing Pacific culture in New Zealand. At the same time, we hold fast to the values that we believe are at the core of Pacific and Christian cultures - love and respect (in Samoan, alofa and faaaloalo).

Earlier this year, at the annual Vision New Zealand Congress (the country's largest interdenominational church conference), Hosanna was identified by church growth researchers as the fastest growing church in New Zealand during the period, 1992-1998.

Our vision is to win and impact the community, the city, the nation and the world for God.

Passions

I have a number of passions, and two of them have led me here today. As you would expect, my first passion is God. God is Number One. After God, the biggest passion of my life is my wife - and children.

However, the two passions that led me here today are:

First, my passion for the Church. I'm talking about Church with a big 'C'; the Body of Christ. I am passionate about the Church because I believe that the Church is God's ordained vehicle for achieving His purposes in this world.

Second, my passion for Pacific peoples. Prior to moving into full-time ministry, I worked in the public service for 13.5 years; 11 of those years were spent in policy development. I worked in various government departments - Department of Labour, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. During that time, I took a keen interest in issues of concern for Pacific people.

As I go through my presentation today, I ask that you keep these things in mind.

Objectives

My primary objective today is to share some thoughts and raise some issues for discussion. I hope that we will be able to follow on from yesterday's session on Church and Leadership. Please note that I am not here to take a pot-shot at any individual churches or denominations. That is not my objective. At the same time, if there is going to be any constructive action arising from this workshop, my advice is this: "If the shoe fits, wear it!"

We will need to respond collectively to address many of the issues that I will touch on today. But individual churches and leaders will need to make their own decisions to respond and take action.

First Question

Does the Church have a role in Pacific Communities in the New Millennium?

The simple answer is YES!

For Pacific peoples in New Zealand, the Church is not merely a religious institution, but also one of the two major social institutions in Pacific communities - the other being the Family.

There are many other social institutions emerging in Pacific communities - sports clubs, associations, community groups, social services, government structures, gangs, etc. Nevertheless, it is my assertion that the two most important Pacific social institutions are the Church and the Family.

History of Church in New Zealand's Pacific Communities

The history of the Church and Pacific people in New Zealand shows that churches have been a focal point for our communities. They have played an important role in the maintenance, development and evolution of our cultures.

In the 1950's, with the increase of Pacific migration to New Zealand, the Church began to emerge as a primary support structure that provided not only spiritual, but also essential social, welfare and economic support to growing Pacific communities. In many ways, the Church became the new "village" for Pacific settlers. This has not changed today.

Pacific churches:

were a place of community for new migrants; somewhere to belong
were a source of employment, education, health, social and housing advice
established building projects to help Pacific people into their own homes
gave Pacific people dignity as elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, etc
established youth groups, mothers' groups and men's groups
were and are a training ground (as said yesterday morning, a "cradle') for future Pacific achievers in sports, music, singing, dance, leadership, art, drama, education, etc
established language nests
became guardians of culture and tradition
and the list goes on.
The importance and significance of the Church remains today. This is reflected in the statistics. The 1996 Census showed that 89.02% of Pacific people were affiliated to a religious group. Almost 88% were affiliated to churches. Just over 1% were affiliated to other types of religious groups.

Survey

In the lead-up to this conference, we surveyed over 200 Pacific people from some 15 different denominations. Approximately 62% of those surveyed were under the age of 25.

One of the questions we asked these people was whether they thought the Church is relevant to Pacific Island people and why? The results confirm the ongoing relevance of the church.

We found:

Over 92% of all respondents believe that the Church is relevant to Pacific people
Almost 91% of respondents under the age of 25 years believe that the Church is relevant to Pacific people (This result was surprising, but further explanation is given later on).
Outside of the Family, the Church is and will continue to be the most influential and powerful organisation or social institution in Pacific communities. It is clear that the Church will have a continuing role in the new millennium as God's vehicle for achieving His purposes for Pacific communities.

I think that this role can be roughly broken down into three broad, inter-related areas:

Social - This is about Church as the "village" of Pacific communities; the hub of Pacific community activity. The next level of social organisation beyond the Family. The place where our children are socialised, nurtured and developed. A place where we belong, and share our lives - the joys, the sorrows, the troubles and the victories.
Cultural - This is about the Church as guardian or home of culture and tradition. The Church as a place where our children learn language, cultural values and cultural practices. A place where we learn identity.
Service - This is about the Church's role in providing for the holistic needs of our communities - spiritual, physical, emotional, familial, etc. This role includes the provision of formal social services.
This then, is the role of the Church in Pacific communities as we head into the New Millennium. Things, however, are never as simple as they might first seem.

