Streams of Mercy

A recent edition of The Presbyterian Outlook focused on “Innovation: Finding Faithful Ways to Do Church Differently.”

The story is told of a Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC. The church almost closed in 2006, but has come back to life as a 350-member urban, missional, diverse, social justice-oriented community of faith. The church now serves as a teaching campus for seminarians and college students studying faith and social justice.

The church leads by example in striving to understand the forces behind the nation’s affordable housing crisis and, in particular, those experiencing homelessness. Within the year, Caldwell Presbyterian plans to complete the conversion of its former Christian Education Building into 21 units of affordable housing for the chronically homeless. The church is already praying for the 21 people soon to call the Caldwell campus home! What a joy to see the birth of this “teaching church”; what a gift to experience the re-birth of the Spirit in a place that was about to close!

Today’s church must make space for creatives and creative ideas! By attending to the transitions of our world and our religious landscape, the church can continue to be a conduit for the light of Christ. But we must rise to the occasion, encourage the creatives among us, and attend to the new ways the light can shine through us. (from the May 2023 Outlook, Vol 205 No. 05)

In “Christianity’s Shifting Structure”, Dr. Dustin Benac writes:

“Each of us, in different ways, builds the communities of faith God calls us to create. But the structure of Christianity for our children includes several features – let’s call them building blocks – that can create space where imagination can live. These seven blocks are resilience, a sense of place, partnership, the way of Jesus, public life, hope and friendship … When place becomes the organizing principle underpinning mission and ministry, a new social imagination becomes possible, one that invites all of us to encounter the mystery of God right where we are … Just as the life of faith becomes possible only because God first calls us friends, we can only begin imagining the structure of Christianity for our children in the company of friends.”

In “Innovating for Love”, Kenda Dean writes: “Love eclipses our need to succeed. Innovative ministries may flop, mutate, adapt, change, or fall away. But love never fails.” As one in the last few years of active ministry, these ideas are fresh and new, hopeful and encouraging!

Elizabeth