Part of the 20/20 vision had been the truth that mission united us and issues divided us. Since 2003, issues have divided us. While some leaders say we are still doing 20/20 mission, most people in the wider church know this initiative was dead on arrival.
As a consequence, we have returned to our long-standing decline. In only a few more years, the very viability of our church’s structure will begin to be called into question ”” the signs are already there. In the years that followed 2003, I have come to the conclusion that the Episcopal Church is headed toward about 1 million members in 2020, an average Sunday attendance around 400,000 and around 6,000 mainly small congregations. The 20/20 initiative was, among all things, a concerted effort to bring revitalization and growth to a long declining mainline church. It failed and we are now faced with an institutional decline that, save a direct intervention and miracle by God, cannot be reversed. There is insufficient leadership, desire, or institutional will to change.
The failure of the 20/20 initiative, combined with the subsequent controversy around human sexuality, has placed our community in a very precarious position. I am not suggesting that we return to the 20/20 initiative, but I do believe that our community urgently needs toaddress our current realities and find leaders who can point us toward a more hopeful future.
–The Very Rev. Kevin Martin in the October 8, 2010, Living Church (p.10).
Pipe dream. God will not reward wanton rejection of His Holy Word.
I wish you would all read the entire article in TLC. The article is really about how Louie Crew single handedly destroyed 20/20 for his own political purposes. 20/20 was a huge priority for the PB, the President of the House of Deputies and the GC. GC made 20/20 its #2 budget priority for 2000 to 2003. Dr. Crew killed it in Executive Council because the proponents of 20/20 were people like Gethan Hughes, Keith Ackerman, Dan Herzog and John Guernsey. I believe Dr. Crew suspected if we actually followed the Biblical imperative for Evangelism, TEC would end up turning into a Church. Instead of doubling the size of the Epsicopal Church, Dr. Crew’s legacy will be cutting its size in half.
RE: “Dr. Crew’s legacy will be cutting its size in half.”
Yeh — but that’s the “inclusive” way to grow, David. ; > )
As Greg constantly observes, the more “inclusive” TEC becomes, the tinier it gets.
At least, Crew will have a church that has only the right sort.
Well, Sarah, you and I are still left and I’m pretty sure Louie wouldn’t think of us as “the right sort”! But kidding aside, you are correct. They are idoelogical purists, and the institution is only important to them to support their political agenda. Most of TEC is living on dead people’s money. How approprite for a dead institution.