A congregation of the United Church of Canada
Patterns
“We’ve always done it that way.”
Last weekend was the annual 2-day spring meeting of our denominational regional council. As always, the best parts of such conferences are the reconnections we make with colleagues and friends within our region. And, as always, the worst parts of such conferences are when we get bogged down in word-smithing and making little things into big issues. Sometimes we’re far too earnest for our own good. Happily, the good far outweighs the onerous, and I always look forward to attending these meetings.
Two things in particular struck me about our Church this weekend. (The wider church, not Faith United, per se.) We conformed to the host church’s preferences for things like serving communion and receiving monetary offerings, and in both cases their tradition is to engage in those things with great regimented formality. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, and they did it very well. It just struck me that it belonged to another time, like it was a remembrance of days gone by. For a room full of seasoned church veterans like us it worked just fine. I did wonder how it might feel if I was just a visitor and new to church-going. A church should chose whatever traditions and methods they wish, and they should do so with clear and deep reflection on why their methods fit them, and what those methods communicate to others about them. As Faith United enters into deep reflection on who you are and what you’re about it would be good to remember to examine such things, and resist falling into the trap of “but we’ve always done it that way.”
The other thing that struck me was about our denominational penchant for supreme wordiness! Oh, how we love to go on and on (and on, and on…). Again, it’s not a judgment on whether they are good words or not. They almost always are! But how many other places in life do you find yourself sitting with a hundred people reciting words together from a screen? What amount of unison reading is community-creating? And at what point do the words blur into meaninglessness? Maybe never! Maybe all those words are exactly what the gathered people need to share. Or maybe not. The discernment is about what the right amounts are for your particular community of faith, and why you’re making those choices.
The highlights of the weekend tended to come from passionate people enthusiastically sharing their experience – like those who travelled to El Salvador, and the theme speaker who was excitedly presenting the upcoming new hymn book for our Church, or the fantastic musician who offered amazing gathering music throughout the meeting! (Lol – me.)
What style of church fits you best? What patterns are you unconsciously perpetuating? What things that you’ve always done a certain way might need to be rethought in this season? What are you passionate about? How do you balance the needs of long-time folks with new folks? What are you needing to let go of? What are you needing to embrace?
If you like all these kinds of questions then make sure you participate in Faith’s visioning process. Prayerfully fill in the survey you received. (If you didn’t get one click here!) Participate in one of the interactive workshops in early May. Be part of the conversation! And most important of all – keep praying! (That’s a pattern worth keeping!)