The Loose Canon

Churches function differently at different sizes. This is essential. But this can also be an obstacle to moving from one size to another. For example, if a church has coffee after the service in a space that is comfortably full with 25 people, the congregation should not be surprised when newcomers don’t tend to stick around at a church that readily fills the space in the few minutes after the service. Despite the number of empty pew spaces, the congregation is sending the unintended message that they have enough people already. There is no room for more.

The problems are varied, but the root cause is the same: a congregation that behaves like a smaller church will tend to stay smaller. This is no law of nature and exceptions are possible. Yet it is all too common that a change in behavior could unlock more room to grow, if the congregation could just see the obstacle and make the change to make room for more people.

I learned this from my then 9-year old daughter, Griffin. I was newly in Camden County to start what would become King of Peace, Kingsland. The name had just been approved by Bishop Louttit. Griffin and I went to the post office in Kingsland to rent a PO Box. The postal worker explained that they had three sizes, the letter sized, the drawer and the bin. He left me with a form to fill out. That’s when my daughter asked which one I was renting. I explained that we didn’t have much money and so I would get the letter sized box. “Papa” she said, a bit of exasperation breaking through, “you don’t want to have to change addresses later. What size box would the church we are going to become need?” Griffin is no church growth guru, but she does listen well and learn from what she hears. We had been around for the first 2.5 years of Church of the Spirit, an Episcopal church we helped found while in seminary. Griffin had heard this lesson taught and then learned the hard way. She wanted King of Peace to get it right the first time. Over the coming ten years, our drawer-sized box was often comfortably full after a few days and so I often had cause to give thanks for my daughter’s wisdom.

The lesson of the PO Box has helped me to see many other obstacles to growth at King of Peace and elsewhere. The key question is a variation on the one Griffin asked me that day: What would would you do if you were already the church you are called to be? Then you set about doing what the church you will become would do. Apply this lesson to welcoming newcomers, communication within the congregation, and so on. You will find and break through barriers to growth you would not see any other way. These same principles apply to discipleship growth. Is the Christian education program that once served you well, no longer what you need. How might God be calling you to change how and when you teach the timeless truths of the Gospel to adapt to new circumstances.
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Faithfulness is the goal
Please do not hear me wrong. There are many reasons for numeric growth in attendance and many reasons why growth is limited. There is no set size a church needs to become to be real. There are reasons why a church of 30 or 80 may be exactly where you need to be. But there is no reason a congregation can not consider if there are any obstacles hindering its becoming what God has called it to be. Whatever growth that occurs is a work of the Holy Spirit, whether that growth is in discipleship or attendance or giving. Ours is not to tell God who to send our way. But as Christians, we do owe it to our Lord to make room for all God does send so that if they do not connect to our congregation, it is not because we were inhospitable or were not willing to accept the gifts of one arriving as a stranger. Faithfulness is our common call, no matter the size of the congregation. We should seek to become the most welcoming, accepting places we can be and leave the results to God. What obstacles might their be in your congregation?

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
Romans 10:14 (NIV)

Christmas and Easter are the low-hanging fruit of evangelical opportunities. Many people who do not darken a church door on any Sunday of the year, will come to worship on these days if invited. It is the personal invitation from a friend or co-worker that are the most effective means of reaching this group.

In fact, the Bill Graham Crusade, which knows a good bit about invitation and evangelism, say that at each rally, those whose lives are changed by the Gospel usually arrive in the car of a friend, with most all of the remainder coming at the invitation of a friend who offered to meet there. The same applies to our congregations where an ad in the newspaper can be helpful, an up to date website (be sure to get your Christmas schedule online weeks early) is also essential, but the personal invitation is the no-cost way that beats the most expensive ad campaign.
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Using the bulletin and announcements to invite your congregation to invite their friends and acquaintances is the best way to encourage this to happen. Christmas is a particularly good time as cultural pressure to have a jolly Christmas can heighten despair right when our services are about the joy of God with us. Lessons and Carols services as well as a candlelight midnight mass are exactly what some individuals and families in your community need to help reconnect to God.

How will they know you offer it if they are not invited directly. And how will the people in your pews come to know what an easy time it is to invite someone to church if you do not remind them?

