I have been thinking
about church lately: about our church
and more generally what church is, or should be. My theological and religious beliefs have
changed over time, as I have shuffled through the messages I received as a
young child in the church. At least, I
no longer believe that red letter words in the Bible are Jesus words
verbatim!
I grew up in the
fifties. As a kid, I spent most of my
weekends at my grandparents’ home outside of Temperance Michigan. They lived on about 10 acres, with a large
garden, maintained by a tractor!!!!! There were woods and a creek, the ideal
place for a little dyke to develop her outdoor skills. Every Sunday morning, I would crawl out of
bed, cold as I waited for the coal furnace to kick up its heat! I would force myself to put on my dress and
prepare myself for the early service at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. The church was small and even though it was
8:15 AM, there were a lot of folks in the pews. There were even more folks, I assume, at the
later service. More people came, the
church became crowded, and the New St. Paul’s was erected at the edge of
town. More people came. They sang hymns to music played on an
expensive organ and brought money to pay off the mortgage for that new temple
to God. At the end of the service, they
went home, prayed some, and enjoyed their black and white TV, big cars, and
appliances that the 50’s brought to their lives.
When I was at home, my
parents sometimes took me to an EUB church (my dad’s dad was an EUB
minister). That church was packed with
people, even more people than at my grandparent’s church. They also prayed and gave thanks for all
their 1950’s stuff. The Lutherans have a
lot of rules, and since I mostly went to the Lutheran church, I pretty much
thought the rules were not only created by God, but maintained by him
also. In the Lutheran church, you do not
take communion until you are in Junior high and have been confirmed. Confirmation meant that you had learned the
rules and could recite them from memory.
In the EUB church, communion was open to all. Of course my parents expected me to eat that
bread and drink that juice. What was
wrong with these people? They were in
church but they did not follow God’s rules!
No one told me that different churches had different theological views
about things like communion and baptism and that God was pleased with all the
ways in which we honor and praise him. I
really thought God would punish me for drinking from that cup.
As I got old enough to
strike out on my own, probably about 8, I went to the Lutheran church in my
neighborhood with my best friend. That
was God’s church and I felt safe there.
No one shoved bread in my face before they knew I was certifiably
confirmed! This church was a small
church packed with people. That church
grew and a beautiful, big expensive replacement was build. A new expensive organ was implanted, but the
same old lady from the little church played it.
I loved the
church. I was confirmed. I went to Luther League. I said my prayers. I played softball. I went
to church dinners. That is what
Christians did.
When I got to college,
I started to think of the church as a place where people went to make
themselves feel better than other people and a place where massive amounts of
resources were dumped into buildings.
Couldn’t that money be better spent?
I stopped going to church.
When I got involved in
social justice groups in the community, I met Chet Chambers, a United Methodist
pastor. I began to get an idea of what
the church could be: a community of
people who came together to worship and to reach out to those who are
marginalized in our world.
When Cindy and I came
back to the church, we became United Methodist.
A far cry from the Lutherans with all the rules. We do have the book of discipline, so I am
not totally far from home. I like the
flexibility of the Methodist and UCC Churches.
Both denominations let the people think for themselves. We have a set of core beliefs, but there is
latitude within the boundaries. Most
United Methodist churches do sprinkle baptisms, but there are some who actually
do immersion. Just because I said that
does not mean we should go that direction here.
We would have to do it in the parking lot with a kiddie pool.
So, after that
rambling, I think I have the idea somewhere in my psyche that church should be
a big building full of people with hymns and organs. I sometimes look around me on Sunday morning
and think that our church is too small.
We do not have enough people to bring in lots of money to do more
mission work and not enough people to praise God loud with our songs, actually
our songs should be hymns, the old ones.
After going to see Paul
Nixon talk about Weird church, I have been looking at my biases and trying to
rethink my ideas about church.
Eric Law, who helps
churches with all kinds of congregational dysfunction, has written a book
called Holy Currencies. He talks about
Grace Economics. The idea is that when
you are in mission with people there needs to be an expectation that those who
are receiving will give back in some way.
St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Downtown Toledo is developing a Free
Store. Those people who need clothing or
food will also help with the ministry in various ways. Developing a give and take relationship with
those we serve helps to empower people and take away the idea that there is a
giving class and a taking class. We are
working together and all giving our talents to the ministry. We need to think about this idea as we move forward
with our development of ministry projects.
