HOW CONGREGATIONS SPEAK TO EACH OTHER

BUILDING ON ZOOM TECHNOLOGY

While all of us yearn for a time when we can regather as congregations, there is an opportunity made possible by the Zoom technology that we are being forced to learn. As people become more comfortable using such technology, it is also easier to invite the congregation to come together for conversations. Some churches are already using it for additional education and prayer opportunities. I suggest that it is also an excellent opportunity to prepare ourselves for an uncertain future.

FACING UNCERTAIN FUTURES

One of the challenges in ministry is to help our congregations face an uncertain future in a healthy manner. When Israel was confronted by difficult moments or a fearful future, they often rehearsed their past as preparation for the future. As seen in numerous Psalms, they recalled how God had been faithful in the past as a way to build courage for the future. They recalled how God had led them through the Red Sea, fed them when they were hungry, helped them defeat an enemy, and numerous other frightening challenges in the past. All of these events helped remind them that they had been called together for a purpose and that God could be trusted in the face of uncertainty.

CALLED TOGETHER AS A CHURCH

Following that same pattern but beginning at a less dramatic level, consider making use of technology like Zoom to engage a congregation in recalling that they too were called together for a purpose.

Begin by reminding them that every time we celebrate communion, we are testifying to our belief that God uses very common and ordinary elements (bread and wind) to speak transcendent truths. Explain that a host will invite each willing person to begin by sharing whatever the event was that attracted them to your church. Lower their anxiety by suggesting that it may be as simple as the fact that they lived close to the church, or had been invited by friends to a church supper. It might also be that they were wrestling with personal problems or spiritual questions and came seeking help.

THE PROCESS

What you are asking is that when your turn comes, you are asked to give your name, perhaps the size of your family, or your profession, and then in no more than a paragraph or so, share what it was that brought you to either join or attend this church.

Explain that someone will be taking notes and that the session will compose a summary without using names to how God has used these events to draw people to be part of this community. That summary ill be share with the whole church community.

Step two makes the assumption that the church is the Body of Christ and that Jesus is the head of the Body.  So, building on the belief that God has formed us as the Body of Christ, let each person again share when it is their turn by completing this sentence: “In our present reality, I think that Jesus would say to us . . .” Again suggest that the session will compile a summary of what the people in the congregation are hearing Jesus say.

Like in the book of Acts, most churches are made up of spirited people with often very diverse ideas bound together by their loyalty to Christ as a family of faith. In future conversations we will listen deeply and then in future conversations, we will explore what God’s call is to us as a congregation. Remind them that their very diversity and capacity to listen deeply and with respect to those who differ with them is in itself a witness to a fractured world. In essence, the church is seeking to embody what has been referred to as the Golden Rule.

You might encourage them to search out https://www.goldenrule2020.org

as an example of how multiple denominations are seeking to explore that witness.

Steve McCutchan    www.smccutchan.com