Retooling: What Detroit Can Teach the Church
The automobile industry in this country has been called unresponsive to the needs of the common person, out of touch with societal trends, and uncaring about global changes. As a result the industry is suffering mightily and is quickly trying to retool to respond to the needs of a changing world.
Likewise, I've heard the same arguments over the last 20 years about the church and, let's face it, the church is suffering as well.
Maybe both deservedly so. So, what can the church learn from Detroit's collapse? While the analogy isn't perfect, let me suggest a few things.
Refocus Mission - The auto industry is desperately heading back to the drawing board and asking itself key questions about its mission. In other words, what are we meant to do? Often success breeds complacency and we can get focused on irrelevancies that take our focus off our core mission. A few years ago here at United Church we started using our Mission Statement in every publication and at every service of worship and at every council meetings so that by now, hopefully, everyone in our church, young and old, have committed it to memory. What are we about? We are about welcoming all people and nurturing followers of Jesus Christ.
Reconsider Distribution - One of the things that is much talked about is how Detroit distributes its product and how it relates directly, or indirectly, with the consumer. In the same way I think the church needs to rethink how we relate to people. Our old model, and Detroit's old model, is that the people come to us and their choices are limited. In today's world the people don't need to come to us and the amount of information they have is great. The church, like Detroit, needs to reorient to a much more savvy and less beholden public.
Brand Loyalty is Nonexistent - In the past there were Ford families or Chrysler families who would only buy a particular brand of car. They were fiercely loyal to that company and would extol its virtues. Now people will buy cars based on their circumstantial needs without regard to the brand. Likewise denominational loyalty no longer holds sway in today's world and that's just a fact. Just because you grew up in a United Methodist home does not guarantee that you won't go to a Pentecostal church later in life. Loyalty must be earned and people look at congregations on a case to case basis. Churches whining about this fact changes nothing and, actually, there is a great opportunity here.
Economies of Scale vs. Changing Consumer Need - Detroit made it big using assembly lines and creating economies of scale to drive down costs. The problem is that the consumer's need is not always met by this cookie cutter approach and it made Detroit very slow to respond to the changing world around them. In the same way churches need to be nimble and ready to respond quickly. This, actually, is where the church, especially small and midsized churches, like our own, has a perceived advantage. The church works on a decentralized model where each congregation is given quite a bit of autonomy within our basic guidelines. This should mean that every congregation is free to adapt and change to its context. The challenge is sharing these innovations to other congregations to spark creativity and renewal. The good news is that this is happening and, largely because of the internet, there is more peer to peer sharing of innovations within the church than ever before. This is truly an exciting chapter in church history.
These are four parallels, in an admittedly imperfect analogy, that I could think of right off the top of my head. What are some that you see? How do you think the church can learn from other circumstances in the world today? Where does the analogy break down for you? Let me know. Leave a comment.
Peace,
Pastor Lawrence
Recently I was asked by a colleague to describe my process of how I prepare to preach. A lot of people have asked me this and I thought I might let you in on some trade secrets with the hope it might help you in relating to scripture.
I just purchased a new house or, rather, a new mortgage. I tell my kids that I own 3% of this house and it's whatever 3% I'm in, so if you want to be in the house that we own, you have to stay within the same 45 square feet that I'm in.
