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wings
Who do people say that I am?
It was a Sunday during the 2000 General Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. James Crosse was a member of the St. Mary's Road UMC where I served as pastor, and he and I were both delegates for the South Georgia Conference. We decided to attend worship together.
We settled on a particular church because we wanted to hear the scheduled guest preacher. We received directions from someone who was also planning to attend the service. But as things often turn out, the directions were not the best. We became frustrated - and finally - we did what men hate to do. We asked for help.
Well, we stopped several people in this community, but none of them knew where the church was located. Many said they had never even heard of the church. Finally, in time we stumbled up on the church ourselves - and were shocked to realize that we were within a few blocks the whole time.
At the time, Jim Crosse said to me as sort of an afterthought, "Rev, it is pretty bad when no one in your church's community knows your church." I mumbled something back to him, trying to raise an excuse for the pastor and congregation.
Jim's words have stayed with me ever since that incident: "Rev, it is pretty bad when no one in your church's community knows your church." What about your church? What would happen if someone decided to attend your church and got lost looking for it? Do the people in your community know your church is there? Do you believe our congregations' ministries should reach beyond our doors? Do you believe our church's ministry should reach beyond the people who already know Christ?
During the last Council of Bishops meeting, Bishop Bruce Ough said that the congregations in his conference, the West Ohio Conference, were asked to report how they are serving the communities within two miles of their churches. Do we simply drive past people and never see their hurts, pains, hopes, dreams, and - most of all - their need for Christ? Are our worship services and ministries designed to meet our own needs, or have we tried to discover what ministries and worship styles might reach the people in our communities?
How interesting it would be if we could invite the communities to our churches - not for them to hear us, but for us to hear them. I don't recommend you do this unless you are ready to receive and respond to what you hear. I find it amazing that businesses are always concerned about their images, yet we in the church never seem to check out our own images among the local populace. Jesus asked this same question of his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"
This Sunday as you worship, I hope you will consider Jim Crosse's words: "Rev, it is pretty bad when no one in your church's community knows your church."
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Bishop James Swanson
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