Fr. Cathie, as always, I am so thankful for your posts, your insight, and your thoughtful perspectives. In my 25 years of ministry experience, the rock in the road to doing church differently (be it new programs, different programs, or measuring something other than Attendance/Building/Cash for church vitality) is that it is so difficult to find consensus on what on earth Church is, or what spiritual health/vitality is. Have you found any ways to help communities address this this and to dig deeply into who they are called to be today... not just revisit or reignite who they think they were called to be in 1973? :-) I find that we Christian folk struggle to agree on what this whole Christian Life is all about, and tend to focus on our version/purpose/meaning of our faith and make it the most important for everyone else. Some say it's right doctrine/belief in worship and Sunday school classes, others say we should be about fellowship/community with each other, others find meaning in quiet prayer or mystical experiences, and others want to focus on serving. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the different takes on what faith and church "should" be. So, rather than embracing this breadth of Christian experience and honing in on what matters to our community, we instead don't talk about it and simply embrace church growth in lieu of the breadth of spiritual vitality that Jesus models for us. I'd love your thoughts on this and any ways that you have found that help us break through the fixation on program and growth over spiritual health and vitality.
Your observation is very astute. And honestly, I don't think we'll ever agree on what Christianity 'is' or what church 'should be'. We never have, from the very first days of the disciples.
On the other hand, as you point out, we have work to do as the church. And it's fair to ask - 'what is our particular work?'
But I don't think we should wait for an answer.
Meaning, we should look at what we're *currently* doing, and if it is not feeding our faith, growing disciples, bringing us closer to God and each other, we need to stop doing it immediately.
People freak out about this, because lots of congregations are scared - rightfully so! - that this means their community will fall apart.
To which I respond: if the only thing holding your community together is continually doing things that *aren't* contributing to the building up of the faith, then it *should* fall apart!
and yet - we are in the Resurrection business, yes?
so what comes together?
Any community forms around *something*. It could be an established identity, it could be an activity, it could be an affinity for something.
What holds the community together that is both life-giving *and* about sharing the Christian faith (because that's what makes it a faith community).
Is it worship? then go all in on worship. Worship every day. Everyone participates in some way in the service. Raise up preachers, raise up singers. Be a worship community.
I would say the community I serve is a pastoral care community. If someone is in the hospital, they get a visit from *every* member. If someone in the community is in need, they get meals, prayers, money, whatever they need.
If someone in their community has someone *else* in need (like a church member's cousin, or neighbor down the street) then they get taken care of, too.
this church (of 30, mostly older folks) doesn't have an 'outreach program' or a 'pastoral care committee'. They just care for each other in Jesus' name.
Farewell and good riddance to "churchgrowth," Routhage's and Mann's expert assessments. Also to ASA obsession (Average Sunday Attendance) as the only measure of health, growth, decline, whatever. None of this, including the fixation with "programs" ever had anything to do with what the people of God, the body of Christ is. All of it was the theologically and politically "correct" perspective when I was ordained in 1983. A lot has happened and the reasons are many, diverse and complicated so no one should go looking for a one cause for the change. You could look at my Community as church, church as community (Cascade, 2021) for more analysis and reflection but NO recipes for fixing anything. There aren't any. Yet, we have far to go in rediscovering what church and ministry are essentially about. Nevertheless we keep doing them, I am certain this is a path of better understanding our common life in Christ.
Fr. Cathie, as always, I am so thankful for your posts, your insight, and your thoughtful perspectives. In my 25 years of ministry experience, the rock in the road to doing church differently (be it new programs, different programs, or measuring something other than Attendance/Building/Cash for church vitality) is that it is so difficult to find consensus on what on earth Church is, or what spiritual health/vitality is. Have you found any ways to help communities address this this and to dig deeply into who they are called to be today... not just revisit or reignite who they think they were called to be in 1973? :-) I find that we Christian folk struggle to agree on what this whole Christian Life is all about, and tend to focus on our version/purpose/meaning of our faith and make it the most important for everyone else. Some say it's right doctrine/belief in worship and Sunday school classes, others say we should be about fellowship/community with each other, others find meaning in quiet prayer or mystical experiences, and others want to focus on serving. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the different takes on what faith and church "should" be. So, rather than embracing this breadth of Christian experience and honing in on what matters to our community, we instead don't talk about it and simply embrace church growth in lieu of the breadth of spiritual vitality that Jesus models for us. I'd love your thoughts on this and any ways that you have found that help us break through the fixation on program and growth over spiritual health and vitality.
thank you for this thoughtful comment and for sharing your experience.
Forgive me if I give what sounds at first like a flippant response:
Stop trying to find consensus.
I will elaborate :).
Your observation is very astute. And honestly, I don't think we'll ever agree on what Christianity 'is' or what church 'should be'. We never have, from the very first days of the disciples.
On the other hand, as you point out, we have work to do as the church. And it's fair to ask - 'what is our particular work?'
But I don't think we should wait for an answer.
Meaning, we should look at what we're *currently* doing, and if it is not feeding our faith, growing disciples, bringing us closer to God and each other, we need to stop doing it immediately.
People freak out about this, because lots of congregations are scared - rightfully so! - that this means their community will fall apart.
To which I respond: if the only thing holding your community together is continually doing things that *aren't* contributing to the building up of the faith, then it *should* fall apart!
and yet - we are in the Resurrection business, yes?
so what comes together?
Any community forms around *something*. It could be an established identity, it could be an activity, it could be an affinity for something.
What holds the community together that is both life-giving *and* about sharing the Christian faith (because that's what makes it a faith community).
Is it worship? then go all in on worship. Worship every day. Everyone participates in some way in the service. Raise up preachers, raise up singers. Be a worship community.
I would say the community I serve is a pastoral care community. If someone is in the hospital, they get a visit from *every* member. If someone in the community is in need, they get meals, prayers, money, whatever they need.
If someone in their community has someone *else* in need (like a church member's cousin, or neighbor down the street) then they get taken care of, too.
this church (of 30, mostly older folks) doesn't have an 'outreach program' or a 'pastoral care committee'. They just care for each other in Jesus' name.
sorry for the long answer - I may turn this into another blog!
But that's my answer. Don't wait to agree. Just get out there and be the church you're called to be.
Farewell and good riddance to "churchgrowth," Routhage's and Mann's expert assessments. Also to ASA obsession (Average Sunday Attendance) as the only measure of health, growth, decline, whatever. None of this, including the fixation with "programs" ever had anything to do with what the people of God, the body of Christ is. All of it was the theologically and politically "correct" perspective when I was ordained in 1983. A lot has happened and the reasons are many, diverse and complicated so no one should go looking for a one cause for the change. You could look at my Community as church, church as community (Cascade, 2021) for more analysis and reflection but NO recipes for fixing anything. There aren't any. Yet, we have far to go in rediscovering what church and ministry are essentially about. Nevertheless we keep doing them, I am certain this is a path of better understanding our common life in Christ.
thank you for this. I have looked at your Community as church book, and I thank you for that, too!