Church!

Recently, I was reminded of a question I heard when I got appointed to my first Congregation (maybe I should say first group of congregations 🙈 that is a story for another day). The question was, "Would the community notice if your Congregation closed in the Community". It raises the question as to your congregation’s effectiveness and or relevance in the community that it is situated in. Should we be concerned with being effective or relevant in the community?

I hear people say all the time, "Stop going to Church, Be Church". Sounds nice, but what does it mean and how does that mentality or state of being influence the Communities in which we serve. Should it effect or influence the community?

One of my favourite quotes is by Henri Nouwen, "The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there."

Sounds like a nice thing to say or maybe even a good excuse not to be led by others (that doesn't have the same, difficult, experiences as you but it rings very true as to the witness and effectiveness of the Church. We (the Church) should not hesitate to be vulnerable. 

Church is more than the buildings and programs that we run. Church is the people of God living Christ! We are a bunch of imperfect people that discovered a perfect Saviour and that shares Christ with those we encounter. This means that we make a mark in community, whether we want to or not... by virtue of just loving Christ we impact community. By sharing in people's joys and vulnerabilities we impact communities. The issue that the Church should continually be wrestling with is about how much we know and let Christ be known.

This is ever so true now... The Covid 19 pandemic managed force us to re-think who we are as the Church… business as usual has been halted and Church as usual, I think, has forever been altered… Church as usual get not continue even when this pandemic ends. A re-definition of our perception and or imagining of Church is now happening, whether we like it or want it or not. Now is not the time anymore for us to lament and moan about what we should have done... whatever we are doing now is how we are shaping our new normal of being Church. I urge us however to never loose contact with each other. The Church in my opinion ceases to be Church if we lose contact. Finding ways to share our lives with each other is crucial. We are Church... Now... in this time... for this time... 

I remember a time when HIV/AIDS first hit us… The Church said… WE ARE HIV POSITIVE – THE CHURCH HAS AIDS. We said this based on our theology that says that if one suffers, we all suffer. So, what is different now?

Whatever the pandemic, whatever the condition we are all in it and if we are going to survive it… we must do it together. We must never loose each other

To be a Christian Church Community in any time means to belong to Christ and each other… To know Christ, live Christ and to make His love known to all.