H. Beecher Hicks, Jr., Senior Minister
Metropolitan Baptist Church
October 4, 1998

The need to restructure or re-engineer the church is apparent to those who are interested in holding the church accountable for the quality of the ministry it pursues and the message its proclaims. Those who no longer see the church as a viable institution at the close of the 20^th century are of that opinion, in part, either because the church has failed to respond to human needs, failed to address the economic and socio-political needs of the community, or has demonstrated a life-style which is inconsistent with its teaching.

If it is true, as George Gallup reports, that 69% of all African Americans rate religion as very important and 72% of African Americans report that they are members of the church, why does the church remain anemic, unable to bring about systemic change in the communities where we live or in the lives we lead? Perhaps it is time for us to rethink or to begin the process of redesigning and re-engineering the church.

October is a reflective month for me. Now in my twenty-first year with the Metropolitan family, I begin to ask the questions of what could have been. How could these years been spent more productively? If the years were more productive, what would Metropolitan look like, what would her people be like?

The prospective view is even more challenging. The prospective view raises the question of the future for me and for us as the people of God. What should Metropolitan look like in the future? Will Metropolitan become a far more diverse congregation in light of the cultural shifts that are around us? In terms of the progressive movement of the city and its institutions northward, how will our ministry be required to change? What is the most pressing need of our congregation and our community – housing, education, economic development, health? Are the issues of congregation and community necessarily the same or, amazingly, could it be that we live in different worlds? Is it past time for churches to be more collaborative, finding creative ways to use facilities and resources to be better stewards of the gifts we receive? With all the churches in our neighborhood, we don’t we work together more often?

Continue your thought. If you could change Metropolitan so that she were more "relevant," more "spiritual," or more in tune with post-modern cultural shifts, what would you do? Are our traditional ways of doing things really relics of the past that we refuse to give up? Are what we call non-traditional ways of doing things – including such things as "Gospel Rap" – the wave of "new" tradition which will also pass away? How will worship change? How long will people be content to come to church as an opportunity to "feel good" and still go home with their problems unsolved? If the world requires that the church engage in radical thinking beyond the norm, "out of the box" thinking, thinking that takes us to previously unexplored arenas of ministry, are we really ready? Can we do it? If you are the engineer responsible for the process of re-engineering the church, what are your first, second, third priorities for a new Metropolitan, for a new church?

I do not have the answers to my questions. I only know that answers are and will be required. As we begin our third decade of ministry together we are called again to respond to the urging of the One who does "all things new." This is not my challenge – it is our challenge. Our congregation must be critically engaged in new thought that will lead to new responses to old and new challenges. We cannot accomplish this task alone. He who brought the Church into being yet has the power to instruct us for the change we need and seek. Let us put our hand to this task. We shall move on unknown thoroughfares of ministry. There is risk and danger ahead. Yet, I am confident that if we keep our eye on Him and our hand in His hand, He will show us the way toward a new church and a new humanity.

Pastor Hicks