The Real Story

So, the Church has played, currently plays and will play a major role in all Pacific communities in New Zealand. This all sounds wonderful, doesn't it? The future is looking good, eh?

Read Acts 2:47

This scripture tells us that the early church "... enjoyed the favour of all the people." (NIV) The Living Bible says "... The whole city was favourable to them ..."

If everything is so wonderful with the Church, if the picture is rosy, why aren't we enjoying the favour of our people, our communities, our cities? I'll tell you why. Because there is clearly something wrong with many of our churches.

As I noted earlier, almost 88% of Pacific people are affiliated to churches. However, if you look at the statistics more closely you will see some other important facts:

The results from 1986 (92.45%) and 1991 (91.83%) indicate a declining trend in religious affiliation for Pacific people.
There are significant differences in religious affiliation between different Island groups, and between different age groups. Younger people are less likely to be affiliated to churches than older people. And the younger people in some island groups have affiliation rates that are similar to the rate for all New Zealanders (72%).
Affiliation does not indicate participation. I know many younger Pacific people (and some older ones too) who consider themselves Methodists or Presbyterians or Catholics or Pentecostal and so on, and would indicate such on a Census form. Yet they do not actively participate in any church. They are affiliated in name only, and could not honestly be considered to be church goers.
In our own survey, while 91% of young people (under 25 years) said Church is relevant, there are some other results that should be noted:

only 31% gave a positive or active reason for why they think the Church is relevant to Pacific people. Almost 25% believed the Church is relevant for Biblical reasons. Only 6% said that church is relevant because it is positive or exciting.
69% either gave no reason or said that it was relevant for family and cultural reasons. "It's relevant because it is. We attend because it is expected."
Over 2/3 of them did not feel that their church leaders had a strong influence on their lives.
Almost 2/3 of them did not have a total trust of their church leaders.
Over half felt that their church leaders were not very visionary.
Over half did not feel that their church leaders were of total Godly character.
Over 40% felt that their leaders were not totally relevant to them.
Last night, the Prime Minister shared her list of Top Ten things that she recommends all groups of people should do. I want to share my list of Top Ten criticisms and negative perceptions that are often leveled at churches. Many of these items overlap. I don't necessarily agree with these criticisms and perceptions, but they do exist. And you know what they say - "where there's smoke, there's fire".

Ten Criticisms of Churches

Churches just take, take, take - and don't give anything back to their communities. They are introverted, virtually exclusive "Bless Me" clubs.
Churches are boring and irrelevant - particularly to young people. The result is declining participation, especially of our young people (Note: this is not just a problem for mainline or traditional churches). Young people are voting with their feet. They are finding "newer" churches and other social institutions (eg pubs, nightclubs, sports clubs, gangs, etc) more attractive.
Similarly, churches are institutional dinosaurs holding fast to traditions and values that do not reflect contemporary society and which many Pacific people no longer hold.
What do people feel when they enter our churches? Do they feel like they've entered a time warp to the past? Or do they see the future?

It's Mum and Dad's church or religion.
Church fundraising efforts for large and elaborate buildings are taxing Pacific communities, while many of our people struggle financially.
Ministers live luxurious lifestyles (please note that I don't!) while their congregations live in relative poverty. They're only interested in money.
Churches are inflexible and judgmental.
Churches are guardians/protectors of negative things. They condone and are havens for wrong practices eg child abuse, domestic violence.
Churches lack vision for the future.
Churches are out of touch with reality.
These types of criticism have raised questions about the Church's future. For me, this list shows that the real question is not whether the Church will be relevant to or have a role in our communities in the future.

The real questions are:

what kind of role will the Church play?
will the church be at the centre of our communities or will it just be another group on the sideline?
how much of an impact will the Church have?
will the impact be positive or negative?
what kind of change is required?
We are at a threshold. As this millennium sets and a new one dawns, it is timely to ask ourselves these questions. I believe that the first step to answering them is identifying the key issues and the parts that Pacific people and the Church play in them. There are many but here are some of the key ones for me.

