The Iceberg Beneath Our Church Struggles
A Study Of Youth Ministries By FOPx Singapore
TLDR:
The Singapore Church is struggling in several points. It is lagging, overworked, and divided.
There is a root issue behind all the problems. The Singapore Church has lost its vision.
A communal vision can only be formed with the sharpening and piecing together of every individual’s vision.
It is my endeavour here to convey some of my insights from reading the first half of FOPx's recent paper on their survey of youth ministries across Singapore.
FOPx has already included insights on their own data, and Thir.st has also helpfully summarised them in one post here.
The Problem Is Complex, But Solutions Are Simple
To set the context before I proceed, when I read the paper I saw a singular narrative. It was not an endless plethora of problems, but only one striking issue.
I will be listing a number of points that progressively go deeper and hopefully ultimately reveal the condition of our Singaporean Church as God sees it.
I will not cut this article into two parts, because I believe there is a need for us to see the whole picture of the Church, so prepare for a longer read than usual.
I will be, however, writing another piece to elaborate on some concepts mentioned here.
Let's dive into the deep end.
#1 Church Is Lagging Behind Culture
Welcome to the surface, the immediate struggle of our church.
Difficulty in dealing with culture was ranked highly among all struggles in youth discipleship. This includes responding to "secularised and polarised worldviews", and also "individualised and sceptical mindsets".
The church seems to fail in providing a convincing worldview for young people. This could be why they also struggle to engage them personally and relationally.
This was old news to me, but I wondered, what was the reason for this?
#2 Church Vision Is Disconnected From Reality
The plot thickened as I learnt about leaders' intentions.
When asked about what kind of community they wanted to build, around 70% of leaders noted they wanted it to be "closely-knit, authentic, and relevant" as one of their top two choices.
It made sense, but a question stirred in me as I read this in relation to #1. If this was the desire of a significant portion of church leaders, how come they felt that it had not yet been achieved?
What are we doing wrong?
#3 Church Is Overworked
The next section brought some clarity.
Most leaders, especially younger ones, expressed having too many commitments and difficulty in managing them well.
Not surprisingly, most of them also expressed they are fearful that they do too little.
Our leaders are stuck in a contradiction. They are doing so much, perhaps even too much, yet not enough at the same time. It does not require genius to suggest that the issue is not quantity.
It is imperative that we ask ourselves whether what we are doing is essential to building the body of Christ in unity and maturity.
Doing ministry may have challenges, but if Jesus' burden is easy and His yoke is light, then we may be carrying the wrong burdens in our churches.
Overwork is why #1 and #2 exist. We are not light enough to follow the Spirit in leading our churches, because we are overladen by self-imposed burdens.
“Our leaders are stuck in a contradiction. They are doing so much, perhaps even too much, yet not enough at the same time.”
Our average youth pastor does not have time to keep up with God personally and strategically, because they have to think about preaching every week, running services, discipling some youths, planning ad-hoc programmes, the list is endless.
But there is one more layer to this iceberg.
#4 Church Has A Divide
This slide reveals the epitome of the divide in our church leadership. It especially confirms my observations in several small-to-medium-sized churches.
Focusing on the two bars highlighted blue. Younger leaders valued adaptability in churches, while senior leaders valued granting younger leaders opportunities to lead (because they would be thinking about continuity of the ministry).
Many younger leaders fight against their seniors, desiring to implement their ideas, while senior leadership carries on with what they think is best.
The misalignment of individual leaders' visions is the reason why many churches retain their archaic practices (#3), and cannot adapt or innovate successfully.
What Will Unite The Generations?
That said, the underlying issue often goes unnoticed. Many think the problem is that older leaders are not as open to change, but that is not true.
Their experiences and leading from God is equally valid as their younger counterparts.
I have reduced it to one simple problem: everyone thinks they have the full answer to how church is done.
“Doing ministry may have challenges, but if Jesus’ burden is easy and His yoke is light, then we may be carrying the wrong burdens in our churches.”
FOPx noted that conversations need to happen about adapting, and leadership needs to be united on this.
I agree that this is necessary, but stopping there will be mere behavioural modification at best.
I wish to take this one level further. It is not enough to work together to adapt to what the church needs in this time. I believe the answer was and always will be the same throughout time.
The Church is a community of people literally called by God.
They all have their unique purpose and station. There will be differences between individuals' visions, but they all are puzzle pieces to form God picture.
A specific church's aim therefore is to discover that bigger picture together. This must happen on every level, from leaders to members, parents to children. Every single person must be involved.
It was never about trying to develop a "best practice" for your ministry. It is about sharpening and pursuing each other's God-given destinies together.
That is the highest calling of our Church.
A Well-Timed Diagnosis
The problems highlighted above may be familiar to many young people. Perhaps some of us have already experienced disillusionment of our leaders.
If anything, I hope this can serve as a wake-up call for every Christian, not just leaders.
Our church is already in decline, but if we revive our spirituality, discarding our desires for our churches and returning to the desires of God, we will certainly make things new again.
“It was never about trying to develop a “best practice” for your ministry. It is about sharpening and pursuing each other’s God-given destinies together.”
I do not share my insights as a prescription, but I hope this has illuminated in your heart things that God wishes to make known to you.
As mentioned earlier, I wish to publish another article to share more related thoughts on how we may reimagine (or restore) Church and Community.
Reflect
What struggles listed above do you see in your own church’s ministries?
How determined is your church community in desiring to pursue God’s will together? What are some things hindering?
What needs to be sorted out before your church can realise its full potential?
