Missional Churches = Real Churches (Regardless of Size)

I recently had the pleasure of presenting at Episcopal Appalachian Ministries' Mountain Grace Conference, “We(e) Small Voice – Exploring Small and Non-Traditional Church in Appalachia." While there, I was honored to be part of wonderfully honest conversations about how the Holy Spirit is active in Episcopal Churches from Pennsylvania to Georgia. We talked about small churches that were thriving – doing wonderful ministry in, through, and with the communities they serve – and we talked about small churches that were not thriving – with scarcely enough participation or will to continue.

Bishop Ken Price delivered the morning's keynote address, where he sounded the refrain, “Small Churches are Real Churches.” While I appreciated this encouraging message for parishes who really needed to hear it, I will note a trend I saw over the weekend. The small churches that are thriving are those engaged in outwardly focused (what I call missional) activities in their communities. These parishes are doing ministry outside the walls of their buildings, not for the purpose of bringing people through the doors, but for that is where Jesus calls us. There happens to be a side effect of engaging the community in a missional way. As the parish lives into this call – responding in love to the felt needs of the community – more people come through the doors of the building, bringing with them new vitality and creativity.

Other parishes told stories about doing x, y, and z to get people to come into “their” space. I cannot reveal any details as I don't want to embarrass or hurt any of these congregations, but this is a tale that I have heard again and again. When a church, regardless of size, turns the focus inward instead of outward, involvement in the parish begins to shrink as do budgets, numbers, and ministry. What if it really were as simple as turning the focus outward for these parishes?

If our focus is solely inward, it does beg the question, “What is church?” What are we about if we are not about engaging the community outside our walls? Perhaps we are the “Sunday Morning Country Club” that our detractors accuse us of being. Former Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, legendarily said, “The Church is the only institution that exists for those who are not yet its members.” How are we doing with that?

 After having participated in EAM's Mountain Grace Conference I can say that the small parishes that are thriving are those that are living into this challenge. So perhaps – with all due respect to the composer, Bishop Price – we might harmonize his refrain, “Small Churches are Real Churches,” with the countermelody, “Missional Churches are Real Churches – Regardless of Size.”

This blog post was originally posted on the Episcopal Church Foundation's Vital Practices Vital Posts Blog on September 19, 2013, and is reprinted with permission.

Blog Post Featured in Diocese of Central NY's Newsletter

The Episcopal Diocese of Central New York's monthly e-Newsletter, entitled the e-Messenger, picked up a Blog Post by our own Bob Leopold. To see it in context, click here. Thanks Diocese of Central New York and to Andy Pierce, the editor of the Messenger!

Southside Abbey is already planning a summer trip up there to visit.

Their Chance to Lead

This morning I was privileged to see a high school senior give a speech to her entire school. I know her to be a person of deep faith – what kind of high school senior invites her priest to this kind of thing? As she spoke she showed grace, skill, and charisma. I thought to myself, what a wonderful leader she will make someday . . .

Then she danced. She held an auditorium full of teenagers and guests like me in silence, spellbinding us as the grace, skill, and charisma from her words was amplified as it transformed into movement. I was very nearly moved to tears by the beauty of the whole scene. After she took her bows, her schoolmates rushed the stage and embraced her in triumph. The shouts and applause were overwhelming. Thankfully, I was reminded . . .

This proud young lady won't just be a leader someday, she is a leader already. She is a leader right now.

This made me think of an experience at a previous parish I served. A similarly proud young adult put herself out on a limb enough to stand for election to the vestry. When the votes were tallied, she lost. In the days that followed, I heard variations on this conversation: “I didn't vote for her because she is too young. She will have her time to lead.” I restrained myself from saying something like, “Yes. She will lead, it just won't be in the Church. She will lead where she is given a chance to lead and if that is not in the Church, that is clearly our loss.”

How many wonderful church leaders we are holding back right now? How can the Church engage those leaders as leaders (where and when they are) and just allow them to lead. How often do we fall into the trap of seeing the easily definable attribute (such as age) and not seeing the whole person in his or her context?

The most effective ministry is contextual. The young lady I saw dance is a leader in her context. The challenge for the Church is to provide the context for yet-untapped leaders like her, to lead. Looks like I have some phone calls to make (or more appropriately texts to send).

This blog post was originally posted on the Episcopal Church Foundation's Vital Practices Vital Posts Blog on September 4, 2013, and is reprinted with permission.

More Great Press for Spencer Cantrell

Southside Abbey's own, Spencer Cantrell, made it into Chattanooga's newspaper for his work done in Palestine. Read all about it here.

Southside Abbey is so proud of him.