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Standing on the Continental Divide

June 11, 2020 /

In March, our church Hope Wesleyan made the decision to suspend its in-person worship services. The primary foundation for this decision was a commitment as a church to love and serve our neighbors. In Ephesians 5, Paul’s charge is to “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us . . . .” Jesus loved us by laying down his life for us while we were still his enemy. When we were asked not to meet in-person but to find other creative ways to meet, we gladly accepted this inconvenience as an expression of our love for our neighbors. This commitment forms the foundation of our organizing for the return to in-person worship. Our first priority is the safety and well-being of our church family and the wider community. Our second priority is the public reputation of Hope in our community and the wider Christian church. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul is addressing problems within the church at Corinth. He says this to them, “In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good” (vs. 17). He then describes destructive divisions and favoritism within the community. For the sake of the church community and its witness in the city, it would have been better if they had not met. It is possible for our meeting together, even if we have the right to, to be more destructive than not meeting at all. We can unnecessarily put at risk the physical health of our church family and community as well as cause irreparable harm to our church’s reputation in our city. Therefore, these two priorities form the basis of our decision making.

Our commitment as leaders is to seek to provide for the spiritual growth and needs of all of our church family.

In the book, Canoeing the Mountains¸ Bolsinger describes the moment when the Lewis and Clark expedition reaches the peak of the Continental Divide as a “deep disorientation.” Their expectation was to see an open prairie leading to the Columbia River Basin and out to the Pacific Ocean. What they instead saw was mountain range after mountain range of the rugged snow-capped mountains like they had never seen before. It is hard to picture how disheartening and discouraging that moment must have been. Their expectations and plans were confronted by the reality of the Rocky Mountains. They were profoundly disorientated. Bolsinger warns that:

when we get to moments of deep disorientation, we often try to reorient around old ways of doing things. We go back to what we know how to do. We keep canoeing even though there is no river. At least part of the reason we do this is because we resolutely hope that the future will be like the past and that we already have the expertise needed for what is in front of us. (92, emphasis original).

In this moment, what was necessary for the Corps of Discovery was an adaptive shift. “This is the moment when they had to leave their boats, find horses and make the giant adaptive shift that comes from realizing their mental models for the terrain in front of them were wrong” (93).

As a church community, we have been confronted by an adaptive shift. We have climbed to the top of our Continental Divide. We expected to look onto the other side and see a return to worship and community as we were used to doing things. We planned for a celebration. Instead, we are faced with are the Rocky Mountains of uncertainty, snow-capped by state and federal regulations.

In the face of an adaptive challenge, Bolsinger says the first thing we do is recommit to our core ideology. We start with why we exist. He gives the following questions for organizations to answer when “facing-the-unknown moment:”

  • Why do we exist as a congregation, institution or organization?
  • What would be lost in our community, in our field or in our world if we ceased to be?
  • What purposes and principles must we protect as central to our identity?
  • What are we willing to let go of so the mission will continue? (94-95)

After recommitting to our core ideology, the next step is to reframe our strategy in light of our core ideology. “In adaptive leadership, reframing is another way of talking about the shift in values, expectations, attitudes or habits of behavior necessary to face our most difficult challenges” (95).

Third, in the face of an adaptive shift, we rely on learning. We always default to the level of our learning. Unless we commit to learning to do things differently, we will revert to what we have done before. We will canoe the mountains.

These moments of deep disorientation requiring adaptive shifts. Standing at the peak, we can choose to turn around and go back, or we can recommit to our core ideology, the mission of God. We can reframe our strategy and dedicate ourselves to learning how to navigate in this unknown world.

Blessings,
Stephen

 

Source Book:
Bolsinger, Tod. Canoeing the Mountains: Christian leadership in uncharted territory, IVP Books, 2018.

Missional Creed

May 21, 2020 /

For centuries the church has been guided by statements of creed. The most common being the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. The simple statements give voice to our core beliefs and direct our actions as a church. They are not perfect statements. Many have noted that these statements tend to lack references to the life of Christ and to his missional call to his people. Jesus said he is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He is saying not only is he the way to the Father, he is also saying he is the supreme example of how we are to live as Christians. So we should not too quickly miss the significance of his life and call in our basic statement of belief.

Recently, I came across The Missional Creed by David Gustafson. This statement seeks to give voice to the orthodox faith of the church. I offer this creed here to cause us to ponder. What do these words of creed say about the role, mission, and future of the church in the days ahead? What does it say about the way each of us interacts in our communities?

