Relationships are how we do God’s work in the world—the work to which we have been called through baptism as the body of Christ.
With good intentions, we pour increasing amounts of energy into improving our worship attendance numbers but oſten don’t see the intended results.
Be aware of motivation As long as filling pews on a Sunday morning is our motivation, our neighborhood will rightly perceive the church as self-serving and be less likely to trust us. Whether we mean to or not, the message our neighbors hear is: “We don’t really care about you, we just want you to fill our building (as well as our offering plate).” Jesus speaks to this and reminds us: “For those who
want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (Mark 8:35). Our internal focus is partially understandable, as we
love our congregations and sincerely want to share the joy and meaning we’ve found there with others. But in our efforts to stop the decline in our numbers, we can forget why we are there in the first place. Consider the possibility that the more energy we put into improving our numbers, the less energy we may be putting into developing trusting relationships with our neighbors. What’s more, not only are trusting, self-giving rela-
tionships between neighborhoods and congregations a good strategy for the work of the church, they are also in the image of God. Te Trinity can authentically be described as God-
in-relationship. Te identity of one person of the Trinity can best be understood through one’s relationship with the other two. Troughout biblical history, God has worked by establishing relationships with individuals or groups, including Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, and Moses. A relationship with God was opened to all directly through the Son, Jesus. Relationships are God’s way of revealing God’s self
and mission of love, grace and forgiveness to us. Rela- tionships are the way we trust God’s invitation to be part of that mission. And relationships are how we do God’s work in the world—the work to which we have been called through baptism as the body of Christ. In putting aside our agenda of playing the numbers
game, we can begin to develop trust within our neigh- borhoods. As we do so, we reveal the very nature of
God. By being part of our neighborhood for the sake of the neighborhood, we are better able to be about the purpose of the church.
Try this … Without considering whether it will bring in any new members, try some things that allow you to listen to the neighborhood around you: • Sit down with principals and teachers, listening as they tell you what would be helpful for their schools.
• Host a town-hall meeting in your community about a particularly hot issue that may be arising. Do so without an agenda other than to listen, allowing all sides to be heard.
• Talk to the local police department, perhaps riding along in squad cars to get their perspective on your neighborhood. Activities such as these over time will allow our
congregations to develop trust within our neighbor- hoods. Trough trusting relationships God is revealed and the reign of God is present. Perhaps then we can all see—and together join—God at work in our neighborhoods.
Author bio: Moss is a pastor of Lutheran Church of the Master, Lakewood, Colo., and author of The Neighborhood Church: God’s Vision of Success (Wipf and Stock, 2014).
April 2015 37
© ISTOCK/FRANCKREPORTER
© ISTOCK/CLAUDIAD
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52