Читать книгу Thrive - Ruth A Fletcher - Страница 6

Preface

A blizzard swirled around me as I drove from Great Falls, Montana to Kalispell one evening. Snow pelted the windshield. I clenched the steering wheel and slowed to a crawl. I could not distinguish the sky from the ground. I wanted to pull over and wait for the storm to clear, but where was the edge of the road? If I stopped, another car might come up from behind and hit me. I had to keep moving, but how? I could not see the way forward.

Then, all of a sudden, a tiny spot of light appeared just ahead on the right. As I crept along, I spotted another, then another—reflectors catching my headlights. During other trips on that road in daylight hours they had been invisible to me, but now they stood out against the white of everything else, marking the path and lighting the way. As I passed one reflector, I scanned for the next, and eventually it emerged. It took a long time, but by traveling from marker to marker, I navigated the whole distance and arrived safely at a place where I could spend the night.

For the last fifty years, historic Protestant churches have been lost in a disorienting white-out caused by the massive cultural shifts taking place around them. Many congregations identifying with the Evangelical Lutherans, Presbyterians, United Methodists, Episcopalians, American Baptists, Disciples of Christ, and the United Church of Christ have not been able to see the way forward. Their numbers have continued to shrink while the median age of members has increased. Each year, their boards and councils have made cuts to mission giving as it has become harder to pay the minister, to make building repairs, and to come up with money for the heating bills.

But recently, a few churches have begun to emerge as “transforming congregations”—communities of faith which change themselves in order to change the world. Those congregations hold in common twelve spiritual habits that shine like reflectors in a blizzard. Those spiritual habits are learned behaviors that connect those churches with the way of life practiced by Jesus, with the sacred Spirit, and with the needs and gifts of their neighbors. Together they form the character of transforming congregations, shape the decisions they make together, and deepen the wisdom by which they navigate life’s journey.

Trinity is one of those congregations. The church building sits in the middle of an urban neighborhood where second-generation German and first-generation Hispanic immigrants live side by side. Inside, the sanctuary is filled with color, life, and joy. Children’s artwork adorns the walls. The sound of lively conversation and laughter fills the air between services.

The church is clear about its purpose. A description of its vision statement appears in every worship bulletin: “Called by God to Share Broken Bread and the Gospel with Our Neighbors.” The values of community, grace, and justice written in bold block letters form the center of a collage on the church’s brochure.

On Sunday morning, the congregation offers three worship services—one traditional service, one service designed for young children and their families, and one service conducted in Spanish. The music in those services ranges from organ to guitar to children’s action songs. During the week, the church hosts a children’s choir, a multi-cultural adult choir, an after-school homework help program for children, a Latina support group, and classes in English as a second language.

In response to the disproportionate number of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender youth living homeless in the city, the church also runs a shelter that provides safe space where those young people can sleep, eat, store belongings, receive counseling, and access social and health services. Trinity partners with another organization that refers youth for the shelter who are interested in or are actively seeking employment or schooling. The purpose of the program is to help those young people safely transition out of homelessness and grow into independent, positive, and productive adults. Over the last several decades, Trinity has gone from being a fearful enclave focused on its own survival to a courageous spiritual community reaching out to others.

The purpose of this book is to name the spiritual habits common to transforming congregations like Trinity. It is written to embolden those historic Protestant churches that are just now taking the first tentative steps toward change and to encourage those congregations that have been at it awhile and are growing weary along the way.

Several factors have positioned me to observe the spiritual habits of transforming congregations. I have lived most of my life in the western United States, the part of America sociologists recognize has long embodied the post-Christendom culture other parts of the country are only now anticipating. In some western communities, less than three percent of the population worships in a church or synagogue during the week.1 Many people mark “none” when asked to identify their religious affiliation. Having spent my entire ministry in this “none zone,” I have never known anything other than the church on the margins.

Now I live in Montana where isolated communities are known for their rugged and fierce individualism. Montanans mind their own business and keep their own counsel. Strong family ties and established friendships among long-time residents make it hard for newcomers to find community. On the weekends, as in other parts of the nation, recreational sports compete with church for people’s time and attention.

I am an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a small denomination that began as a movement for Christian unity on the American frontier in the early 1800s. It now refers to itself as a “Movement for Wholeness.” Frequently called simply “The Disciples,” we center our lives in Jesus Christ but we do not use any written creed as a test of right belief. We value freedom and diversity of opinion. Like other historic Protestant denominations, we expect each person to read the Bible and to seek to understand the meanings of Biblical passages in light of the historical context in which they were written. Each congregation takes responsibility for its own life and ministry and binds itself to live in unity with the whole church. Lay people lead alongside pastors, and women and men serve together in all the roles of church organization. Whenever The Disciples worship, we come around a common table, sharing the bread and cup of communion in celebration of God’s abundant generosity.

I am the spouse of a congregational pastor who struggles to find his way in the changing landscape of ministerial leadership. Sometimes frustrated because many of the skills he honed during thirty years of ministry no longer seem needed, he is seeking to learn new ways of pastoring and leading a spiritual community committed to inclusivity and mission. Often surprised by the new kind of church emerging, his hope is enlivened when he sees individuals, relationships, and structures transformed by the touch of the gospel.

I am a Regional Minister and a Church Consultant. Those ministries have given me the opportunity to walk alongside leaders of many different denominations in hundreds of churches over the last twenty-five years. I have seen congregations at all points of their life cycle and have studied congregational dynamics first hand. I have worked with faith communities of various sizes in cities, in towns, and on prairies that are struggling and straining to see the new thing God is doing among and through them. I have coached pastors during times of stability, change, conflict, and harmony.

From this vantage point, I have noticed that the congregations which find their way to vitality hold in common the practice of twelve spiritual habits. (A list of them also appears in Appendix A.)

1 Transforming congregations root themselves in the power and presence of God through prayer.

2 Transforming congregations listen to the voice of the Spirit which speaks through sign, symbol, and metaphor.

3 Transforming congregations continue to grow spiritually.

4 Transforming congregations align their purpose with God’s purpose of peace, security, and justice for all.

5 Transforming congregations engage in ministry where there is suffering.

6 Transforming congregations frequently testify to the activity of the Spirit that works in and through their vision, mission, and core values.

7 Transforming congregations become inclusive communities by welcoming the stranger and forming mutual relationships.

8 Transforming congregations question religious perspectives that have lost credibility and engage in robust theological dialogue about issues posed by change.

9 Transforming congregations build capacity and expect accountability.

10 Transforming congregations cultivate gratitude which helps them see God’s provision of plenty in their midst.

11 Transforming congregations collaborate with other partners in order to serve God’s intentions in the place where they live.

12 Transforming congregations choose to take strategic actions that heal personal, social, and environmental injuries.The transforming congregations described in this book are real; they all identify with one of the historic Protestant traditions named above. Other books and articles already have told in depth the stories of congregations like them who have been traveling the transformation road, learning to serve in new ways in the places where they are located. This book describes the pattern those churches make when seen together which reveals the spiritual habits they hold in common. Those spiritual habits serve as lights on lampstands, marking the way for other congregations trying to navigate new paths in the 21st Century.It is not possible to see all the changes the future will require of historic Protestant congregations; but churches today do not need to see that far ahead, they only need to navigate from signpost to signpost, to be courageous, faithful and open, trusting that the Spirit will guide them the whole way.