THE RISE OF ANXIETY
We can see it in our congregations and in the society around us. There is a rising sense of often unspoken fear in individual lives. It’s like a monster about to consume us. People sense the threat but feel a loss of control over the circumstances. This results in a loss of confidence and a diminished sense of worth and value in people’s lives.
As we hunker down, we become resigned to a future disaster. We feel isolated. A level of paranoia surfaces and we look for who we can blame. If somebody doesn’t do something soon, how are we going to survive?
Those in positions of leadership are increasingly distrusted. When you don’t trust those in leadership positions, gossip tends to triumph over any official information.
SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP
Because we are both physically and emotionally closer to our membership than the business and political leadership in our society, I’d suggest we have the opportunity to help people reduce isolation and loneliness and increase connectivity that nurtures joy worthiness, purpose, hope and community that can model a way to face even an uncertain future.
PUTTING WORDS AROUND CHAOS
We read in Genesis l that when everything was chaos without form or structure, God spoke a word and order began to emerge. It is not unusual for people to discover when they try to describe what is making them anxious, they begin to reign in the feelings of chaos and see that they can make choices and take actions to improve the situation.
MAKING USE OF STORY
What if you invited a series of small groups in your congregation to team up together to write a fictional story about how a congregation was able to triumph over their fearful society and build words of hope. I would call the process a Round Robin Riting experience.
I would suggest that you make use of something like Google docs or One Drive so that each participant could see the whole story developing as each member made his or her contribution.
You would provide a basic framework for the story and perhaps a few characters and an opening scene. Then, each group would assign their members a number to designate their order of contribution. Number one would write no more than a couple of paragraphs to open the action. Then number two would continue the story with a couple of paragraphs. This would continue until everyone had contributed at least a couple of times to the development of their story.
Meanwhile, other groups in the congregation are using the same process to build their story. In some type of time frame that you would establish, there would come a time when the whole congregation is sharing stories about how a fictional congregation became a sign of hope and courage for our world.
Who knows, you might even want to choose the best ten stories and publish them as a book of hope and courage on Kindle/Amazon. Then members could share the book with friends, family, and neighbors and spread the word.
Risk participating in advocating for healthy clergy and healthy congregations.
Get a free book in the process.
Steve McCutchan www.smccutchan.com
