A challenging question

Sharing my story with a homegroup from Newbury Methodist last night gave me a chance to reflect aloud on some of my recent journeyings. A member of the group asked me how I perceived Newbury Methodist after an eighteen year absence. I found it a hard question because this wasn’t a casual enquiry to which I could give a bland or trivial response, but a heartfelt concern about what they might do/have done differently. I sense the questioner was herself dissatisfied or saddened by the perceived failure to attract or keep younger people in the church.
I was challenged by the question because in my ten months here I have remained uncommitted to the life of the church, partly through being away at Cliff some of the time, but also because coming from the centre of things in another church it is hard to get involved without being totally involved. Sitting on the edge of things is not normally my style, but it seemed right for the moment in order to help me reassess things and to be honest I needed a break!
So how do I see things? Like many others who sit on the fringe I don’t know half of what is going on. Only attending Sunday worship is not the best platform to get an overview of the effectiveness of a church’s mission and purpose. Judging on Sunday morning worship alone, I have to say that nothing much has changed. Yes Andy (the minister in pastoral charge) is very informal in his style and connects with the congregation, particularly when baptisms bring in those unused to church proceedings. The monthly ‘informal’ service, which happens an hour earlier than usual, is surprisingly well attended, but the pattern is pretty predictable and the inflexibility of the building does not encourage participation.
When you welcome a new member into your family the whole dynamics of family life have to change. The family still functions, but some things have to be done differently. Maybe my perception that things have not changed much in Newbury is due to the lack of new members joining the church family and making their presence felt (or being allowed to make their presence felt). My experience in Marlborough and Pewsey was that new people see things with fresh eyes and bring new vision and energy (as I also did when I came) but with that the pain and joy of adjustment for the whole family.
There are some big challenges for all in the church. Its future lies in how we respond to them.
The person who asked me the question was asking for my opinion. She ended up challenging me as well as herself – what are we (including I) going to do about it?

Faith at Work

Reflections on seminar in Sheffield on 26/4/07 Led by David Clark
Question: How can we as church leaders encourage congregations to see their ‘work’ life as a integral part of their Christian discipleship. How can we learn from the experience of people at work in order to enrich our understanding of God as creator? For examples given by David see here
Definition of work as those experiences which derive from our engagement ‘in the world’, ie apart from congregational life.
Positive benefits from engaging with the world of work

Discipleship as 24/7

Consciously looking for where God is already at work in the world

Earthing our church-based Christianity in the ‘real’ world

Releasing Christians to engage as part of the Kingdom community

To actively witness to the way our faith informs our practice which leads to new ways of doing/thinking about something. Praxis leading to Poiesis:

Role of Christian Leader as Community Educator

Equipping the laity to think/interpret theologically

To release scripture as a living tool to help in that interpretive process

To see the work of the Holy Spirit as the interpreter of life’s experience ( I know a ‘man’ who can!)

For an exercise looking at the theology of the laity see here

Questions I am working on
How do I see myself as an ordained person?
Why do I have feelings of regret about the experienced of perceived loss of connection with the world of work?
In what ways are ministers also participants in the ‘workplace’?