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Tuesday
Oct202020

The hardest thing to do

The Order of the Ascension is having one of those email conversations. We do that from time to time. I think we miss each other having done this year’s retreat on Zoom. Also, we get caught up in a train of thought. This one is about “The numbers.”

Brother Scott noted that he had “similar conclusions.” I wrote, “there's a two-fold task … One is that we need an apologetic for these times. The second is what OA is about--as you said, "nurturing healthy development in congregations.” He agreed and said, “an apologetic has to have some hook to give people a reason to listen and respond.”  Brother Lowell, weighed in with, “I want to connect people to God.”  With the three of the most senior Professed having commented, others came into it.

In saying Morning Prayer there was this psalm verse,

 

I like the “level ground” and “full assembly” images. Maybe that’s my two-fold task.

I wrote this,

I find myself having these random thoughts about an apologetic. I notice that few of them are about the ideas to be offered. 

Here's one - I want to be a church that can be a home for Barack Obama, Pete Buttigeg, John McCain, Amy Klobuchar, Blair White, Jim Mattis, and John Mc Whorter. Okay, and also Joe and Kamala.  

The conversation continues.

 

This was part of Bishop Peter Eaton’s reflection this morning --

Yet the building of Christian community is the hardest thing to do that there is. We are all still too formed by the world and not formed enough by the Gospel, and it takes intentionality to create and sustain Christian community. To be a genuinely inclusive community is not to be without boundaries and expectations, and to say that God receives us as we are does not mean that God does not expect us to change.

All this is hard to negotiate. But not impossible. It takes practice and determination.  It takes a particular kind of focus and energy. And most of all it takes prayer and the sacraments. I was once asked how it was that my parish was doing so well, growing and flourishing, and I replied that I was not exactly sure, and there were no quick fixes;  but I did know that the well-being of the congregation depended on us saying our prayers together every day and doing a full day’s work. We do know how to help congregations flourish, but such flourishing takes real effort. 

I recalled how Bishop Peter sent all his assistants from Lancaster and Denver to the national CDI at General Seminary, and later Deer Isle. Those attending went through three predictable stages[i].

 

- “This   is   hard.”   Part   of   it   is   that   the programs   are   demanding   and   require  focused   time   and   energy.   But   as   the participants   begin   to   engage   change  projects   in   the   parishes, we   hear   about the   need   for   persistence, wisdom, and,  at   times, courage.   They   talk   about   how complex   interventions   are   and   how  challenging   the   work   is   intellectually, emotionally, and   spiritually.  

- “This   works!”   That’s   the   second   statement   we   hear   about   one   year   into   the  training.   The   feelings   of   being   overwhelmed   and   disoriented   have   passed.  Interventions   have   been   planned, implemented, and   reflected   upon.  Some   of   the “this   works” response   rises out   of   a   sense   that   the   parish   system   is more   understandable.   They   are   learning   to   look   under   the   tip   of   the   iceberg.  The   other   part   is   they   are   beginning to   see   some   initial   success   or, if   not  success, some   understanding   of   why their   interventions   did   not   go   as   they  intended.   As   the   training   comes   to   an end, we   hear   comments   about   changes  in   parish   culture with more trust, more openness, and more competence in the core practices.  

- “This   is   inspiring.”   This   one   comes later; maybe   during   the   last   workshops,  sometimes   after   that.   People   have   seen themselves, others, and   their   parish  change.   It   is   a   kind   of   reasonable   hope about   their   future   together.   A  confirmation   of   the   investment   they   have   made.

The Bishop’s comment makes the point,

I was once asked how it was that my parish was doing so well, growing and flourishing, and I replied that I was not exactly sure, and there were no quick fixes;  but I did know that the well-being of the congregation depended on us saying our prayers together every day and doing a full day’s work. We do know how to help congregations flourish, but such flourishing takes real effort.

We know a lot about helping parishes to flourish. Though most of the church seems either unaware of, or uninterested in, that knowledge. We do know a great deal about “how.” The apologetic for our time—now that’s hard work. 

rag+

 


[i] From “Understanding from Within: Working with Religious Systems,” An article by Michelle Heyne, OA and Robert Gallagher, OA in the OD Practitioner 2015.

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