The Best of Church
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I don’t know if the turning of the calendar is leading me to this, but a few weeks ago I set out to embark on a tour of local congregations. Truth be told, I’ve been compiling a list of churches I’d like to visit for awhile now, but I finally made my first visit last week. So far I’ve visited one church solo and another with friends who’ve been going there for awhile, and I’m excited by the ones remaining on my list.
And although I’ve only visited two congregations so far, I’m already starting to experience a few unexpected outcomes, one of which is this: a new sense of the best of what church can be.
If you’ve read any of the other posts on this website you know that I am a firm believer that much of what we do when we build and maintain churches is costly baggage. Honestly, there have been many moments when I’ve suspected that it might be impossible to separate out the compromises church leaders make in the name of growth and influence from the structure of the modern church.
Now whether it’s actually sitting in new, unfamiliar sanctuaries or something else, I’ve been getting a stronger and stronger sense that there truly is something beautiful that congregations create together, something that is not necessarily woven into the costly compromises that are often made by church leaders, and perhaps might even be uniquely tied together with some of the ways congregations choose to come together.
This is a far from polished idea, but I’ll share what I have so far. The following is a list of beautiful outcomes that are possible when congregations are at their best:
A community or village that is ready to share one another’s burdens
A window into something bigger than yourself. I’m thinking specifically of how churches can uniquely show a body of people what they themselves are doing to impact a community when they donate their time and money and other resources
Related to the previous point: churches can powerfully show examples to congregants of how they can combine their gifts (body) to bring beauty and healing to the world (and provide easy on ramps for people to jump in and take part). This is a major aid to anyone trying to follow Jesus as a disciple
Learning in community
Worshipping together is different than worshipping alone (not necessarily better or worse, but there’s something…)
When we’re alone we can get stuck in our own heads
Pastors can provide chaplaincy in times of crisis and can connect people to teaching resources (gift of teaching)
A unique venue (again, thinking of what village life might be like) to keep important traditions alive. In an immigrant or indigenous community, this is liberative
If I had to sum all this up, I’d say that the church has the potential to truly be the gift that Jesus intended it to be for his disciples and for the world. And although I’m not sure yet how to allow that gift to flourish and shine even as congregations deal with the baggage that seem to be part and parcel of how we’ve ended up structuring our ministries, I’m no longer so sure that the only viable way forward is to scrap the traditional model altogether.