when we realised we were lost
we sat a while
and mourned,
our pride,
our centre stage role,
our pageants,
plays and Sunday Schools,
and we wept
for days gone by
until
our eyes cleared,
and our hearts stilled,
and there was silence,
then through the silence
came a single note,
and from it flowed the song
of all our days,
ancient in it's
eternal newness,
and it called us to raise our eyes
and see
what lay before us,
and our hearts beat faster
with the rhythm
we both knew and did not know,
and a question came to our lips;
"How do we dance here?"
Just follow came the reply,
and step by step
we are following
as His glory unfolds
all around us....
This poem really belongs in the series of poems entitled "Songs from the edge of exile" (see the side bar), these are all my personal reflection of leading a Church struggling to find it's role and place in the 21st Century. I have been here for nearly 3 years now and we are just beginning to turn around- and yes I realise that that is quick! Song 7 contained the line "Why is the first note so difficult to find?" and in a sense this one is a step on from that. We have heard a new note in our vulnerability, and reached out to those around us who are vulnerable too, in our case this has meant rediscovering the Gospels imperative to serve and minister to the poor.
I firmly believe that we are being enabled to move on together because we took time to spend time in lamenting our past, not pouring over mistakes, but genuinely mourning what has been lost, and there has been a loss, once this Chapel was the centre of village life, it had a thriving Sunday School, a large Youth Group, it was involved in many things drawing families and others to regularly fill the church. Slowly at first, then quickly much of this has been lost, we are not unique in this, nor are we unique in being surprised by it. Like many other churches it seems that we went to bed one day and all was well, woke up the next and it was gone. Of course this is not true, and we are in someways playing out a version of Sleeping Beauty, we have slept for many years, but now at last we have responded to the Holy Spirit's life giving kiss....
Over the last year we have been moving towards opening a Christian's Against Poverty Centre (should be this summer), begun Messy Church, a prayer meeting, extended our Tot's group to another day because the first day was over subscribed. What amazes me is the way that folk are changing and daring to move beyond their comfort zones and expressing a fresh confidence in God, my role has been mostly to listen, encourage, watch and pray! The glory is Gods!!!
