Pastoral Thought--August 18

As you know I have long been interested in the idea of story-telling and sharing in the church for I think it holds the keys to the future of church ministry and growth. This idea formed the basis of my Doctoral studies and presented me with some strong conclusions about the future of outreach and ministry in this culture. Those conclusions became especially poignant as covid-19 ground so much of what we held sacred to a halt around March. 

We could no longer present, or receive, information in the church as we always had because we literally could not be in the same room with each other. We had to think of new ways to care for each other. When the time came to grieve, we learned to grieve from a distance, as we also learned to celebrate 6 feet apart. 

But as the social restrictions began to lift, a little, and meetings took place in the building again, something happened that supported my doctoral conclusions. We told stories.

The first group to meet here was the CNS Board. Comprised of eight individuals we came together in the basement, masks on, sanitizer close by, and we began to think about what the new school year would look like. At that time we had more questions that answers. We also had the luxury of time as we began those conversations sooner than many around us did. And while the meeting that night was positive and full of creativity, what happened at the end of our time, blessed me. 

We stood together, at least 6 feet apart, under masks, and we laughed and told stories of how we were doing. We shared some of our struggles with covid-19 and the local school issues. We lamented not being able to be together in the church. We laughed about going the wrong way down aisles at Giant Eagle or Wal-Mart. For about 30 minutes we stood together and we shared. It helped reorient the struggles of the day, and I think, is still applicable today even as the restrictions have abated at the end of summer. 

I was re-reading a portion from Brian McLaren’s most recent book entitled, The Great Spiritual Migration, when I came across these words that he wrote. . . 

“Maybe what really matters, maybe what always mattered, I said, isn’t the beliefs we're told to proclaim, but the stories from which the beliefs have been abstracted and derived through various processes of interpretation."

CNS did good work that night. You do good work as the church each day. But I wonder about the stories you share as the new school year is about to begin? I wonder about the content of those stories?? How are you making sense of this new normal? Is it positive? Do your stories contain elements of frustration that, perhaps accidentally, limits who God can be in your life today? Maybe, to use Paul’s language, this "slight momentary affliction” is preparing you for an eternal blessing which is to come?

I hope you keep sharing those stories because they are so fundamental to who we are and who God calls us to be. . .  

Blessings

Rev. Derek