We need money to pay
our bills and we have a pretty lean operation here. Our pastor is part time, we pay rent for our
space, but we do not have building maintenance or a lot of other costs that we
could have even with a rental facility.
Eric Law suggests that we will give more if we realize that our giving
contributes to our own wellness as well as the wellness of others. Perhaps we should identify how our church
does or can contribute to our own wellness.
Are there needs that we could meet to enhance the wellness of our
body? We have had a prayer group and we
have Pub theology to feed us spiritually.
Do we need other groups for our spirit or for our bodies and minds?
We come together on
Sunday morning to worship. We say we
believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, but if we mean that, we will
take the next step. We will work hard
to become the community that is truly the living body of Christ in our
world. The body of Christ for each other
and to those outside our circle. If we
develop groups to feed our needs and ministries that put us in relationship
rather than putting us in the constant giving only mode that leads to the gas
tank running empty, I think we can do a lot as a small body of Christ. As our scripture tells us, we do not need a
lot of folks. Two or three people and
the spirit helps us to heal and create.
I do not think that means that the spirit is not present with one of us,
but that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The body of Christ as a community is much
more powerful that what each individual brings to the table. It reminds me of our Stone Soup campaign. When you throw a bunch of veggies in the pot
and simmer it for a few hours, comes out as something way better than simply a
bunch of hot veggies!
At conference, there
were presentations about new church starts.
Most of these were small communities, with a specific mission
focus. It was an outreach to an
underserved group of people. There was
no interest in building huge buildings with high steeples. Just a place where people could meet to
connect and to become the body of Christ.
In the presentation with Paul Nixon, we heard about the Black Cloister Brewery. The Brewing Company in downtown Toledo supports
a small community of young Lutherans.
They gather for worship and mission in the taproom. They are young and do not have a lot of money,
so the brewery profits keep their community viable. This church speaks to the need for community
and spiritual development of the young people among us.
Paul Nixon in his book,
Weird Church addresses our cultural change around church. Those of us who grew up when everybody went
to church are confused by the current trend to stay away from church. When I was a kid, our school music repertoire
included Christian hymns. Faith of our
fathers, Christian Christmas Carols. The
assumption being that we were all Christian.
Now people are leaving church or have never attended church. But Paul Nixon reminds us that there is still
a deep interest in spirituality and also a desire for community in people
today.
Churches that offer
real community are attractive. The small
group can easily offer community if the members are willing to take the risk to
develop intimacy. I think we need to
take a look at this issue in our church.
People decide to leave our community and do not feel the need to talk to
anyone about the fact that they are separating from the community. I might see a person at the grocery who has
not been to church for a while and she says, Oh, I decided to go a different
church or not go to church at all. I was
mad because Pat offended me in her sermon.
Or no one visited me when I was in the hospital. I say, you were in the hospital? She says:
Yes, I did not tell anyone that I was having surgery. We cannot offer help if a person does not
feel safe enough to let us in our life.
Whose fault is that? It is easy
to put it off on the other, but are we building barriers to open communication
and intimacy? We all need to do much
more than say good morning to each other.
Do you remember
Spyder? I often think of him. He was a kind and gentle soul and he loved
his kept skunks. He once told me about
all the varieties of skunks. Who
knew? Spyder used to come to church and
then he stopped. He was in a care
facility and we did not know. He was in
hospice and we did not know. I ask God
to forgive me for not pursuing his absence.
I think we get so used
to people leaving that we just take it for granted when they disappear. Oh, well, another one out the door. I am not happy when I try to connect with
someone and then they just walk away.
Community means connection. Community means family. Community means we are the body of Christ in
the world.
If I am offended by
someone, even our pastor, I have a responsibility to say something. Often there is a misunderstanding that can
easily be addressed. Sometimes there may
be a more serious matter that cannot be resolved. As community, we will never all be of one
mind on everything. We can disagree and
still come together in love.
By the way, I mentioned
that our pastor is part time. She cannot
meet all our needs all the time. She
could not do that even if she was full time.
As a community, each member must take responsibility to reach out, to be
vulnerable, and to use our talents to move the body in a positive
direction.
I hope we can all work
together to create a community that speaks by action of our love for each other
and for those around us. A community
that is generous in giving in all kinds of ways. Remember:
The spirit is in our midst and we are the body of Christ in the world.