Hey there! Pastor Doug reporting from San Antonio, Texas, where the ELCA church developer conference is being held. Despite the lure of warm weather, we are engaged in learning how the church can truly grow!
One of the most important aspects of authentic church growth is ability to change. This doesn't promise that change will be easy or that there is some magic bullet that solves all problems. What is does lead us to is viewing what is important to God instead of what is important to us? Shouldn't these both be the same? Well, ideally, yes! But in reality we all have our comfort with things that don't necessarily build faith or hold relevance in God's mission to the world today. This may mean trading in our comfortable yet stagnant ways for something more challenging and yet far more valuable to the care and growth of God's kingdom.
Indeed I too have to let go of those things sacred to me (but not God) that hinder our journey of faith. There are exciting times ahead for all of us in the church as we lift up leaders and map the assets of the people in the parish. In this we hope to less try to force square pegs into round holes, but rather find opportunities in our ministry that fit the people we engage.
If you're up for it, this could be an incredibly rewarding journey!
In God's service,
pd