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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Social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, offer ease of communication. Like any tool, these sites can be misused. So while, using Facebook may help you find and reconnect to friends from your college days, abuse of this tool has led to more than one teen suicide. It is worth stopping to think through how a church and its ordained ministers and laity can navigate this new connected landscape.

Harness the Connective Power of the Internet
Many of your congregation are online every day. A congregation’s presence online can help extend your connection to its members. While at King of Peace, the daily Irenic Thoughts blog got more than double the daily visits than a typical Sunday attendance of 140. Posts on that site kept the conversation about the faith going seven days a week. King of Peace’s YouTube Channel was another important way to share events (such as this Vacation Bible School music video) and much more. Likewise, using the 140-character limit of Twitter or the convenience of a Facebook group helps many congregations stay connected during the week. I previously wrote on Finding the Kingdom of God on Facebook.

Web 2.0
What I am discussing is making the move to Web 2.0. The first version of the world wide web involved creating static content for people to view online. Web 2.0 means creating an interactive environment in which visitors do not just view the site, but can leave comments as well. Most churches have made the move to the web (and if not, contact me and the Diocese of Georgia will get your congregation online for free). Many congregations have not, however, made the move to Web 2.0 with interactivity such as that offered by blogs, Twitter, Facebook and many other social media sites available for your use at no cost.

The Incarnation was not virtual reality. Christian community will always involve people getting together in real time and space. That does not mean that the internet can’t help extend that connectedness we have on Sunday through the week. Yes, there is a possible downside as with any tool, but don’t let that frighten you away from the benefits of extending your ministry online. The benefits outweigh the negatives. That said, some precautions are in order:

Be Consistent with Your ‘Friends”
Everyone deserves to live a happy and buy cialis generic stress-free life. 1. It free viagra in canada is the magical pill that has been tested for its use for certain diseases and/or disease prevention. Because of the innumerable cheap viagra from india, the ED sufferers across the globe to overcome the condition. Recommended dosage include 2.5mg to 5mg once, cialis viagra australia twice or three times a week, or, 1mg to 3mg per day, with regular breaks. A priest or youth leader is in a position of power over the laity in the congregation or youth in the youth group. This power dynamic comes into play when a preist or youth leader sends a “friend request” to a parishioner on Facebook. It is difficult for the person to turn down such a request. For this reason, it is better for clergy to only respond to requests sent. In deciding whether to accept such a request, being consistent is essential to avoid virtually shunning one person while bringing another into an inner circle. Consistency could include refusing all online connections to those under 18. Consistency could also mean accepting all requests from those from church. Whatever you set as your personal policy should be clear, understandable and follow without exception whether one is a lay person in charge of a group, a deacon, priest or bishop. In all cases, any group which youth in the church can join should also be open to their parents who may wish to observe their child’s online activity.

Assume Everything is Public
No matter who you friend or follow or include in your social network, assume that all online communications from Twitter and Facebook, to a blog and email, are as private as something shouted out in church on Sunday. So, for example, a youth minister who is friends with every teen in the church must remember that audience for everything shared online.

Safe Church Guidelines
The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut has created Safe Church Guidelines for social media. Your diocesan staff is considering how we might draft a briefer, meaningful statement to help us navigate these still murky waters. If you have thoughts on what needs saying, send me an email at flogue@gaepiscopal.org

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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Historically, the season of Advent was the seven Sundays leading up to Christmas, with the days in between. Currently, and in an unbroken tradition that is centuries old, those in Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate seven Sundays of Advent. The readings in the RCL do not have to be changed to observe this longer season of preparation for both the first coming in Bethlehem or Christ’s second coming at the end of time. In fact, the readings in these last three Sundays of the church year are designed for a longer Advent. One goal of this move is to reclaim the time for preaching and teaching about the second coming as was traditionally part of the season and remains so in truncated form now.

Last year, I led the congregation of King of Peace, Kingsland, in an experiment. Together with six other congregations in the US and Canada, we expanded Advent to its historic length. We used Rite II Prayer B Penitential Eucharist. The prayers of the people are changed weekly, adapted from those in Liturgy Training Publication’sIntercessions for the People. We used a seasonal blessing for Advent from the Book of Occasional Services. We also used liturgist Bill Petersen’s seven Advent collects written for this project (which I can send to interested persons).

