By Mark A. Taylor
This year”s North American Christian Convention report offers several different perspectives with conclusions that range all the way from “We need this convention as it is” to “We should combine it with the National Missionary Convention.”
We didn”t anticipate or dictate what these writers would say. We simply asked each one to comment on this year”s gathering and then to make suggestions for the future.
Cost versus value is an issue mentioned or implied by many of their conclusions. Is the convention worth the price our movement invests in it? Is it worth the cost to the individuals who attend it? Is lowered attendance a reflection that some (or many) have decided to spend vacation budgets or convention allowances elsewhere?
Allan Dunbar shares convincing testimonies from attendees who say the convention contributes something unique to their faith and ministries. Surely it could do the same for others who haven”t decided to pay the price to attend it. What if we could find a way to lower that price without compromising that impact? Wouldn”t this attract many more to the blessings the convention offers?
But there are problems.
One is the economy, with rising costs for everything from travel to convention centers.
And a couple of cultural trends have come into play. We live in a day when “one-for-all” is passé, and niche music, fashions, marketing, and entertainment flourish. General all-purpose magazines have gone out of business, and general all-audience TV networks have lost their prominence. Can we buck that trend with our general all-church conference?
(Note that two conferences mentioned this week, the National New Church Conference and the National Missionary Convention, each promise a specific focus based on a narrow purpose. Each also, I suspect, achieves a good measure of the “connecting” that is the NACC”s mission. And the registration fee for the Missionary Convention is a fraction of the NACC”s.)
Meanwhile, we see a lack of institution-al loyalty on every front. This is reflected in Christian churches by the waning interest of people in the pew to rally around “denominational” enterprises.
In fact, many of “our” institutions survive today by finding significant support from believers in other Christian groups. (For example, check the church backgrounds of the incoming freshman class at your favorite Restoration Movement college.) But reaching out to denominational folk isn”t the NACC”s mission, and no one is suggesting that should change.
Should anything change about the NACC? Maybe not. I, for one, love it as it is. But only time will tell if there are enough people like me to sustain this old friend for years to come.
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See these related articles:
“NACC VIEWPOINTS: What Did You Expect?” by Randy Gariss
“NACC VIEWPOINTS: Teens Need the NACC” by Phyllis Fox
“NACC VIEWPOINTS: Attendees Are Amazingly Blessed” by Allan Dunbar
“NACC VIEWPOINTS: It’s All About the Mission” by Justin Horey
“NACC VIEWPOINTS: A Subjective Observer’s Recommendation” by Gary E. Weedman
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