Chapters 5 and 6 - Hospitality and Discernment

I'm back from vacation and am ready to get back to the book. I'm heartened to know that there are quite a few people reading the book even if only one or two are blogging in response. The 5 Year Plan Team and the Bucket Committee are both all reading the book and have discussed it.

So, Butler Bass has now moved to identify 10 "signposts" for us pilgrims on the journey. These are some of the characteristics she believes made the churches she has identified particularly vital.

First, the practice of hospitality. There isn't anything very shattering here. One good reminder is her statement, "True Christian hospitality is not a recruitment strategy designed to manipulate strangers into church membership." Not a controversial statement, but a good caution to always keep our underlying practices (and hopes for growth) in check. She quoted Henri Nouwen, one of my favorite spiritual authors: "Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place." If the church is doing something compelling and others want to participate in its mission, growth will occur. Wanting new members is more about finding (discerning) the direction God desires for the church than the right strategy for courting them. The Bucket Committee - our church's group responsible for evangelism, marketing, hospitality to visitors, website, and more - learned that referring to persons as guests instead of visitors changes the way we view people who are new to the church. It's really facilitated a shift and I believe may transform our ministry of hospitality. Inviting a guest to our home is much more powerful than thinking of them as a visitor who stops by when we aren't prepared.

The chapter on discernment was rich. I believe some of her comments really need to take root for us - and we shouldn't pass over this too quickly. Particularly the shift from "I language" to "God language." What does God want, not want do I want. Discernment is not about confirming what we think but involves self-criticism, questions, and risk - and it often redirects our lives. That's a good thought for our 5 year planning process. As well, to discern where God is leading us, not what we'd like to do and be. This can be a subtle shift, but life-changing. We are accustomed to thinking of the church in terms we are most comfortable with - but that is not always transformative and does not often elevate the discussion beyond our limited human imagination. But what does God imagine for us? The discernment process can end up with the lowest common denominator - what everyone can agree on - if we aren't inviting the Spirit to lift us beyond our own self-perceived limitations. "We could never do that." Why not? The willingness to risk, not as examples from our past, which is rich, but with our present. A congregation can decrease to a certain size where risk is avoided at all cost - at a high cost. The avoidance of risk is self-defeating and deflates the energy one might give to something compelling. It's amazing what people will do when they are inspired. Those who say no to a smaller mundane task required to maintain will often give untold hours to pursuing something of meaning.

I was taken by the idea of storytelling - asking one another to tell the story of how God is in their minstry. I'm going to find ways to incorporate that here. I've found that true elsewhere
Sorry this post is so short when the topic is so rich, but my plate is so full right now while trying to search for a new office administrator. Can you believe that Craigslist has provided almost 50 resumes in 2 days?
Blessings, David