My blogging friend Peaecbang had this as her Facebook status today:
"I think most ministers have grieving to do. Among other things, we bury a lot of our favorite people over a period of time...... What surprised me was that I had unresolved, unfelt grief about the ways that the church is changing, even as I have been an enthusiastic proponent and student of change..."
I too am an enthusiastic proponent of change, but that does not make change easy, nor does it make the proponents of change hard hearted; in fact I would dare to say that unless we can feel the pain of change then perhaps we should not advocate it!
Take removing pews as an example, most people would acknowledge that worship in the 21st Century needs (on the whole) a more flexible setting than pews can afford us, it is sensible to remove them. In our village setting this is not an issue for many folk, especially the younger ones, of the folk who have moved in, but for one or two those pews are placeholders of memories, and certainly in one small Chapel I have worked with it explains why the congregation sit in seemingly daft places- they spread themselves around the building and are reluctant to move and sit together because in their memories there are others seated around the building.In another Chapel the organ needs replacing, but the memories of organists now long dead mean that it is painful for some members to let go.
I am becoming more and more convinced that we need to tell our stories, to actively remember people, events and past glories, not as an excuse to prevent change but as a conduit to change. I return to the need for lament, we must lament the loss of key members, the loss of Sunday Schools and Eistedfords in order that we can embrace the new. Messy Church is not a Sunday School replacement and never will be, it is different, times HAVE changed we must not fool ourselves...
On Sunday as I have told in my previous post I told members of one of my Chapels of the need for radical change, the need to cease worship in their building, it is draining life from them; as I did so I wept, and I believe that somehow God gave me the gift of experiencing some of the grief that WILL be felt as we move towards such a drastic change. This change will need to be handled sensitively and carefully if it is to result in new life and growth...
I am currently pondering, with the aid of the congregation, the need for our stories to be collected and collated with pictures and personal anecdotes, not as I have said to glorify the past, but to celebrate it and to form a part of the foundation for our story- a local continuation of the book of Acts if you like. We base our lives in the stories of the Bible, which is for large chunks historical accounts of the journeys of the people of God, out local stories are no less relevant...
I'd love to hear others thoughts on this....
Photo by Ben Cookman