The Missional Creed

by David M. Gustafson

We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, who sent his Son into the world, and who now sends us into the world, as witnesses to his reign in heaven and on earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, who was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and became man, the Light of Light who entered our darkened world, to proclaim good news to the poor, to heal the sick, and to set the oppressed free. For us and for our salvation, he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. On the third day, he rose as victor from the dead. He ascended into heaven where he is head of his body, the church, and will come again in glory and judgment, and reign in his triumphal kingdom.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the giver of life, who leads us, the people of God, on the mission of God, to join in the work of the kingdom of God. In this, we are called as Christ’s holy and apostolic church, to bear witness to God’s love, mercy, and justice, to proclaim good news in word and deed, to make disciples of all peoples, for the redemption of all creation, to the glory of God’s holy name. Amen.

SOURCE: https://davidmgustafson.blogspot.com/2014/01/missional-creed.html

Using New Tools

May 4, 2020 /

If we had conducted a survey in January asking what the greatest needs of our community are, I doubt we would have had a single person say, “What this community needs is another online church.” Or “What this town needs is for all of its churches to broadcast their services on Facebook Live. That will really help our community.” Yet, here we are. Thousands of churches have, in a matter of weeks, gone from being face-to-face only to entirely online. Most, out of necessity, have largely taken their previous worship format and moved it online, with few actual structural changes. First, this is has demonstrated the incredible resiliency of the church to change to address current cultural realities. We often feel like we cannot change and are fearful of change. We have learned it is possible and we can do it. Still, in the midst of our changes what we have not done is asked the questions, why are we doing what we are doing? Is this the most effective method of serving our church and the wider community? What new strategies, tools, and practices need to be implemented to serve in this new reality effectively?

We have all seen the pictures of people evacuating from an airplane crash dragging their carry-on luggage behind them. Despite everyone being told in the in-flight briefing to leave these items behind. The reason we are told to leave our laptops is that grabbing our stuff in a crisis slows the evacuation and threatens the life of our self and other passengers. People have died because someone could not leave their rolling suitcase behind. I recently heard of further research conducted into firefighter deaths in structural and range-land fires. What was found was that, in many cases, firefighters could have escaped the fire if they had put down their tools and gear and evacuated. What kept a range-land firefighter from getting to the next ridge from safety was their heavy packs on their backs or chainsaws still in their hands. If they had dropped the tools they were carrying, equipment that was essential for their job, and moved quickly to the next ridge without the weight encumbering them, they would have significantly increased their chance of survival. What do these illustrations have to do with the church? We are in a time of crisis, and many of us have instinctively held onto our tools, instead of dropping them and moving to the new reality. If we are going to climb the new ridge into effective ministry, we are going to need to let go of our old tools. These tools were effective and essential in our past ministry world but are no longer useful in this new crisis reality. Bluntly, many of us in the church are dying right now and will die, because we are hanging onto our old tools and trying to carry them up the next ridge to safety.

What are some tools we may need to let go of? I am sure you can think of more, and I would love to hear what you are seeing. Still, just a few I can think of include, large group gatherings, elaborate programmatic driven children’s ministries, refined efficient worship services led by professionals on the stage, and professional clergy as the dispensers of religious goods and services.

To say it all another way: A chainsaw is an excellent tool for cutting down trees, it is a terrible tool for washing your car. We would do well in this new reality, to put down our chainsaws and pick up a basin and towel and get to work meeting the real needs of our communities. And if the day should come we need a chainsaw again, we will always be able to find one.

Blessings,
Stephen

Can we re-imagine church?

April 7, 2020 /

This afternoon I stood alone in our church sanctuary. I looked around me at the musical instruments that have gone silent, the screens that are dark, and the empty chairs. I saw our communion table and anointing oil sitting, waiting, for our return to celebrate and feast together. I wondered what it will be like to come back. Then as I sat in our dark space set aside for worship I began to wonder.

What if we re-imagined church in light of COVID-19?

This virus which is currently raging around the globe is shaking and changing our paradigms for ministry. It is not the first pandemic to ravage our globe, however, it is the first to strike the U.S. with such intensity in our lifetimes. This is causing many of us to question and ponder our sense of what is normal.

What if this is our new reality for the church? Some have postulated the questions and theories that this could be the beginning of seasonal pandemics. What if long periods each year or every few years of being “closed” or unable to meet in our buildings becomes our new reality?

