The Future of the Church

I, like many before me, and probably like many who will come after me, often wonder whether the church has a future. Everywhere we look, especially in the United Church, are signs of institutional decline, deepening apathy to the rugged message of the cross, fierce opposition to "religion" in general, and young folks keeping away from religion because it might make them appear "close-minded" to peers.

There are a lot of people who have much more to say on process as it pertains to the revitalization of the church, but I have been meditating on the joys of being a disciple, and on whether the church must really do anything to find revitalization.

I am deeply convinced today that as mainline Protestants, which means our proclivities tend to understand faith from a more liberal perspective, that much of our considerations with regard to faith often have to do with technical skills - using the right words (sometimes political correctness), worrying about the correct set-up of the worship space, making sure hymns use inclusive language, etc.

I would submit that I consider, in ministry anyway, relationship to be of paramount importance, and this is often why pastors spend probably too much time on the technical stuff, and not enough time on transformational stuff. When we talk about relationship, we're not talking about something vague - we' talking about how I as an individual relate to you, or how I as an individual relate to God, or how we as a faith community relate to God, etc. We are always looking at our lives in the midst of atonement - the human being in relationship to potential harmony with God, others, and the whole of creation. This is the central motif of Christ, Cross, and Church - atonement - how am I made to be one with God?

Thus, I submit, that because the church only exists as Christ calls disciples to become the church, the community in response to Christ seeks out reconciliation - that is, harmonious relationships that only come into existence when uncomfortable questions are asked, when the proper arguments are had, and when folks realize that even in the midst of all this Christ has called every single person who is present to be reformed into his image, little Christs.

Our dearly beloved Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and other Oriental churches refer to the passion narrative of Christ as the Paschal Mystery, in which we remember YHWH passing over the homes of Israelites as they prepared for escape to the Promised Land under Moses' leadership. But we also consider the term "mystery" in which we know the narrative, but struggle to fully comprehend the meaning of that narrative. Thus, we get that there is something redemptive for the entire universe with regard to Christ's death, but we also submit that there is hidden meaning there too.

My point in all of this ranting is to suggest that our reconsideration of mystery in the faith and furthermore, our commitment to relationship-building among disciples, is part of a process called edification - in which the church is built up - it is raised. Furthermore, when we address the deep mysteries of the faith, we allow God's redemptive action to take place as we share bread and cup and remind sisters and brothers in the faith that they are forgiven, and they are blessed as they receive the bounteous harvest of our Creator.

We must allow the Holy Spirit's conciliatory nature to restore wholeness to disciples as they receive the elements of the Eucharist - that is a fancy way of saying that we need to allow the Holy Spirit to transform people, and we need to be able to promise people that when they come to worship, they will not only receive intellectual stimuli, but also possible stirrings from the Spirit of Life, who seeks only the conversion of the inner-workings of the soul.

Amen.