In recent months, I have had the opportunity to facilitate conversations
with two churches about their future direction.
No final decisions are made in such meetings, but members of the congregation
share their positive experiences, what they value, and their dreams for the
future.
As they share what gives life to them in their faith
community, shared values emerge quickly.
These values provide a standard for measuring the viability of their
dreams for the future. The hard work is
sorting through any disparity between what is important and what they hope to
do in the future.
If the church is healthy, the choice is often between many good
options. They still have the resources to dream and create. If the church is in decline, the options are
more limited and usually rather painful to consider, let alone implement.
One thing I have learned from these sessions is that it is important
to have such conversations before a crisis comes. When the church still has the spiritual,
emotional, physical, and financial resources to make choices, there are
possibilities for creativity, commitment, and change. When the church is already in a death spiral,
options are limited and difficult to accept.
It is unfortunate that some churches only undertake these conversations
when the crisis is already severe.
We find similarities in individual end of life
situations. Adults need to have
conversations with loved ones about their desires related to health care,
medical decisions, and funerals. Those
of us who are pastors have watched family members who have maintained a tenuous
balance in their relationships over the years who suddenly must face difficult
choices about aging parents and the system crashes. There is often bitterness, accusation, and
expressions of long-suppressed feelings.
As individuals, we can have conversations with family while we are still
able, share our desires, and perhaps ease some of this burden.
Why do we as individuals and as churches defer these
conversations? Fear, apathy, and denial
are possible reasons. We are afraid of
what may surface, we are willing to let someone else take care of the situation
in the future, or we think it won’t happen to us.
Challenges come to churches as well as individuals. Let’s have intentional, life-affirming
conversations while we still can.
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