Being Church

by Lynn


In 2002, my husband and I moved to Pawnee Rock and began pastoring a small, rural congregation. On good mornings we boasted an attendance of 40. But lingering in the congregational memory was yet the golden age of the congregation, when the sanctuary was full to overflowing and the church was active and vital. Today, my husband pastors in another setting and I continue to work with my church, but at 60% time. On Sunday mornings we feel good when 20 of us gather for worship in a small, close-knit circle in our air conditioned basement. This is one of the faces of rural depopulation.
Bergthal Mennonite hasn't experienced a church split in generations. Nor has a small faction broken away in the last half century. Our decline has simply reflected the broader environment's relentless hemorrhage of people. Or is it so simple? Most mainline denominational churches, both rural and urban, are also noting a steady erosion in membership and attendance. At a recent conference, a seminary instructor noted that even mega churches are starting to decline in popularity. What's going on here?
Because our community at Bergthal has been whittled down to so few, we have needed to begin talking in earnest about what it means to be church. The institutional model of church is something we will not be able to sustain for much longer. But perhaps moving away from the institutional structure will breathe new life into the ideal.
I've been on a quest this last year to distill the essence of church. Anne Lamott writes, "I go to church not because it gives me some hotline to Truth, but because no matter how bad I am feeling, how lost or lonely or frightened, when I see the faces of the people at my church and hear their tawny voices, I can always find my way home."
In her book, "Leaving Church", theologian Barbara Brown Taylor writes, "What if church felt more like a way station than a destination? What if the church's job were to move people out the door instead of trying to keep them in, by convincing them that God needed them more in the world than in the church?"
Maybe the most profound understanding of church is nestled in the familiar children's Sunday School song, "The church is not a building, the church is a people!"
If the essence of church is simply about relationships, our relationships with each other and with God and giving witness to those relationships through our lives, is it then possible to strip away some of the tradition time has laquered on in smothering layers? Does church necessarily mean meeting in a certain building, on a certain day, at a certain time? Does church require a set order of worship or liturgy? Must church be structured around councils and committees?
Why are increasing numbers of people finding church irrelevant and meaningless? I don't believe it's because we have fewer faithful people out there, but because we have allowed tradition to shape our understanding of church and this has slowly bled the vitality and creative life out of much of the institution.
God is so much bigger than our notions of church and the Holy Spirit cannot be contained. The church will carry on, but we may need to be prepared to sacrifice some of our beloved traditions in order to keep up with God.

Church: Shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof?

I am so grateful to Sheri for bravely pioneering this unbroken (at least in my life) blogging territory. But really since it’s inception, I have anticipated the day I would be able to shove aside other obligations, push back daily chores, scrub away stubborn reservations and doubts and make room in my life for this new discipline. For writing is not only a joy, it is a necessity. As a pastor, I get to feed that need on a regular basis through sermon preparation and writing. Yet thoughts, ideas, questions (always questions) continue to spill over the edges of my conscious, demanding my attention as relentlessly as an impatient seven year old - yes, I have one of those!

This last week, my thoughts settled over the idea of “tradition.” My favorite Broadway musical is “Fiddler on the Roof”. This is the story of one man’s struggle to loosen his grip on tradition in the midst of all sorts of personal and societal chaos and upheaval. His daughters capably teach him, maybe more than he wants to learn. In the end, though tradition remains vital, he comes to accept the way in which family, relationships….love, trumps tradition.

As a pastor, I am both dismayed and intrigued at the slumping attendance in most mainline denominational churches. What’s going on here? Why is church no longer feeling relevant or meaningful for increasing numbers of faithful people? While there are many pertinent streams of thought, I have to wonder if perhaps the church doesn’t clench tradition a little too tightly in its fist?

In Mark, the Pharisees ask Jesus why his disciples don’t follow the church’s traditions. Jesus, a little ticked with their lack of vision, calls them hypocrites and then says, “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

I get where the Pharisees are coming from. First Jesus and then Paul seem intent upon stomping all over sacred traditions. Forget about circumcision. Yes, you’ve been doing it for like 15 or 16 centuries, but it really doesn’t count for a whole lot with God. The purity codes, so not necessary. Get over the division between yourselves and Gentiles, that’s just downright wrong. Time to start over.

It’s like first Jesus and then Paul are taking a sledgehammer to all the traditions that bound the Jewish community together and gave them identity. And the people in charge of preserving this way of life are understandably livid…..and hurt…..and scared.

“You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” What is God’s commandment? Love. Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment. He replied, to love God and to love others (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28).

There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with tradition. In fact, we need tradition. It gives our life structure and in a world where not much is certain, tradition reassures with its predictable nature. But tradition has got to be in service to God. Things go wrong pretty fast when this order gets upended. And it seems to me the church is one of the worst offenders in allowing traditions, far beyond their expiration date, to spoil and go bad.

The good news is that in allowing old traditions to die a good death, we make room for new traditions to take hold and help in shaping our lives, our communities and our congregations. Endings birth new beginnings. If we dare release our grip, it might just be exciting to see how new traditions breathe fresh life into our beloved Church. May it be so.