In previous years, we has an Advent wreath on the way into worship and replaced that with a seven candle stand to show the same season is lengthened. We do not have a choir and music is by piano except on fourth Sundays when it is guitars, dulcimer and drum. I used O Come, O Come Emmanuel in the spot of a hymn of praising with verses 1 and 2 in week one, verses 1 and 3 in week two and so on.

Preaching reflected seasonal themes found in the texts each week. Music was a huge challenge, but we made it work. This needs improving over time. Some hymns from the Lutheran Book of Worship helped us expand available music on the fly.

Making Advent a Little Lent Once More
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In earlier years, King of Peace offered materials I created on Celebrating Advent in the Home (seewww.kingofpeace.org/advent/ ). My wife and I revised the booklet this year to take in a seven-week Advent. It is online here:Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord. Victoria and I also feel that an Adventen discipline is in order, hopefully different from Lent. This would take thought and preparation, but could be important. I think suggesting that families take on an Advent discipline specifically designed to counter the rampant concumerism of the season is the direction to go.

Why not make Advent even more counter-cultural at a time of year when the message of the culture (Buy More Stuff to Be Happy) most needs to be overturned? Notice the Sunday readings this year. Consider how a longer Advent might be a helpful antidote to the season, particularly if it starts before the post-Thanksgiving rush. Decide whether or not you want to make the move to a longer season of anticipation next year.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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I am trying to assist in a move back to a seven-week Advent. I know I am swimming against the tide, but I am convinced that the church needs to move back to this more ancient pattern found in both Celtic and Orthodox traditions (unbroken centuries of seven-week Advents in Orthodox churches).

Last year, King of Peace joined a half-dozen other churches in experimenting with a seven week Advent. We found that we need a connection to the day-to-day lives of parishioners as is more common in Lent if this longer Advent was to be meaningful. To support this, we have created a booklet found here as a PDF: Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord: A nightly service for a seven-week season of Advent

Print even number pages on the back of odd-numbered pages and fold to create a booklet. This is a follow up to our first booklet, which has been printed by ten of thousands of users in the past decade: Celebrating Advent in the Home which contains both an Advent Wreath service and other ideas for creating a meaningful Advent for your family.

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Celebrating a Seven-Week Advent in Your Church
The first day of a seven-week Advent this year is November 7. Notice this year how the readings already in place fit with the theme of Advent. There is no need to change the Revised Common Lectionary readings to move to a seven-week season. For more thoughts on moving to this longer season read the blog entries: Prepare Now for Seven Weeks of Advent.

peace,
Frank and Victoria Logue

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The richness of the Christian faith is contained within the words and action of our liturgy. While the liturgy can teach without any additional instruction, teaching about the liturgy itself is a wonderful way to help “The Work of the People” (the literal meaning of the word “liturgy”) be more meaningful to those taking part in the pews. This can be done through an instructed Eucharist (such as this one Instructed Eucharist which also available as An Annotated Eucharist for hand out at other times).

Short pieces that help us reflect on the liturgy can be incorporated into a newsletter. At King of Peace, we created a newsletter just for the bathroom stalls which mixed humor and teaching in a short format. One example is online here: The Toilet Paper (other samples are online here: Resources for Churches).

In the bulletin itself you can include a box with some text on the liturgy like:

“Originally the entire service was viewed as our confession of faith. But, since the Sixth Century, the church has recited the Nicene Creed at the Eucharist. The word creed comes from the Latin credo for “I believe.” In the words of the creed we express together the faith we hold in common. At times in our lives when doubt and fear take hold, we can still say “we believe” for the community continues to believe for us.”

