INSPIRING A CONGREGATION
OK, you are a pastor of a church. Like many churches, the membership has many diverse ideas about many of the subjects that confront our society. Also, like many congregations, many of those subjects are avoided or treated very carefully in order to avoid conflicts and keep everyone happy. At the same time, both you and many in your membership with you could have some healthy conversations about these subjects.
- Imagine the impact if as the spiritual leader you could guide the church in examining theses types of issues from a fresh perspective while still respecting differing opinions.
- Imagine the value of helping your church discuss ethics and faith from a fresh perspective.
- Consider the effect of sharing such discussions with people from some neighboring churches.
HAVING A HEALTHY CONVERSATION
I think it is possible to have some healthy conversations even about complex issues by making use of fictional stories that show people trying to live out their responses to such issues. Since it is fiction, people can comment on the characters and not have to argue a particular point of view.
Consider asking a group of friends to experiment with you in reading some short stories and discussing them over a period of several months. Ask them to help you experience this and comment on whether it is a creative way to probe these issues. Set yourself a goal of exploring this approach and if it works, making use of it to engage other members and even other churches in healthy conversations.
FIFTEEN SHORT STORIES
I have invited fifteen different authors from thirteen different states to compose short stories that probe these issues from a spiritual perspective. You can get either a print copy or an ebook copy of the book from Amazon http://amzn.to/2sKOqNm .
A Progressive Feast for your enjoyment
