Church meetings, practice and the spirit of improvisation...

NOTE: This will be my 6th annual meeting at our current church ~ and they've all been good.  I understand that in the past they have sometimes been rancorous over money.  And while I don't think people should be passive or unengaged about how funds are used for mission and ministry, there is something fundamentally wrong when congregations act in cruel and/or mean-spirited ways.  Over the years, this text has guided me in helping my faith community plan and live into their annual meetings.

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited, but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
  he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

Most of the times, therefore, I offer a prayer and a short word of encouragement.  This year, however, I am going to share the following reflection for we have new work to accomplish in the next five years of renewal.  I'll keep you posted...

Dear Gracious and Compassionate God,

   Source of all Hope and Forgiveness,
   Spirit of Christ within and among us,
Our hearts are glad and our souls rejoice as you show us the path of your presence in community:  We pray that we would follow you with courage and kindness.

In the words we share this day – and the decisions we make – help us stay grounded in your truth, your mercy, your grace.  For as we seek to deepen our mission of worship and reflection, compassion and justice in our generation, we know that we cannot do so without your Spirit.Strengthen us in faith – empower us by grace – and lead us in love for the sake of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and always.  Amen.

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Today I am going to break with my general habit of not sharing my thoughts with you at the start of our annual meeting because I sense that today’s meeting is different.   To be sure, it could simply be yet another in a long history of business meetings – some placid, others contentious – where budgets are seen and affirmed and a slate of officers elected for the coming year.  And make no mistake that is part of what must happen again today:  the formal and structural aspects of ministry need your careful attention and action.

But something else is called for today, too – and that’s what I really want to address at the start of this meeting.  You see, in previous meetings it was essential for our lay leadership – new and old – to state clearly the course of our emerging convictions.  We were charting new territory together – letting go of some old traditions and practices, grieving our loss and prayerfully opening our hearts to God about the future. 

As your then “new” pastor I sensed that this work needed to be done together in community – not privately and not by me – but out in the open by your leaders who were finding their own unique way of expressing this new mission.  At these early meetings, you see, it was not about what I sensed was important for First Church – I made my concerns clear on Sunday mornings, at council meetings each month and through my weekly writing with the wider congregation – no, what was important at our annual meeting was what you had discerned about Christ’s spirit flowing within and among us.  And over the past five years I have given thanks to God that you have done this with integrity and humility.

During these first five years of renewing First Church of Christ, it was vital for our chosen lay leadership to find their voice in singing the Lord’s new song.  And here’s what you came up with – In community with God and each other, we gather to worship, to reflect on our Christian faith, to do justice and to share compassion – our current working statement of mission.  It celebrates 5 simple truths: 

·        we seek God’s guidance in community rather than simply by ourselves

·        we honor the Sabbath and the Lord with worship

·        we study and wrestle with our faith rather than accept doctrine in a     fundamentalist way

·        we strive to make the words of faith flesh by doing justice and sharing compassion

We don’t always get it right – sometimes we don’t go deep enough either – but mostly we have found a way to quietly, creatively and playfully live into these five faith commitments.

That is what we needed to do over these past five years – discern and embody a renewed mission – and I am grateful that the leadership and membership of this congregation has done it.  Because our work for the next five years is going to be different and that is why I need to speak with you before the rest of this meeting unfolds. 

There are three commitments we’re going to have to wrestle with in new and faithful ways over the next five years – and they aren’t easy – but they will determine whether or not we maintain and amplify our enthusiasm or simply fade away like so many other New England congregations.

·        First, we are going to have find ways to reclaim the practices of our faith – the spiritual disciplines of Christianity – that give our witness shape and form as God’s distinctive people.  People who know how to suffer with patience and grace, people who know how to be generous and compassionate, people who have the inner strength to resist evil and oppression are not born – they are trained.  Like a musician, they practice their scales, they explore new modes and give time and effort to the inward disciplines so that when circumstances call for it, they can stand and deliver.  Our brand of Christianity has been long on giving people space – and this is beautiful – but way too short on expecting people to practice deeply the time-tested virtues of grace.  And if we’re going to do more than coast, if we’re really going to sing the Lord’s new song, we’re going to have to change our expectations around practicing the faith.  And while I’m prepared to lead you into this, I will need your support.

·        Second, the more we practice, the more we will have to learn how to say “yes” and “no” with conviction.  We cannot do everything we would like, right?  We will never have all the money we need to fix this beautiful but costly building – and over the next five years we’re going to have to make some hard choices about yes and no when it comes to repair and all the rest.  We will never be able to make everyone happy here either; some people want more social justice action while others need more prayer.  There are children and families to prepare for faithful living as well as those in their retirement years and beyond – so choices are critical here, too. And as everyone’s lives become busier and more frenetic – filled with the interruptions of tweets and emails and smart phones – we need to know how to unplug and practice the quieter virtues of attentiveness and presence. 

Now saying yes and saying no with conviction and faith need not be seen in a negative light, ok? When I watch Carlton or other great jazz players improvise and make beautiful music in the moment, a variety of things are happening all at once.  Years of practice are being brought to the forefront, key choices about mood and context are shaping which notes are sounded and which are left unplayed for another time and the whole thing is being done playfully and creatively, ok?  Like Paul Simon said, “Improvisation is too important to leave to chance.”  And this is going to have to be a part of our mission life together over the next five years, too.

·        And third this next phase of renewal must be grounded in radical hospitality.  To those who are currently outside our community, to be sure; but also to those who are already here.  The hour has come for us to learn how to trust one another at a deeper level:  to question one another with clarity but kindness, to challenge one another with conviction but also compassion and to cooperate with one another beyond what is convenient or merely polite.  All around us there are signs that we are in the middle of a crisis of hospitality – and I don’t mean that it is sometimes hard to get people to do coffee hour – I mean the fear and animosity towards immigrants, the unprecedented homeless and our reluctance to take risks on behalf of the stranger.

Each of these challenges – going deeper in Christian practices, learning to say yes and no with conviction and embracing radical hospitality – will need leadership – coaching, kvetching and cajoling, too.  So I wanted you to be forewarned about what’s coming, ok?  We have some beautiful work to do together in God’s spirit over the next five years.  I pray we open ourselves to Christ’s grace so that we also have the strength.