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.<\/p>\n
As a consequence, we have returned to our long-standing decline. In only a few more years, the very viability of our church\u2019s structure will begin to be called into question \u201d\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
–The Very Rev. Kevin Martin in the October 8, 2010, Living Church (p.10).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/span><\/p>\n