Theology After Google

So I've been talking with friends and colleagues about the future of the church (that sounds ominous and heavy and dark, but hey - asking tough questions makes life worth living!) and there is a theme that keeps coming up in about five different projects/ongoing conversations/jobs I am involved in. It is the theme that young adults are not interested in traditional pulpit ministry. That is NOT to say that young adults do not feel called to leadership roles and ordination within mainline denominations, nor is it to say that young adults are not interested in serving the church and/or serving within a church. But there little or no interest to simply slip into the role or job that existed before without making any changes.

I'm not talking about simple updates of how we lead within our local churches - I am talking about an awareness of what it means to be church - and what we need in our leaders who want to move the church forward.

Read this article. It is long, and substantial, and relevant, and worth reflecting upon: 
Theology and Church After Google | The Progressive Christian. 

And don't get hung up on the word "progressive." If you don't self-identify as liberal or progressive, don't simply dismiss this article as irrelevant to you and your ministry. This article is about the relevance of the church and how we are recruiting and developing leaders for work in the church and in the world. This article is about how we think about theology, discuss theology, and do theological reflection in the world.

A block quote...for illumination:

To pursue “theology after Google” does not mean to gleefully destroy all traditional Christian beliefs, to abandon the church, or to advocate a post-Christian worldview. On the contrary, it does, however, mean entering in good conscience into a new kind of open and exploratory discourse—a discourse in which one’s conversation partners are not committed in advance to landing where past theologians have landed. Many of them do end up with a vibrant Christian identity, but that’s no longer a pre-condition for theological dialogue. Theology after Google means navigating the treacherous waters of contemporary culture, religion, science, and philosophy—without knowing in advance that the harbor in which one finally drops anchor will be the same theological port from which the ships of old set sail. For those of us who live, work, and think in a Google-shaped world, such certainties about the outcome of the adventure are just not to be had in advance.

There. Thoughts?

On an unrelated note, this weekend includes presiding over a wedding (hooray! I love weddings!). Monday kicks off three solid weeks of major travel for several different projects and service for the school...and an admissions deadline. A bit apprehensive, but it should be a blast. An exhausting, whirlwind, life-affirming blast.

Update: another conversation about the same article, and what it means to think about vocation.