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“When partake in the Eucharist here at St. Swithen’s in the Swamp we are spiritually nourished, but it is not for our benefit alone. Communion enables us to return to the world with renewed vigor for proclaiming the Gospel in our words and in our lives. In the Eucharist, Christ’s presence both nourishes us and challenges us. As the celebration ends today, we will be charged to “Go in Peace to love and serve the Lord.” The Eucharist is therefore not an exclusive gathering that separates us from the world, but a challenge to reach out beyond our own church to the world around us. How might you take Christ’s presence to the world today? What would it mean to see the server at the restaurant this day as Christ sees her? How might you love and serve the Lord in your job this week? This is the challenge of the Eucharist, to come to treat the Light of Christ as something more than a pocket warmer, which is for our personal benefit and more like a lighthouse, which is a beacon for those out in the rough seas looking to come home.”

However you approach this task-an instructed Eucharist, blurbs in the newsletter or bulletin, or regularly taking a “liturgical teaching moment” within the liturgy itself-teaching an appreciation for the words and actions of the liturgy can help everyone, from cradle Episcopalians to someone visiting a liturgical church for the first time, to better grasp what we are doing in this work of the people.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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Matching the talents of people in your pews with the needs of your congregation and community is the best way to unlock the potential in your church. But too often, churches begin with their needs and beg people to fill those needs. For example, we need a youth group and so we beg people to be youth groups leaders. This might work well, as when my wife and I were asked to do just that years ago and found a fun ministry we would not have sought on our own. But often it ends in what feels like a never ending series of begging folk to be more involved.

Asset Mapping is a tool which turns this process around. Instead of beginning with the needs of the congregation, it starts by asking people what they would like to do for their church. Typically, Asset Mapping involves a meeting where members of the congregation write on Post-It Notes things they are willing to do from things they know are needed, like cutting the grass, to things they don’t know if the church needs, like knitting or baking cookies. The main point is that they offer these gifts up front. They state with the note that they will say yes when asked to do what they write there. As the assets are freely given up front, it is easier to ask later when the “asset” is needed.

In one congregational meeting, your church can discover gifts you never knew you had and better yet people are empowered to do what they would love to do on behalf of their church family.

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Nine out of ten Episcopalians claim they don’t know what the vestry of their church does. When only vestry members are surveyed, the percentage goes to ten out of ten.

The joke usually elicits a laugh out of vestry members. The task of overseeing the temporal affairs of a congregation is not easy and can be a thankless task. Being a good member of vestry means setting aside one’s personal agenda to seek what is best for the congregation as a whole. To assist in moving toward less time bogged down on details to provide more energy for thoughtful discussions about the life of a church, there is a different meeting format worthy of consideration. The Rev. Lonnie Lacy of St. Anne’s, Tifton, recommends the somewhat radical shift to a four part agenda of:

1. Formation
2. Information
3. Discussion
4. Decisions

This meeting format is discussed in some detail where Lonnie discovered it in The Rev. Canon Neal O. Michell’s book from Church Publishing, How to Hit the Ground Running: A Quick-Start Guide for Congregations with New Leadership (ISBN-13: 978-0898694758).
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The idea is to open with teaching for the vestry (formation), then make sure everyone is up to speed on the church calendar and knows what is coming up (information), Continue by engaging in conversation about the major concerns of the congregation with no vote on the night something is presented unless it is an emergency (discussion), and then act on things discussed at the previous meeting together with reports like minutes and the treasurer’s report (Decision).

I have field tested this meeting format with the vestry at King of Peace and agree to its advantages in moving away from the more common approach of approving minutes and financial report, followed by other reports and then old and new business. That typical meeting puts details up front, rather than time to discuss thoughtfully the larger issues. In moving a church from being about maintenance of the facilities and services, to engaging in the mission God has for your congregation, focusing the vestry meetings toward productive discussion is critical. While this vestry meeting format is not essential, working to keep from getting bogged down in minutiae is. I offer this four-part meeting agenda as a helpful alternative.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

Above are pictured the interior of St. Anne’s, Tifton and the Rev. Liam Collins and the Rev. Dcn. Eddie Adkins with the members of the vestry of St. Luke’s, Rincon.

