In the November 15th edition of The Presbyterian Outlook, I read a helpful article, “Using Disruption for Good,” by Gini Norris-Lane. By “good disruption” she means leaving what is known and embarking on an intentional journey of discovery and becoming what God is calling us to become in this “normal-yet-not-normal, still-pandemic-but-in-person world” we are living in. Such times call for “creative perseverance” as we work together to help shape what a “new normal” looks like in our world. She includes this quote from Walter Brueggemann’s book, Virus as a Summons to Faith : “God requires us to imagine, to risk , and to be vulnerable as we watch the new normal emerge among us.”
Another helpful article, recalling the 1980s baseball movie “Field of Dreams.” In the movie, Kevin Costner’s character has a wild dream to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his Iowa cornfields – “If you build it, they will come.” Jessica Tate challenges us to use our “collective imagination,” affirming that the church can build what it first imagines.
“To state the obvious, the Covid-19 global pandemic is a major disruption to life as we know it. In addition to the medical crisis, in the United States, the pandemic tore down the veil so that we have been forced to look at cracks in our collective foundation - cracks such as systemic racial injustice, deepening economic division and political fault lines. That has come with the backdrop of changing weather patterns that created havoc in many places over the past year – from hurricanes to wildfires … Every person I know is weary from all the disruption and change, from the uncertainty and the decision fatigue. Our collective desire seems to be for some normalcy, some familiarity, for something to be easy. I want to make the case that we resist that impulse in service of discipleship and building the kingdom of God.”
Tate quoted author and activist Sonya Renee Taylor:
“We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack. We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment, one that fits all of humanity and nature.”
We now have the opportunity – together – “to stitch a new garment.” Giving thanks for that opportunity, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.
Elizabeth
November 1 is All Saints’ Day, and we remember those who have shared with us their faith and faithfulness. Frederick Buechner’s entry for November 1, in his book Listening to Your Life has this to say about this special day:
“How They Do Live On”
How they do live on, those giants of our childhood, and how well they manage to take even death in their stride, because although death can put an end to them right enough, it can never put an end to our relationship with them. Wherever or however else they may have come to life since, it is beyond a doubt that they live still in us.
Memory is more than a looking back to a time that is no longer; it is a looking out into another kind of time altogether where everything that ever was continues not just to be, but to grow and change with the life that is in it still. The people we loved. The people who loved us. The people who, for good or ill, taught us things. Dead and gone though they may be, as we come to understand them in new ways, it is as though they come to understand us – and through them we come to understand ourselves – in new ways too.
The people we once knew are not just echoes of voices that have years since ceased to speak, but saints in the sense that through them something of the power and richness of life itself not only touched us long ago, but continues to touch us. It is as if they carry something of us on their way as we assuredly carry something of them on ours. That is perhaps why to think of them is a matter not only of remembering them as they used to be but of seeing and hearing them as in some sense they are now. If they had things to say to us then, they have things to say to us now, too, nor are they by any means always things we expect or the same things.”
May we find peace and joy in remembering and giving thanks “for all the saints.”
Elizabeth
The current issue of Presbyterians Today has an encouraging article about the small church, and it’s important to share some of these thoughts with our small church community:
“The Small Church: A Gift to Its Community”
by Sue Washburn/Presbyterians Today
“When the God of the Universe decided to make a change in human history, it didn’t happen as a big, cosmic event, but rather as the birth of an infant, born to an ordinary family in the small town of Bethlehem.
God’s presence and power can call forth big changes in even the smallest churches that follow in Jesus’ footsteps. Those changes are not necessarily in numerical growth, but in the personal impact they have on the lives of the people around them. A big transformation can start small: a simple worship service, a ride home from work or a meal delivered after the birth of a baby.
The gifts of small churches often go unnoticed amid the novelty of online worship and other technical innovations. But small churches have been reaching their communities during the pandemic with communion by phone, as well as cards and notes, and even printed worship liturgies and Sunday school lessons that get stamped and mailed.
The gifts of partnerships – A small church may find that it just doesn’t have the people to undertake some projects by itself, so the team approach is an exciting model for small churches.
The gift of deep-rootedness and relationships – Thinking beyond numbers when pondering what it means to grow, many people in the area have deep roots and hope to encourage others to grow in faith where they are, and share loving relationships from day to day.
The gift of flexibility – Small churches need the flexibility of responding to the current situation and letting go of what is no longer needed. Resilient small churches are open to change and alternative forms of ministry, including a part-time or shared pastor with other churches or even other denominations. Many small churches are using commissioned ruling elders to lead as well.
Small churches are the future of the faith. While large churches have their place, small churches will continue to serve God’s people faithfully.
As the number of small congregations increases, the gifts that they offer need not decrease. Small communities of faith are what started the Jesus movement. A small church is as close as we can get to the way Jesus and his disciples approached their ministry together.”
Giving thanks for Jackson Springs Presbyterian Church, a small church that is a gift to its community, faithfully serving in this corner of God’s good creation for over 200 years!
Elizabeth