Issues

1 Family

As I noted earlier, the Family is the other major social institution in Pacific communities. We've heard a number of speakers already mention the importance of family at this conference. It is, however, not independent of the Church as an institution. The health of one affects the other.

I strongly believe that strong families make strong churches. Churches need to impart, not just teach, moral values, and ensure our practices are family friendly.

For example, the 1996 Census showed a large increase in the number and percentage of Pacific children in single parent Pacific families. Don't get me wrong. I am not passing judgement or condemning single parents. However, the facts are clear. Children in single parent families are being denied full parental support, are most likely to be living in poverty, and are most at-risk of poor social and economic outcomes in the future.

What is the Church doing about this? What are we teaching our young people about sexual activity? Health professionals use to talk about "safe sex", then it got changed to "safer sex" when it became apparent that the condom was not 100% safe. Do you know God invented the safest sex - it's called MARRIAGE!

What are we teaching our people about marriage and divorce? I've seen some statistics that show in many places, divorce in the Church is as high, if not higher than outside the Church! If we want strong families, we need strong marriages.

God created the Church for His purposes and His people. He did not create the people for the Church. Too often churches act like the people have been created for them, and put excessive pressures and burdens on families.

Financial pressures are a good example. I have seen Pacific families burdened by the financial demands of their churches. I have seen Pacific families take out loans they couldn't afford for church buildings and fundraising. I have cars, furniture and household goods repossessed because families could not afford their loans. I have seen children going hungry and without the basic things they need, because of financial pressures.

Financial pressures are also one of the major causes of marriage breakdowns.

The blame, however, does not lie with churches and leaders alone. The blame also rests with our communities and ourselves for buying into this kind of thing.

It's funny. When you try to get some people to invest in things that will help them develop, they often say they haven't got any money. But tell them there's a faalavelave or a church fundraising, then suddenly they can find 1000s of dollars.

The Church needs to reassert itself as a friend of families, not a foe. The Church and the State cannot substitute for our families.

2 Cultural Development

If there is one thing that we can be certain about, it's change. The world in which we live is in state of continuous change. Change is inevitable - our social institutions, processes and experiences of socialisation, values, beliefs, rights and responsibilities are continually changing. Researchers estimate that modern culture, particularly youth culture reinvents itself every 3-5 years.

It is in this context of change that the Church's relevance is most closely questioned. In 1996, almost 58% of Pacific people were born in New Zealand. With current birthrates and immigration policies, this percentage will continue to increase rapidly.

Straddling cultures from both the Pacific and the West, our New Zealand-born are developing a culture of their own. I have observed that New Zealand-born people from different Pacific groups often have more in common with each other, than with the elders of their respective Pacific cultures. This is not surprising, as their experiences of socialisation in New Zealand are more similar to each other, than to the experiences of their elders.

The church and all Pacific people need to be clear about what our bottom-lines are in this area. Is it cultural practice and ritual that are paramount or is it the values that underlie them?

I say it is the values. For me, these values are alofa and faaaloalo - love and respect. I believe that if these are emphasized and passed on from one generation to the next, then the practices and rituals will make sense and be more likely to survive. Blind obedience to practices and rituals alone without understanding leads to frustration, resentment and rebellion. Sure, some practices may change over time, but that is the natural course for cultures that are alive and flourishing.

"We do it, because we have always done it" is not enough.

The whole issue of cultural identity is huge. At Pacific Foresight last year, the question was raised - what does it mean to be a Pacific Islander? What will it mean in the year 2010? These are not easy questions to answer.

3 Young People

I am disturbed by the plight of many of our young people. Many do well. But many others that I come into contact with have no hope and see no future. Too many of our young people feature in the negative statistics - crime, poor educational outcomes, unemployment, CYPFS, etc.

Young people are not tomorrow's leaders. They are today's leaders. We need to recognise this. Churches are too often seen as places where our youth are oppressed. We need to change this. Young people are on a quest for meaning and place in life.

We need to empower our youth. We need to win their hearts, capture their imaginations and give them a hope and vision for their future. Why? Because they are our present reality and the future of Pacific people lies with them.

If the Church does not capture the hearts of Pacific youth, something or someone else will. Today, there are many influences on our children and young people. The images and values of television and popular music are two of the strongest. Do not underestimate the power of these influences. They have helped to see the emergence of LA-style street gangs amongst our youth.