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The following is an opinion piece I wrote for Episcopal Life online. The version they published is here: Miner’s Rescue: A miraculous triumph of the human spirit. The version I wrote, which included a scriptural comparison, is found below:

“Chi, Chi, Chi, le, le, le,” the cry from the miners rose from both the depths of the earth and from the depths of the human spirit. Trapped longer and deeper than any miner to survive a cave in, not one life was lost. And yesterday as the eyes of the world were fixed in large numbers to a camp called Hope in the midst of a wasteland, there seemed to emerge two ways to view the story. Either the world was witness to a miraculous answer to prayer or we had seen a triumph of human ingenuity, spirit and will.

Pick your story line and there was evidence to make your case. Miners emerged from pit to kneel and thank God. For this way of seeing the story, we have Mario Sepulveda, one of the 33 men trapped who emerged to say, “I was with God, and I was with the devil. They fought, and God won.” According to CNN, Sepulveda said that he had grabbed hand of God and then never entertained another doubt that rescue would come. You can also point to Mario Gomez, a 63-year old miner of 51 years became the spiritual leader who led prayers, and requested statues to create a shrine as a center for devotion in their efficiency-apartment sized living area. If you are looking for a miracle, Sepulveda, Gomez and other miners will share your conclusion.

On the other hand, no bolt of lightning rent the earth freeing the trapped men. It was the skill of miners above, blasting through rock to reach the men that led to their release from the stone sepulcher of the mine. From NASA engineers to Pennsylvania miners who had used a similar rescue vehicle, there was a mountain of human knowledge being set to the task of bringing “Los 33” home safe.

While one group considered issues of drill bits, another looked to rescue vehicles, still others considered in detail issues of diet and exercise. This was an Apollo 13-like story playing itself in real time on television over the past 52 days since contact was first made with the men. Layer on this the leadership of Luis Urzua, the shift supervisor who kept his crew alive for 17 days on 48 hours rations. By strength of will, he kept the men together in a situation which could have led another group to tearing one another apart. Add to this the fact that many miners have died around the world while prayers ascended on their behalf and you can justify skepticism about a miracle.

A man confronting grave health troubles or undergoing long term drug cialis sample http://raindogscine.com/?attachment_id=565 ought to reveal the physician; since consuming the mixture of two pills collectively lifts up threat of injurious health consequences. One can actually get suffer with sexual problem. cialis online generic Sildenafil and sample viagra for freee some of the common signs of obstructive sleep apnea. Did you ever question why many Senators and Congressmen start their service as regular, or less than middle class Americans, and exit as millionaires? We’ll be glad to answer order generic cialis that question for all of you. Yet this is not a case of either miracle or triumph of humanity. This is a story of a miraculous triumph of the human spirit. Then men kept the flame of hope kindled through 17 days imprisoned under 700,000 tons of rock, more cut off from the rest of the world than imaginable. Then a 3.2-inch wide whole reconnected the miners to the rest of the world and that tenuous connection became more powerful than anyone could have expected. The 20-minute trip up or down the narrow shaft became a conduit for the Pope to send Bibles and rosaries and news of prayers from the Vatican. The same narrow shaft provided us with a view of the miners and gave them a window on the world, including the birth of Esparanza (meaning “Hope”), daughter of trapped miner Ariel Ticona. Then men had already reported feeling God’s presence in the hot, dark, mine. This tiny tunnel to the surface connected the men with the hopes and prayers of a world gripped by plight of the miners.

Our faith in Jesus does not mean that we carry a Get-Out-of-Tragedy-Free card with us. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. The cave ins occur or don’t based on physics, not the whims of the Alimighty. What our faith provides us is a connection to God come what may. It is the assurance that while we trust God to provide rescue, we know if God does not we will still be fine, for whether we live or we die, we belong to God.

In the Book of Daniel, the three young Jewish men in the court of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Three young men—named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego by the Baylonians—refused to bow down and worship an image of gold set up by the Babylonian king. As Jews, they worshipped God alone and would not do as ordered by the king even though they were told that if they remained stubborn, they would be burned alive in a furnace.

The three men told the king, “If it be so, our God, whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” The story goes on to recount their rescue from the fiery furnace, clearly a story of miracle. But to overlay the story from Daniel on the mine disaster, we see that the faith we have when disaster strikes like this is to say that we trust God will deliver us, but if not, we will still not lose hope, for our hope is founded on something much more stable the rock which entombed the men’s bodies but could not imprison their souls.