What would be different about the way we do and think about church?

I will go on the record to say that I think the predictions are a little draconian. I believe, however, the questions that come out of them are essential to our future.

What would the church do differently if we met face-to-face nine months out of the year and virtually for three?

What is it that keeps us from doing these things now?

Finally, even as we think about these things, I want to leave you with a message of hope. This comes from the pen of a friend whose wisdom I value greatly:

Corona Virus: Finding a Realistic Hope Amid Hopelessness

“…all of us can find a realistic hope amid hopelessness.”

Stephen

Changing the Paradigm

March 26, 2020 /

love

Dear Friends,

As I practice my social distancing I have been reading and thinking a great deal about what is next for the church. In my reading I came across this quote I want to share with you:

For years, the mission of the church in the United States was largely defined in terms of offering attractive programs to retain its members, building appealing structures and services to draw new members, and participating in some type of benevolent pursuit to appease the conscience of the few individuals looking to make a difference in the world . . . recent developments have contributed to a rediscovery that the mission and purpose of the church do not stem from charting institutional health through traditional quantifiable metrics. Rather, the Church ought to understand its role primarily as a partner and co-participant in the mission of God, whose desire is to redeem humanity, restore creation, heal brokenness, and invite Christians everywhere to embrace their true identity in Christ. (Twibell 82)

Years ago I was at a church event where the host church was celebrating their opening of a children’s play area. They proudly announced how many kids in the community had come onto their turf in the last year. I commend the church for its desire to do something for the community. As I drove around the community I could not help but wonder, “Is this really what the community needed? Did they need it most on the church’s turf? What could the impact have been if they had built in another part of town and resisted the temptation to brand it with the church’s brand? What if it had been about the community rather than the church?”

I know these are hard questions, and some might even say unfair, but as a pastor, I see regularly that people are tired of our efforts to attract them to come to our events. We have lost people’s trust. They are onto our games.

And now we, the Church, have been given a great gift. We have nothing to invite them to. Our buildings are closed, our programs suspended. All we have to offer is ourselves, our love, our compassion, our concern, our generosity. We have nothing to offer but Jesus who, when saying why he came, quoted from the prophet Isaiah and said:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
(Luke 4:18-19, NIV)

I am concerned whether we are learning from the lessons this time is teaching us. What if, when we are finally released to “life as normal” we don’t go back to our old ways? What if, instead of expecting people to come to us on our terms, we went to them on theirs? What if we continued to live outside our walls seeking to find new and ever more ways to love and serve our community joining in the mission of God to “redeem humanity, restore creation, heal brokenness, and invite Christians everywhere to embrace their true identity in Christ?”

What if?

Blessings,
Stephen

SOURCE:
Twibell, Simone Mulieri. “Missional Act in Spiritual Formation: Moving Beyond Mission Trips into the Realm of Missional Living.” Missional Disciple-Making, edited by Michael J. Breen and David M. Gustafson, 3DM Publishing, 2019, pp. 82–104.

On Mission

January 25, 2018 /

the mission launchesThe Milk Can returns! After a needed break we are back. In 1 Corinthians Paul says some things are spiritual milk and other things spiritual meat. The Milk Can remains a quirky look at life and an encouragement for your week.

 

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As Christians, our calling is to live as Jesus lived demonstrating and proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has come and is coming. God is always making things new. We are engaged in the mission to alert the world to the rule and reign of God through Christ. Therefore,

  • We feed the hungry because in the world to come there will be no starvation.
  • We release the captive because in the world to come there will be no prisoner.
  • We give sight to the blind because in the world to come there will be no blindness.
  • We welcome the stranger because in the world to come there will be no strangers, no one unwelcome.
  • We mourn with those who mourn because in the world to come there will be no more sadness and grief.
  • We call for justice because in the world that is to come there is no injustice.
  • We share Christ because in the world to come there will be no unbelief.
  • We speak hope to those who have no hope because in the kingdom to come there will be no hopelessness.
  • We are pro-life, in every way, because in the kingdom to come there will be no death.
  • We are generous because in the world to come there will be no shortages.
  • We celebrate different languages spoken because in the world to come all languages will be spoken around the throne.
  • We love because in the world that is to come there is no one unloved.

The challenge for each one of us is to ask, in my job, how can I alert the world to the rule and reign of Christ? What would it look like for a person doing my job to demonstrate the rule and reign of God through Jesus?

Blessings,
Stephen

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