ADVENTURES IN FINDING THE NEW NORMAL May 28, 2020
I mentioned yesterday that there are more and more voices (some of them in my own mind) asking, “When are we going to get back to normal?” And that the answer has to be, not any time soon. In fact, if we define “normal” as the way things used to be, the answer is probably never. Kind of a scary thought. BUT…
With change comes opportunity. In a few days we celebrate Pentecost, and if that rush of mighty wind and tongues of fire and Galileans rushing out into the street did not upset the apple cart, I am not sure what would And the world changed forever. Maybe not intentionally, certainly not overnight. And maybe not in every way for the better. But two thousand years later, we are still feeling the ripple effect.
As things change (and they will, that is the only thing we can be absolutely sure of), the question before us all is, how do we deal with that change? That is true for us personally and it is true for FCC/UCC as an organization. And since churches by their nature are so personal, it seems those are pretty intermingled.
The place to start, in my view, is with the question of purpose. WHY do we exist? If we can get a good handle on that, then I think the HOW (process) and the WHAT (product) will flow from that.
Let me give you an example. We might ask,” WHAT are we going to do about Sunday School?” A natural question when we don’t have any idea what the fall will bring. And we might well be dismayed if it doesn’t look like traditional answers will work. But if instead we ask, “WHY do we do/have we done this?” we might find answers that surprise us. The purpose might reshape both the product and the process.
And so it is with everything about being Church – what is the why that makes it matter? I have a few ideas, but before I lay them out, I hope to tease you into putting on your thinking cap.
Grace and peace to you all…