As the miners move into the light of the media spotlight, we see the miracle of 33 men not losing hope when a rational look alone gave every cause for despair. They held on to their sanity and their humanity many of them have said by a light that still shone in their hearts even in the dense darkness of the mine. This faith supported “Los 33” and their families as others put their God-given gifts to work to rescue the men. As we watched the men emerge relatively unscathed from darkness, we were seeing a true miracle, yet a miracle made manifest by the talents and energy of the rescuers combined with the faith the miners found to fan the flames of hope within.

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Children are not the future of the church. They are fully members of the Body of Christ now. As such, we should be actively ministering to children and open to their exercising appropriate forms of participation in the life of the ministry of the church given their abilities. One important distinction with liturgical churches and other Christian congregations is that through the ministry of acolytes, kids can grow up assisting in the worship life of their congregation. (At left, the author is pictured celebrating communion with his daughter beside him as an acolyte nine years ago when King of Peace, Kingsland was meeting in a house. She is now a college sophomore.)

Having kids who are able to take on the roles of torch bearer and crucifer, as well as thurifer and others where part of the congregation’s liturgies, is an important way to bring children into the heart of our worship life. Acolyte training and then the experience of worshipping in the sanctuary draw our children into the liturgical words and actions in a way not possible from the pews alone. A congregation certainly does not have to have children in order to have crucifer and torch bearers serving alongside the clergy and Lay Eucharistic Ministers. But most every congregation does have children who could take on these roles. Finding an acolyte master who can combine gentleness and firmness in training the children how they should serve with dignity and reverence is essential. But even with a talented and capable acolyte master, having children serve as acolytes provides an welcome opportunity for the clergy to directly support these young persons in this ministry.

I use this Loose Canon column to assist with Congregational Development. But developing a congregation is not all about gaining newcomers and connecting them to the congregation. That is but one small part of developing a congregation. The real work includes discipleship, where those who are part of a congregation grow more fully into being the persons God has called them to be in Christ. In this work, the ministry of acolytes is vital part of creating an opportunity for children to grow in their understanding and appreciation of the Eucharist. (At right, the Rev. Jay Weldon rehearses with acolytes prior to a Pentecost Sunday procession at St. Patrick’s, Albany.)
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In every town we are in, there are larger churches, most of which have bigger, more active programs for children and teens. But our churches are usually among the few that involve children so closely in leading the worship of the church. This is no small opportunity we offer our children and one that should be nurtured and valued. Combining an active core of acolytes with youth Sundays that challenge teens to take on even more responsibilities are ways we can live in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

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There are two larger approaches to growing a cogregation:

1. Focus primarily on the church itself and making it a more attractive place in terms of facilities and the quality of worship and more.
2. Focus more on the community and its needs and reach out to those not part of the church.

A Better Fishing Boat & Little Bo Peep
The first approach is to work to build such a nice fishing boat that the best fish will willingly jump right in. Any approach that focuses on getting a new building, a better music program, or a youth group, in order to grow the church is this approach. All of those things are good, and may be essential to being the congregation God has called you to be. But in and of themselves, these will do little to grow a church. If not combined with a strategy for reaching the lost and hurting people in your community who need the Gospel, this is like Little Bo Peep who lost her sheep and doesnt know where to find them. The rhyme goes on, “Leave them alone and they’ll come home, dragging their tails behind them.” In this view, it is up to the sheep to find their way back to the shepherd and potential newcomers are on their own to find you.

Deep Waters & The Good Shepherd
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A Combined Effort
Obviously, we need to combine both approaches. We do need to attend to our buildings and programs. We also need to reah out to our communities in love. When these two areas are tended to properly, a congregation tends to grow. This growth may be spiritual growth as those who take part deepen their faith. It is often also numeric growth in attendance.

One Simple, Lost Cost Way to Reach Newcomers
While some of our communities have little or no growth in population, many areas in the Diocese do experience people moving into the area, even if it is a relatively small number. There are services that will provide you with new address changes for pennies on the address. Even better, real estate agents in your congregation (or known to members of your congregation) already have access to information on where new people are moving in.

