Friday, July 18, 2008

DISCOVERING OUR FUTURE AS A MISSIONAL CHURCH

    As I think about my future as a pastor, my thoughts are always around the subject, "What does God intend to do through our church here in Selden, Long Island?"

    I ask the question in that form because I hope to be able to spend several more years serving as the pastor of Hope and because I want those years to be as productive and powerful as possible for the Kingdom of God.

    I suppose I could settle back and say to myself, "Hey, Rich, you've got only five or six years until retirement (or less, if I wanted to retire early), so take it easy and enjoy the fruit of your 25 years of service at Hope."

    But the problem I have is that I am more excited right now about what God is doing and intends to do among us than at any other time in my ministry. For me it's almost as if all the years up till now were meant as a time of preparation rather than a time to prepare sail off into the sunset.

    I recently attended the Allelon Summer Institute in Hamilton, Ontario because I saw a chance to start learning some new things about ministry. The overall subject was called the "Missional Church," a term that is being used more and more by people who are on the leading edge of how the Church engages our culture and community with the good news of God's kingdom.

    A "Missional Church" is one that asks itself two basic questions: "What is God's mission in our world?" and "What does God intend to do through us, in our time and in our community, as His people?" Speaking of the church in this way is to suggest that it is time that we begin looking at what we do and ask ourselves, "How can we as God's people get beyond being simply a 'provider of religious goods and services' and begin to mobilize our resources to actively bring the gospel out to others who dwell beyond the walls of our 'sanctuary'?"

    Too often we have acted like we are the ones who should determine and define the mission we carry out. We often think that the community needs to come to us if we are going to serve them in God's name. But the truth is, as my friend Robin Greenwood always reminds me, it is not the church of God that has a mission but the God of mission who has a church.

    If that is true, then there's a big difference in the way we see ourselves and the mission we are engaged in. If we focus primarily on caring for ourselves and waiting for outsiders to come to us to receive the resources they need from us, we are missing the mission completely.

    Early in his ministry in Galilee, our Lord Jesus sent out 70 followers into the villages where he intended to go. They had a single task, to proclaim to all that the "kingdom of God has come near." Jesus had no building to invite people to, and there were no "programs" for them to offer people. Their job was simply to "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,
drive out demons." Jesus told them that it would be dangerous work, and they would not be welcomed by everyone, but those who did welcome them would indeed receive a blessing. They were to go as strangers into new places, ready to speak and do the work of God's kingdom, bringing his Shalom to everyone who would receive it. But if you look at what we do and how we connect (or not) with our community, that usually isn't the case, is it?

    We are all members of the Body of Christ, gifted by God's Holy Spirit for the work of ministry, and we spend the largest part of our daily lives living in the midst of a culture that is usually not very "God-friendly." But the truth is that even we, when it comes right down to it, do not often think too much about what God might be able to do through us for the sake of His kingdom. And even when we do come together as a body, very often it is for our own sake rather than for the sake of God's mission.

    I invite you to think, pray, and interact with me about this important question: "What might we do differently as God's people, both individually and corporately, if carrying out God's mission were our primary agenda as the church?"

    In coming days I will share some of my thoughts on this question. Please join me by sharing yours.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

ON TO ONTARIO

In just a few days I will leave for a week in Hamilton, Ontario to attend a week-long Summer Institute offered by the Allelon Movement. I have signed up for two courses: "Mission-Shaped Groups - Structures for Missional Formation" and "Missional Church - Its Nature and Purpose." I will fly out toward Toronto, Canada on Sunday after worship so I can get to Hamilton, Ontario in time for Monday morning's first session at 8 a.m. .

It may sound rather odd for me to say that I am "going back to school" for a week, but it is something I have been thinking about for some time.

The classes will meet Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and they are being held at "The Freeway," a church that is part of the "emerging church" movement that operates its own café that serves the public from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Look it up on the web at http://www.frwy.ca/

My reason for going to this Summer Institute is so I can become part of a "Learning Community" of church leaders from Canada and the United States, leaders who are actively involved in working with churches on the local level. The point of the Institute is to provide us with an opportunity to gather together with people who are "on the same wavelength" when it comes to working for the transformation of the church in North America.

There's a certain irony to this whole experience. As a pastor in the Metro New York Synod, I am already involved in a "movement" in the church that encourages us to "travel together" in the ministry of the gospel. That's actually what the word "Synod" means. It means, loosely translated, that we are traveling the "same way together" (Greek: "sun" = "same" and "odos" (pronounced "ho dos" = "way"). My experience for the past 20 years (at least ) since the formation of the ELCA Metro NY Synod, however, has not actualized this potential. We simply have not yet found a way as ELCA Lutherans to really walk the "same way."

It's really no wonder to me that we are witnessing the rapid decline of many churches in Metro New York. God intended that we should be in this work together, yet in truth we are not. We (pastors and churches) still work largely in isolation from one another, even though there is clearly more strength in numbers.

I believe that it doesn't have to be that way forever. That's why I'm making this journey and spending a lot of money. It won't be a vacation. In fact, if all goes well, it will probably require even more work from me (and you) as we begin looking for new ways to embrace the mission God is already carrying out among us. For some of us it will mean taking more time to study and pray together. For others it will lead into new areas of active ministry with people from outside our congregation. For all of us it will be necessary for us to grow spiritually.

So here is my "fair warning." Please keep me in your prayers and pray for our future together. I am excited about what God has done among us in the past, and I am eagerly looking forward to what God is going to do among us in the months and years ahead. There is so much God wants to do with us, and if we are open to the leading of God's Holy Spirit, we will see many new things emerge from within us.