Not long ago, I read “The Church in the Perfect Storm,” edited by Leonard Sweet.  Of course he was alluding to the famous storm that occurred on Halloween of 1991 that consisted of several elements coming together at once and sinking the Andrea Gail.

Those of us who are pastors resonate with the storm imagery.  We know that we and our churches are being buffeted by forces that we can’t always readily identify.  We see the results in unstable attendance, participation, and giving in our churches. 

Sweet identified three factors in this storm, and I add a fourth.  The three he identified are three “posts”: post-modernism, post-Christendom, and post-scale.  I add a fourth related to post-Christendom: post-denominationalism.
Most of us are familiar with postmodernism.  We know that its primary traits are suspicion of logic and reason, rejection of the idea of absolute truth, and emphasis on experience and passion.  Postmoderns are sometimes not only suspicious of the church, but sometimes regard it as downright dangerous.  They also have great interest in spirituality, but reject the specific teachings of Christianity.
The second storm wave is post-Christendom.  For centuries Christian teachings dominated Western culture.  This is true no more.  Sweet says that the post-Christendom culture has “washed its hands of the church.”  Today, Christianity and the church have lost their favored positions.
The third wave is post-denominational.  For centuries denominations were the dominate form of Christianity in the West.  This is true no longer as Christian denominations have nose-dived in attendance over the last 50 years and Christians are no longer loyal to their denominations.
The fourth wave is post-scale.  Sweet identifies post-scale as post-round, post-human, and post-cold.  We’re living in the post-round age in that the world is now flat.  Global communication is now instantaneous, and people are in closer contact than ever before.  Post-human means that with artificial joints, heart pacemakers, and the like, we’re all becoming cyborgs.  Post-cold means that we’re in the age following the cold war that defined our world for decades and we’re living with the affects of global warming.
These waves threaten to sink the church!  How do we deal with them?  Churches seem to be taking various approaches.  One is to ignore them.  Those who take this approach believe tomorrow will be 1954!  This seems to be the path to irrelevance.  Another approach is to take up culture war and try to retake the culture.  But success here seems highly unlikely and probably undesirable.  Still others are trying all they can to try to save their denominations.  But denominations as we’ve known them are doomed, and no amount of effort can turn the tide back to them.
Sweet suggests several strategies.  First, we can lift anchor and strike out for the deep.  The harbor often isn’t the safest place for a ship to ride out a storm.  To strike out for the deep means that we stop being afraid of making changes and being nostalgic for the past.  Second, we can steer into the wind.  We can face the future with courage, knowing that God is creating something better.  Third, we can jettison excess cargo.  Sometimes we’re carrying more “junk” than is necessary.  Fourth, we can lash ourselves to the mast of the master.  We can hold tightly to Jesus Christ.
I would add to these that we can lead our churches to become increasingly missional.  This means that each member becomes a minister/missionary. 
On some days I feel exhilarated by these storms and on some days I feel seasick!  But I believe that after these storms, God will have a better church.