Hey everybody. Long time.

I need your help. I’m putting together my senior thesis/project, and it’s a proposal for an unconventional church. I need you guys to turn me on to some good research material, resources, books, statistics, etc.

Now, I’m not going to lie: I’m a bad student. I have a bad habit of writing the paper first (at the very least, in my head, and usually on paper as well), and then adding my sources to back up my position. And with the time I have to do this — those who know me won’t be surprised that this is due within the next 3 and 1/2 weeks — that’s how this will need to be done as well.

Why? Mainly because the program is a joke, and most of you would probably chafe at the bit if you were going through it. I know, because I often do. And because I find something like this much more enriching, and will enjoy having the time to get back on here more frequently once I’m done with school.

So here’s what I’m hoping to do. I’m going to lay out where I intend to go with this paper, and I’m going to ask you all to point me towards some literature that relates to my topic. I’m not asking you to provide my quotes for me… just turn me onto some good books, websites, information, etc.

I’m pasting my proposal into the bottom of this post. This is what I will be developing an “applied thesis” for. The following are the topics / ideas that I need to find related literature for:

• Statistical data showing the decline of the church, and especially the decline of the church among younger generations. For example, I heard one statistic that by the time this year’s college freshman graduate as seniors, 4 out of 5 of those who had been church going Christians will have no ties to any church or community of faith, whatsoever. I also heard one that 75% of churches are either plateaued or declining, and 24% are growing but only from Christians switching churches, while only 1% of churches are growing by adding new converts. Things like that.
• Anything that speaks to the reasons for the decline of the Institutional Church (I’m assuming that’s what you guys are using the term “IC” for, these days?). This doesn’t have to be statistical, though it can be (i.e., surveys of youth and college age kids as to why they’ve left the church, etc.). It can also be books written on the subject, quotes by pastors and youth pastors, etc.
• Specifically, anything that discusses why the church is becoming irrelevant or distasteful to younger generations.
• Ways that, or reasons why, the current worship model is no longer relevant (i.e., kids don’t respond well to being told, “Sit still, be quite, pay attention, and sing along.”).

This includes all the reasons you personally became disillusioned, shall we say, with the Institutional Church — I just need to be able to find those reasons, your reasons, in a book, study, or authoritative quote.

Basically, this is a lot of what we (mainly you) have been talking about. The reasons we’re here. The reasons the Institutional Church is outdated, no longer valid for many, irrelevant to contemporary culture, etc., etc., etc. I know you guys are big readers, and are very passionate about this subject. So if you know of anything that could be a good source of information for this paper, just point me in the right direction.

Now, so you can get a sense of where I’m going with my paper, here is the proposal I turned in for the paper:

The central idea (questions, issue, or problem) of this project is to create a proposal for an unconventional, innovative church / ministry which attempts to meet some of the more under-attended needs within the traditional / conventional churches of contemporary evangelical protestantism. This begins with an exposition and analysis of the problem(s), based on the opinions of authorities on the matter, Barna statistics, and conclusions that can be drawn from such statistical data. It then proposes a model for a very unconventional church ministry, which attempts to address these needs. It provides a Biblical basis for the structure and core values / principles of the proposed model, including hermeneutical analysis of Biblical texts relating to the Christian faith in community.

The goal of the project is to create a proposal for a ministry project that is fairly comprehensive in its scope. It will rely heavily on Biblical hermeneutics, especially textual analysis (Hermeneutics, Module 3). It will also attempt to address and / or include perspectives from all of the following areas:

• theories of learning styles as applied to Christian learning, re-evaluation of the pastoral speech and Christian education model (i.e., sermons & Sunday school), and an innovative and unconventional approach to Christian education based on this re-evaluation (Adult Development & Life Assessment, Module 1);
• leadership and hierarchical structure with an emphasis on lay ministry (Ministry Foundations, Module 2; and Ministry Leadership, Module 13);
• redefinition of the concepts of “the church staff” and “the ministry team” (Ministry Foundations, Module 2);
• the practical, pragmatic, and legal issues involved in this ministry / church model (Pastoral Tasks & Administrative Skills, Module 9)
• theories of incarnational evangelism adapted to post-modern culture (Missions & Evangelism, Module 6; and Ministry Integration, Module 14)
• redefinition of the church business model, and the legal and financial issues involved therein (Pastoral Tasks & Administrative Skills, Module 9)
• innovative approach to worship
• personal, professional, and educational requirements for a pastor / leader, to fit the needs of this model (Pastoral Tasks & Administrative Skills, Module 9)

Thanks for your help, guys. I’ll let you see the finished project, if you like… though, and I’ll be honest once more, it’s probably not what I would really do if I was planning on starting a ministry project. It’s just the best I can do within the confines of a still-very-institutionalized church ministry degree program. So you may not want to read it; I’ve got a pretty good idea it won’t be worth much. Just don’t tell my professor that!

As a last note: Lest y’all think I’m a horrible person for being such an unashamedly bad student, here’s my grain of salt: When I started this degree program, I was a youth pastor. I was still in the church, and it seemed very likely that I could go into church ministry. Now… riiiight. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to throw in the towel this close to getting a college degree. Besides, I gave up on our education system long ago (and I’ve been through everything from the far left liberal arts college of UC Santa Cruz, to the U of O, to the conservative evangelical spoon fed willful ignorance of Eugene Bible College). The truth is, the only education I’ll really ever find valuable is what I’m able to learn by reading the work of those who really knew how to use their mind, and by engaging in conversation those who have done the same. For now… well, I’m 3 and 1/2 weeks away, and I want my damn diploma!

Thanks for anything you can send my way!