"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, or the most intelligent.
It's the one that is most adaptable to change."
-Charles Darwin
It's the one that is most adaptable to change."
-Charles Darwin
1. Open With Prayer
Lord of life,
We do not know the face of the future,
any more than your followers did.
Like them, we have many questions
about how to live for today,
how to bear witness to what matters most.
Like them, we thirst for the spring waters of your Spirit
to inspire us in our courage for living
to give us a heart language that we can speak in our times.
You are the God who is present everywhere
and you teach us to be fully present in our own lives
This we believe
This we step out on.
Amen.
(source: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/churches/weekly-worship; adapted Rev. B. Aerhart)
We do not know the face of the future,
any more than your followers did.
Like them, we have many questions
about how to live for today,
how to bear witness to what matters most.
Like them, we thirst for the spring waters of your Spirit
to inspire us in our courage for living
to give us a heart language that we can speak in our times.
You are the God who is present everywhere
and you teach us to be fully present in our own lives
This we believe
This we step out on.
Amen.
(source: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/churches/weekly-worship; adapted Rev. B. Aerhart)
2. Read a Book Excerpt
What we should ask is "What is a church?" Then we should ask, "Why is this church here?" In other words, why don't we close our doors, sell our building, and disperse our members to other local churches that seem to be having fewer problems? Do we have some reason for being, other than the fact that we have always been here and our members feel at home? ...
The primary purpose of the church is to be the church - not to try to become something that it is not, however wonderful that new something may seem. Being oneself, and growing from there, implies doing something of course, but our focus should not be on achieving goals or measuring output. If a corporation is like a machine that produces a product, then the church is like a person who is on earth here to live [a life]. ... At base, a church is (or should be) a worshiping community where people are transformed into citizens of God's Realm, into people who see differently and, thus live differently in the world. In order to be churches, all churches should do that. How they worship, form community and transform their members will differ. But the doing of these things is always connected to their basic purpose as churches.
(From: Behold I Do A New Thing, by Kirk Hadaway, pp. 17-19)
The primary purpose of the church is to be the church - not to try to become something that it is not, however wonderful that new something may seem. Being oneself, and growing from there, implies doing something of course, but our focus should not be on achieving goals or measuring output. If a corporation is like a machine that produces a product, then the church is like a person who is on earth here to live [a life]. ... At base, a church is (or should be) a worshiping community where people are transformed into citizens of God's Realm, into people who see differently and, thus live differently in the world. In order to be churches, all churches should do that. How they worship, form community and transform their members will differ. But the doing of these things is always connected to their basic purpose as churches.
(From: Behold I Do A New Thing, by Kirk Hadaway, pp. 17-19)
3. Read Our Church Vision Statement
A vision statement creates a word-picture of a horizon toward which people can travel over time. Our church vision statement is about 6 years old. It guided the goals we set for our last five year period. Here it is, set to images, to help us think about what it means. You can read it again or for the first time by click the arrow to the right of the picture and moving from sentence to sentence. Pay attentio to the key words that stand out for you. What is missing and should be added? What needs changing to make our vision more complete?
5. Read a Short Article
The Undeniable, Irresistible Resilience Of The Small Church
Small churches are not better than big churches. Big churches aren’t better than small ones. The arguments we have about size are silly, dangerous and missing the point. Everyone has something unique to contribute. As for small churches, here are some of the most undeniable, irresistible blessings they bring to the body of Christ:
The Unkillable Small Church
Small churches have always been and will always be the most common, most resilient, and most adaptable expression of the body of Christ. Small churches are like the cockroaches of the Christian world. After whatever cultural nuclear bomb comes along to destroy all other visible expressions of the church, small congregations will scurry out from under the baseboards. When the money runs out, small churches will find a way to keep going. When there’s a failure of leadership, small churches will lead themselves. After denominations topple, small churches will rise up.
Click here for the rest of the article.
Small churches are not better than big churches. Big churches aren’t better than small ones. The arguments we have about size are silly, dangerous and missing the point. Everyone has something unique to contribute. As for small churches, here are some of the most undeniable, irresistible blessings they bring to the body of Christ:
The Unkillable Small Church
Small churches have always been and will always be the most common, most resilient, and most adaptable expression of the body of Christ. Small churches are like the cockroaches of the Christian world. After whatever cultural nuclear bomb comes along to destroy all other visible expressions of the church, small congregations will scurry out from under the baseboards. When the money runs out, small churches will find a way to keep going. When there’s a failure of leadership, small churches will lead themselves. After denominations topple, small churches will rise up.
Click here for the rest of the article.
7. Offer a Closing Prayer
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability--
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
excerpted from Hearts on Fire
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability--
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
excerpted from Hearts on Fire
8. Something to Hear and Wonder About For Later
Find us
We are located on the corner of Broadmoor and Mission
in Sherwood Park, Alberta. |
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