Send new folks to your community a letter, preferably hand addressed, letting them know where you are, something about the church and your worship times. This direct contact with a family new to the area is one simple way you can reach out beyond the walls of your church to invite someone to find the healing and wholeness offered through Word and Sacrament within. God can use such a small thing as this to get the attention of someone who needs to find their way back home now that they are in an unfamiliar community.

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In pursuit of good theology, we clergy can be dismissive of a church building, knowing that the church is the people, not the building. We want to worship not the building, but the Triune God, to whose glory the building was created. Yet, the buildings and grounds of your church are not insignificant as these are places set aside for a holy purpose and so our reverence for them is not misplaced. As the church where you worship is a much prayed in space where Word and Sacrament offer a means of finding forgiveness, repentence and a new way of life lived in communion with God and with others, your space matters. How does the upkeep of those facilities speak of the faith proclaimed within the walls? (Holy Trinity, Blakely is pictured above with oak trees planted by the church planter, The Rev. Dr. Jimmy Lawrence, now shading the lawn.)

Gain New Eyes to See Your Church

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“True vocation is where your deep gladness
meets the world’s deep need.”
~Frederick Buechner (1926- )

Last week, I used this space to share the renewal exerises taking place at Good Shepherd, Augusta, following on an assessment of that congregation’s Life Cycle. This week, I want to share some of what follows as a congregation decides to forge a common sense of mission (which is much more than simply crafting a mission statement).

The Common Call to Mission
No congregation can be faithful in responding to what God has done in Jesus Christ simply by gathering weekly for Word and Sacrament. We must put our faith into action in response to Christ’s call to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Every church then is a group of Christians called by God to reach out to its community in love. Certainly this happens as each parishioner lives out his or her faith in their daily lives and in their work. Mission undertaken as a congregation is also an essential component of the work of the church. But the shape the mission takes will vary with every congregation as each will have its own unique gifts and each is in a different setting. The key is to discover what God is calling your congregation to do now in order to positively impact your community and the world.

The Process
Bishop Benhase Covenant Process offers the perfect opportunity for the parishes and missions of the Diocese of Georgia to assess their current mission efforts and to determine what to keep, what to drop, and what to take on. Full information on the expectations for this process are found online here: Congregational Covenants. While the final product may be the work of a Vestry, the process leading toward the Covenant must involve input from all interested persons in a church if the final product is to be meaningful. The goal is to use the covenant as a way to discover the ways in which your church will proclaim the Gospel, serve the lost and left out, and be good stewards of its gifts from God.

Newsletter articles, a Rector’s (Vicar’s or Senior Warden’s) forum after church, and bulletin notices are among the ways you can share the process. Surveys (online and in print) and congregation-wide meetings are two excellent ways to get feedback for the process. Ask what your congregation can do to better serve the needs of the community. While this will turn up a lot of wonderful ideas, no congregation can or should meet all the needs of the area it serves.

Leadership is Critical
Your church is not being called by God to take on any ministry for which there is not already potential leadership in the congregation. For example, Scouting is a great program, but if you have no potential Boy or Girl Scout leaders in the congregation, that may well be a good idea for another church in your town. On the other hand, if you have a person with a passion for creating dolls who wants to teach others how to do so and you develop a vision for using the dolls to show love to children in the hospital, then you have found one way your congregation can share the love you have for God with your neighbors.
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What Are You Going to Stop?
Doing something new either requires new people to take it on, or discontinuing something else. That is good. Sometimes needs change and a church should be willing to stop doing what it has been doing in order to focus its energies on current needs. Rather than assume that what has worked in the past is what you should do now, ask whether there is anything at your church that is ready to be dropped in favor of something else.
 
What Would They Miss?
If your church closed its doors today and never opened them again, what would be missed by those in your community who never attended your worship? The answer to this question, reveals your current mission work. Now begin the process of discovering what God has for you next. Then when that question is asked in another five years, the answer should be those ministries you take on through the covenant process.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon for Congregational Ministries

“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’
Start where you stand, and work with
whatever tools you may have at your command,
and better tools will be found as you go along.”
~George Herbert (1593-1633)

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