Study guide Activism: ‘Doing church’ a new way M
By Robert C. Blezard
any Lutheran congregations are under stress because their traditional ways of being a
church—perfect for past genera- tions—no longer work well. In this busier, more individualistic, more consumerist and Internet-saturated age, churches struggle for purpose and relevance. Could congregation- based organizing offer a solution?
Exercise 1: Big changes • What do you see as the most dra- matic changes in our culture over the last 25 years? Think of such areas as the workplace, family, technology, entertainment and economics. • Have these changes made it harder or easier for communities to come together for a common purpose? • Have these changes affected your congregation for the better or the worse? • What has your congregation done to cope? • How are your church’s member- ship and finances trending? • Could congregation-based organiz- ing help?
Blezard serves as an assistant to the bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod. He has a master of divinity degree from Boston University and did subse- quent study at the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.) and the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia.
Exercise 2: Privatization of faith Church leaders have observed a steady rise in the privatization of faith—the trend for people to see their faith as exclusively between them and God, understood individu- ally, experienced personally and practiced alone. Discuss: • How have you observed this trend in your church, your circle of friends and family or community?
• Is this simply an extension of American individualism? • What affect does it have on the church? • How does it complicate the job of gathering a church as a community of faith?
Exercise 3: Your church’s purpose • Why, in God’s name, does your con- gregation exist? Not a flippant ques- tion. What holy endeavors does your congregation carry out in God’s name that give it purpose and mission? • Whom does your congregation primarily serve: 1) itself as an institution; 2) its members; 3) its community; 4) the world; 5) the disadvantaged? • How does it serve this primary group? • Which group is served second? Third? Fourth? • Is your congregation’s focus a godly one? • What Scripture passages would support those priorities?
Exercise 4: Community • What are the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer given by Jesus in Mat- thew 6:9-14? • In what way does Jesus presuppose community? • Similarly, how is community pre- supposed in the twin “greatest com- mandments” in Matthew 22:36-40? In Luke 10:29, a religious expert
asked Jesus who was the neighbor he was supposed to love as himself. Read Jesus’ answer in Luke 10:30- 37 and discuss: • Can a Christian rightly follow and serve if he or she is not in deep rela- tionship with other people?
• Is Christian love for neighbor always expressed in and evidenced by action?
Exercise 5: The lesson of Lazarus Read Luke 16:19-31. Compare and contrast the earthly conditions of Lazarus and the rich man. Now com- pare and contrast the heavenly con- ditions of Lazarus and the rich man. • Was the rich man bad? Evil? Unrighteous? • Why did he end up in Hades? • What should he have done while alive? • What can congregations learn from the story of Lazarus? • How can congregation-based orga- nizing help churches avoid the mis- takes of the rich man?
Exercise 6: Need-based ministry Congregation-based organizing starts with issues arising from the community and then working to build coalitions to address the root causes of those problems. • What are the top five issues facing your community? Your region or state? • How do they affect the lives of the people? • What are the chief causes of these problems? • Which of the problems could your church most effectively address? • Who are the people or groups working to solve them? • Can your church participate in the work of solving these problems? • Can your church be a leader in these causes? • Devise a congregational action plan and give it to your church coun- cil or pastor.
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