Also on Episcopal cafe
I have been reading with interest about the new movement among atheists to found churches. (an example here)
The movement sounds a lot like what we hear in our conversations about
congregational development and vitality: Atheist groups are adopting
the word “congregation” to meet a widespread craving for what one
Atheist pastor calls “a really close knit, strong community that can
make strong change happen in the world. And he adds, “It doesn’t
require and it doesn't even imply a specific set of beliefs about
anything.”
His use of the word “require” reminded me of a character in one of
Mary Gordon’s novels who quips that “Episcopalians are not required to
believe in anything but the beauty of the burial service.” It’s a
joke, but there’s some truth to it: We too have shied away from
insisting publicly on “required” beliefs, in the desire to invite
seekers, but we do still say the creed, commit to the baptismal
covenant, retell the story of salvation at every Eucharist. To get
people in the door we are more likely to promise things like close knit
community, hospitality, a commitment to outreach. I was groping around
for what seemed to be to be missing here: what is the difference between
an atheist church and an Episcopalian Christian church, if it’s not
just about “required beliefs.” What is the point of church anyway?
The emergence of atheist “congregations” requires us to look anew at
that question, in our own congregations.
I would say that though the difference is obviously in part about
belief --God v. “not God” -- it goes deeper than that. What attracts
people to an atheist church is a spiritual “practice” of gathering and
sharing values. “Practice” has of course been a buzzword of late in
congregational development circles and I will return to this in a moment
-- but I would suggest that the purpose of Christian congregations is
not just spiritual practice for our own sake, but practice in the
service “disciple-making”, and all that goes into it. What if we
thought about our congregations, our nurturing, our welcome, our
outreach, in terms of sustaining discipleship, giving people what they
need in order (to use Brian McLaren’s words in A Generous Orthodoxy) “to
be and to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the sake of the world.”
A disciple is someone who follows a master, who adopts practices
modeled by the leader (“make disciples of all nations, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you”, Jesus says at the end of Luke’s
gospel). And this is done in the service of a larger vision -- as our
catechism puts it the desire “to reconcile the world to God in Christ.”
What might it look like to use this as the basis for mission building
and ministry review in our churches -- to ask “How are we doing at
making and sustaining disciples of Jesus, for the healing of a broken
world?” I’d suggest three ways we might think about this, in our
worship, our community life and our formation, and the headings are
“Story,” “Practice,” and “Participation”
“Story” -- We have a story to tell, and it is good news. How can
churches help people to own this for themselves and for their lives? A
practice that has been neglected in our denomination, is helping people
to learn and own the story of Scripture. We tell this story at the
Eucharist each Sunday and we hear a lot of Scripture read in church, but
the energy for discipleship comes when we can see ourselves in the
story of God’s work in human history, understanding context, history,
and ways of reading Scripture. Becoming more scripturally literate, as
individuals and as congregations, can help us see how God’s story is
unfolding in our own time. The process of grappling with Scripture,
using our imaginations and our reason to make sense of it for our time,
can be both creative and energizing, and it connects us to others who
have found Christian faith to be life-giving and exciting. I was
excited to see the diocese of Washington adopting an online curriculum
that encourages people to study Scripture as “the Story” . This is
foundational to who we are.
“Practice” -- It is now well documented that vital congregations can
point to particular practices -- ways that people live out their faith
through prayer, service, discernment, in that particular community.
These practices are not just about self improvement - they connect
implicitly to a vision for discipleship -- what do we do to keep
ourselves alert to opportunities to live out our Christian discipleship
in our lives? What opportunities do churches provide for us to practice
our faith, through prayer, discernment, study, service, hospitality?
These practices are not ends in themselves, to make us feel better or
even personally “closer to God.” They are about forming us as disciples
of Jesus - whatever that may mean in our time. My favorite “practice”
is the practice of the discernment -- finding ways to attend to what God
might be doing and how we might participate in this.
“Participation” -- The more we read the story, the clearer it becomes
that we are called, not to change the world all on our own, but to
participate in something that God is doing. One of my favorite prayers
in the prayer book ends “let the whole world see and know that
things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which have
grown old are being made new, and all things are being brought to their
perfection in Jesus Christ. . . . (BCP 280) What if each
congregation asked “how are we participating in the New Thing that God
is always trying to do in us and in our lives? Where do we see this
happening here, in the places where we find ourselves, and in our
corporate lives?
Of course I am using language about “God” and “Jesus” and Scripture
in laying out this vision of discipleship as the mission of
congregations, but without being very clear about “required” beliefs. .
I think we work out what we believe about God and Jesus and
discipleship in practice, and that is why we begin with worship and
corporate prayer. That is the experience that churches offer that
differs from a community center or a neighborhood group. “Praying
shapes believing,” we tend to say as Episcopalians -- so do our
practices of discipleship. As we seek ways to “follow Jesus” we find
out what we believe about him.
I wonder what it would look like if we used the standard of “making
disciples” as a way of designing mission statements and reviewing
ministry in our congregations. What would it look like for leaders to
begin, not with the question: are we giving people what they want, in a
tight-knit community? but rather “How are we doing at making and
supporting disciples of Jesus? And what particular ways are we doing
that in this congregation?
A college and seminary prof posts on poetry, spirituality, theology and connections between a thoughtful and committed faith and daily life in our broken world.
About Me
- Kathleen Henderson Staudt
- I work as a teacher, poet and spiritual director at a number of institutions in the DC area. My teaching focuses in various ways on writing, poetry, Spirituality and Christian vocation and ministry - especially from the point of view of the laity. I also offer classes and retreats encouraging people to explore their inner lives, engage their creativity and reflect on their beliefs about God, vocation, and how we can discern and pursue new ways to transform our broken world. I enjoy speaking of faith in the secular academy as well as reminding those preparing for ministry in the Church that our primary purpose is to love and serve the world beyond the church's doors. I love helping people to grow in faith and to find their own voices, and I also love encouraging them to use their minds. I see no contradiction between these impulses, believing as I do that faith, reason and creativity work together.