We have left the task of defining what it means to be a Pacific young person to Pacific young people themselves. They pick and choose the images, symbols and values from a variety of sources to produce meaning for themselves. The Church has become merely another boutique in the shopping mall of options for personal and group identity. We need to offer the best most exciting option.

As I said, if we don't capture their hearts, someone else will.

4 Vision and Leadership

Proverbs 29:18 says that "where there is no vision, the people perish." Our people, especially our youth, are perishing because of a lack of vision. We, the Church, need to start imparting God's vision for our future to Pacific people.

There is an old saying that "the things that got you to where you are today, are not the things that will get you to where you need to be tomorrow."

If the Church is to remain both alive and influential, the Church is going to have to change. Hear me on this - I am not talking about the fundamentals or compromising the Word of God. But the Church will have to be come more relevant. We need to get real!

We need to be:

Strategic
Innovative
Cross-generational
More effective communicators
On the cutting edge
Entering partnerships
5 Transparency

Perceptions of churches and leaders need to change. We have been getting a hammering over recent years - sexual immorality, physical abuse, fraud, division and controversy. Quite frankly, I'm sick of it.

Get a life and get real!

The Church was not created to be silent. We need to speak out against ungodliness. We need to speak out against wrongdoings, not sweep them under the carpet of culture and religion.

For example, domestic violence and child abuse is wrong! Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with all the liberal stuff about "don't smack your kids." But discipline does not mean beatings.

Summary

Good intentions are not enough. Talk is cheap. It's time for action. Our churches need to be the positive, life-creating and life-transforming institutions that God intends them to be. Through our churches, Pacific people need to be able to receive hope and vision for a future.

We need to be relevant, beneficial and accessible.

If the Church fails to be relevant and real, then Pacific communities will go into moral and spiritual decline. Increasing divorce, single parent families, abortion, crime, etc. Some would say that we are already well into this decline.

Do not interpret my presentation as an assault on the Church. It's easy to focus on the negative. As I said at the beginning, I have a passion for the Church. My presentation is an attempt to open up some issues to help the Church fulfil it's God-given purpose. The Church has, is and will always be relevant to the future prospects of our peoples in New Zealand.

Despite all of the perceived problems, there is good news:

We can change
Change is happening
Many churches are already taking hold of their mantle of leadership
The Church is more open than ever to identifying and resolving these issues
Churches are becoming more innovative and moving into new mission fields (eg service provision)
Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to leave the workshop with some challenges to consider.

1 Pacific People

To Pacific people, start thinking Future. Get out of this preoccupation with the past and our present circumstances. In our circles, we often encourage each other to stay focused on Jesus. This is a call to look beyond our circumstances and to see the future.

Remember why our people came here - in search of a land overflowing with milk and honey. So, let's stop penalising our young people for doing exactly what we migrated for.

Many of you are looking for a revolution. Remember this, every revolution has two core features. First, the primary goal of replacing the present reality with a better one. Second, revolutions and revolutionaries always have an agreed, identifiable enemy. Make sure you stay focused on the real enemy - our sin or lack of obedience to God's Word. The Church is not the enemy.

2 Government Officials

To government officials, recognise the importance of the Church, and work in partnership with it. You, the Government, do not have the answers for the social and economic ills Pacific people face. The solutions to many of the problems and issues facing Pacific communities, lie in the communities themselves. Get out of the "Ivory Tower" syndrome, and start empowering the Family, the Church and Pacific communities to respond to problems, instead of imposing half-baked ideas that look good on paper.

Stop off-loading responsibilities onto communities and churches, without providing the resources to meet them.

3 The Church

To the Church, we have a choice. We can either follow the changing currents of the new millennium, blown and tossed back and forth by the waves (Ephesians 4:14), OR we can lead they way. I choose the latter. I choose God's plan for His Church.

Ephesians 3:10 says that "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms." Church, let's make the manifold wisdom of God known to our communities, cities and nation.

Church leaders, Luke 4::18-19 says:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." NIV

This is what we have been called to do.

4 A challenge to Everyone

Making a living is about what you get. Making a life is about what you give.

Are you making lives, or are you just making a living?

I'd like to finish by reading from Isaiah 60:1

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you."

It is time for Pacific churches to arise and shine.