Last night I moderated the Session at Onondaga Hill Presbyterian Church where I serve as the Bridge Pastor. For those who aren’t fluent in Presbyspeak – the Session is the governing board of the church and they are responsible for pretty much everything.
Being new I had so many questions:
- Who fixes the plumbing?
- Who lets visitors know we were delighted they were with us?
- Who figures out if we should cancel worship if there’s a snowstorm?
(More serious questions, such as – how does the coffee machine work – I had worked out on my own).
The Session had questions as well. Deeper questions about how to keep on being the church with limited resources of time and treasure. Hard questions concerning nominations and budgets, and gratefully, a whole bunch of those conversations were intermingled with language of trust and faith.
Our central questions focused on the “what” or “how” of it all. It’s our standard go-to in the tool kit. Something’s not working, then how do we fix it.
We need to ask different questions.
Before we ask how to attract new members (or even the details of how best to follow-up with folks who DO visit so that it doesn’t seem, you know, weird) we need to ask WHY we’d want folks to be members of our faith community. Or, before we brainstorm ideas about how we will fund certain projects, what if we were to ask “does funding this project reflect what we believe?”
Some of this hearkens back to Adaptive Leadership1, however, this is beyond reframing and checking things out from the balcony.
I think the Christianity is having an identity crisis. Our chief end is NOT to create a nation of similarly minded folk, but to glorify God and enjoy God forever.2 We need to remember not only who we are, but Whose we are.
Our current context is one of daily destabilization. Each morning brings news about actions on the federal level. The maelstrom of changes has been overwhelming. That is intentional. If we try to address each and every act with “how” and “what”, we will be lost.
What’s required of us now as a church, and I’d argue as a nation, is to ask the questions that point to our values. Do the actions in Washington reflect who we say we are as a people? Heck, do our own actions reflect the values we say that we hold dear?
It’s time to step back from the “How will we…” and “What do we…” and remember our Why.
The Quirky Calvin-isht 