In the face of challenge, there is so much opportunity

We are in one stretch of a much longer season of challenge in the Church. I have read lots of insightful articles about it. I have written about it myself, as recently as last week.

And yet.

My fundamental belief about challenge, about change, steadfastly remains that opportunity comes baked into it. Let’s look for its notes.

Maybe what once worked for your church no longer does. The gifts that you have can be combined in new ways for a different (but still potent) impact.

Maybe your pastor has departed. This is your congregation’s chance to think through what kind of leader it needs in this hybrid virtual/in-seat world.

Maybe your once placid church finds itself in conflict. This can build needed capacity for hard, healthy conversations now and down the road.

Maybe the familiar faces that used to surround you in the pews no longer show up. That can create impetus for intentional outreach to and emotional as well as physical space for new people.

When our practices are shaken loose from our routines, when the people who define community for us leave us, when we disagree, when we can only put one foot in front of the other because The Future seems so uncertain, we have choices to make. We can make them out of anxiety, out of a desperation to claw our way back to what was. Or, we can admit that our vision and control are limited and instead play. Experiment. Ask. Succeed and reflect (and celebrate!) or fail and reflect, untying learning from getting it all right. We can - dare I say? - delight in the mess. God blesses our earnest, prayerful efforts.

So what might your church want to try? What fun do you want to have? What (or whom) do you want to get curious about? Consider this your permission slip. You’re doing it right, even if you’re getting it wrong, if you open your palms and continually seek God’s wisdom.

Photo by Billy Pasco on Unsplash.