From Here to There

We like to think that we are further down the road than we are about this but . . .we still have work to do.

When those of us planning a Midwestern gathering of congregational leadership teams to work together (and with professional support) on their own processes of transformation, we intentionally made it easy for these congregations to bring teams from neighboring non-Disciples congregations. We reduced the amount of denomination ally specific references throughout the event so as to provide a less exclusive context. Our thought was (and still is) that congregational transformation happens best when it happens in concert with neighboring congregations in a community because the missio Dei (work of God) was given not to a denomination but to the whole Body of Christ. In other words, we are transformed - not to be more competitive but to become more collaborative with other congregations beyond our particular denominational tribe.

Sadly, no one took us up on the offer and only DOC congregational teams will be in attendance.

I accept some responsibility for that. We probably needed to customize our promotional materials. I could have been more aggressive in marketing the event to ministerial alliances. I suspect, however, that part of the reason for the response we got is that many of us are not yet there.

In the first place, not all of us are convinced that our work is, by its very nature, ecumenical. Without wanting to minimize the real value of serving within denominations, it has become comfortable for many of us to operate primarily within a denominational bubble. We know the people, the language, the safe boundaries within which we can operate freely. Not a bad thing, necessarily.

And if we are inclined to think ecumenically, we may be a bit jaded by previous attempts to create artificial unions between denominations before we were ready to experiment with shared missions - before we had sufficient opportunity to wrap our minds and hearts around the concept locally. Understandable uneasiness.

Our non-Disciples colleagues might also be wary - and not without good reason. Could ecumenical conversations these days be driven more by shrinking budgets and membership rolls than by a sincere desire to get the whole Body of Christ working well together locally? A fair question. How would you answer it? And if the Baptist congregation down the road has a thriving ministry with a million dollar budget and a junior college campus that is busy seven days a week, why would they suddenly feel the urge to partner with a congregation that prefers to take smaller steps to advance the Kingdom?

Like any change worth making, this one - local congregations of any and no denomination working together closely until big missions are actually accomplished - will take time. We cannot shorten that timeline but could we, should we begin to name that as a goal toward which we all strive?

Post Denominational? A Story From Japan

Former Mid-America Associate Regional Minister Ken Watson told a memorable story during a sermon at FCC, Odessa, MO.

A small but populous fishing village was located at the base of a 150 foot cliff on the east coast of Japan. They caught, processed and sold fish to people on the mainland while farmers in the highlands supplied them with grains and vegetables.

One day a wheat farmer near the cliff was about to begin the first good harvest after a long drought when he spotted a tsunami headed directly for the fishing village.

Knowing that the wave would destroy the village within 15 minutes, the farmer quickly pulled some ripened wheat stalks together and lit them with a match and set his field ablaze.

When the villagers saw the smoke, they immediately took off for the farm to help their neighbor extinguish the fire. They arrived too late to save the farmer's crop but just in time to avoid the crashing 60 foot wave that pulled every house and boat into the foamy sea.

Some might think that the village being saved by the farmer's sacrifice was the crown jewel of that folk tale. I think it was the experience of a just, loving, Christ-like community in action that is the true glory of the story.

Farmers and fisher folk, lowlanders and highlanders each thinking in terms of the whole community while building on what made each unique offers a lesson to the Church of Jesus Christ in our time.

If ever there was a time for the various tribes of the Body of Christ to pull together, it is now. And while challenges threaten to overtake some congregations, it should not be that we commit to better collaboration to avoid the dangers but to embrace the opportunities that we miss to advance the cause of Christ because we still tend first to think in terms of our own tribes (denominations) when we plan mission and ministry.

Of course, denominational organizations are helpful. We are not disembodied spirits. Denominations - like extended families offer something very important to many Christ followers and they are not likely to go away anytime soon.

I am particularly pleased as many Disciples of Christ are re-examining our heritage and discerning how we are to be, what we are to do in the centuries to come.

A piece of that discerning has to revisit the question about our original "polar star." Early in our 19th Century beginnings we understood that a divided Church could not prevail in the "Wild West." For two centuries we experimented with a variety of models for re-unifying the Church in North America with less than stellar results.

Today, we do not wait for academics, denominational leaders, or experts to tell us how to bring the Body of Christ together into more effective, coordinated, missional activity. Prompted by the Spirit more of us are praying, conversing, experimenting locally, and, our local communities benefit as a result.

How is this true or not true for you?