I have previously written about how much Tricia Hersey’s book Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto has spoken to me. (Here is the list of simple rest practices I developed for Lent after I read it.) This rest is faithful. It is what we need for our own wellbeing. And it is a tool for liberation. Last week I expanded on these thoughts with a piece at Baptist News Global. Click here to read “The rest we must have.”

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash.

“Back in the 1990s, when I was a teenager, youth ministry was relatively straightforward. My peers and I met for junior high and high school Sunday school and then attended worship. We came back on Sunday evenings for a less formal worship service and youth group (which often involved outings such as laser tag, mini golf or a scavenger hunt, plus the requisite pizza dinner) and on Wednesday nights for churchwide supper and seventh -12th grade Bible study. The youth schedule largely aligned with the adult schedule, and attendance was pretty consistent week-to-week and across Sunday mornings and evenings and Wednesday nights. 

This is no longer the world in which we live. Extracurricular activities associated with school spill over into all the times formerly considered off-limits for non-church obligations. The definition of regular church attendance has changed rapidly – and continues to morph –  as much social, academic and work life is lived online more so than in-person. For all of these reasons and more, the model of youth ministry must also evolve.” Click here to continue reading this article on the CBF blog.

Photo by James Baldwin on Unsplash.

Even before the pandemic, I, like many of you, had begun thinking about how the Church needs to shift in order to be Christ’s body in the world. The twenty-first century has offered Jesus followers new awareness around individual and collective power (both having and lacking it), big questions to ask and challenges to overcome, and an increased number of tools for connecting with and on behalf of others. Covid-19 stripped us down to the studs, allowing us to see what is essential in a faith community. And now we as the body of Christ are moving through lingering exhaustion, fighting an illness that keeps popping back up (though thankfully with more ways to mitigate it now), and wondering which way to go next.

I don’t think any of us has answers about specific models of church. I know I don’t. But I think the characteristics of a flourishing church in 2023 are coming into focus. This month I will be sharing my thoughts on them via an alphabet of the evolving Church.

This week: letters F-J. (See A-E here.)

Flexibility. The pandemic taught us that we can never anticipate everything, which is both scary and exhilarating. It also showed us that we have more ability to adapt than we believed possible. We need to stop trying to exert so much control and let the Holy Spirit do her thing! What might be possible if we let things be a little messy? How might God show up if we opened the floor to more voices and experiences and ideas? I’m eager to find out.

Genuineness. Psst. Here’s an open secret: one of the reasons fewer people are coming to church - or attending less often - is because they want to show up as themselves, without a facade, among other people who are also being real. Gone are the days when everybody puts on their best faces on Sunday mornings. What most are seeking is a way to connect their faith and their questions with their daily lives. Make your congregation a safe place to do that.

Hope. Optimism, which I define as an “everything’s gonna be all right” attitude, is hard to come by these days. Hope, though, is necessary for getting from one day to the next. It is available to us because of the promise of God’s presence and because hope is rooted in what we do in the face of uncertainty and pain. Faith communities can equip people for both aspects of hope, helping us look for where God is at work and equipping us respond to the world’s challenges.

Interdependence. One of the gifts and challenges of the pandemic is that everyone needed care. I think that humanized even the most self-sufficient and stoic of us (I’m talking to myself here as an Enneagram 5!) to others and even to our own selves. We are designed for interdependence. God doesn’t want us to try to make it on our own. The Church must continue to encourage vulnerability and mutual care, and not just among the people in the pews. So many who reside at or walk past the edge of our property both need our care and have so much to offer to us, if we will have ears to hear.

Joy. I am 100% convinced that the congregations that weathered Covid-19 the best put an emphasis on playing together, finding new ways to do that in a time of physical distancing. God created our world and called it good. God gave us one another so that we would know the joy of companionship. Jesus was a guy who knew how to have fun in between his more serious moments of teaching and healing. Church must be a place that people look forward to going to, not because they are entertained, but because they find something there that opens them to delight even as they acknowledge that life can be hard.

Next week: letters K-O.

Photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash.

I recently wrote a blog post for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship about the importance of playing, not just praying, together. You can read the article here, but the gist is that play has all kinds of benefits in congregational life. In individuals, it opens up neural pathways for creativity. Between individuals, it starts or solidifies relationships. Within communities, it strengthens connective tissue and builds agility. And besides all of that, play is fun!

The aforementioned piece spoke more to play at a congregational level. I want to offer a few ways to incorporate it into smaller and more focused groups such as meetings, because we've all sat in meetings where conflict simmered, energy tanked, or the ideas just weren’t flowing. Play can help with all of these challenges. Here, then, are some ways to bring it in:

Divide people into pairs and ask them to tell each other a story about a time… You can fill in the dots with any prompt. Sometimes it might be more silly, other times more serious, depending on the purpose and timing of the storytelling.

Play a few rounds of Pictionary or Charades. You can do this at the beginning of a meeting to set the tone or later to open up hearts and minds before introducing an agenda item.

Ask people to draw, sculpt (using Play Doh), or build (using Lego) an idea or a response to a question. The people in your meeting will access a different part of their brains than if you asked them to respond in words, meaning you might get more information and from a bigger range of people than the normal conversation dominators.

Pray in color. Prayers don’t have to be spoken. Set aside time for people to color (on a blank sheet of paper or on a coloring sheet. The room might be silent, or there could be music playing or someone reading scripture. (Find more ideas here.) Also, encourage people to doodle freely during the whole of the meeting.

Have a dance break. Kids get recess. What do adults get? Nothing. What do we want? A dance party! Put on an up-tempo song and invite people to move their bodies however feels comfortable. This is a great way to amp up energy.

Build a story together. One person starts with “Once upon a time…” The next person adds the next bit, another builds on what the previous two people said, and so on. You can instruct people to jump in with phrases or single words. This game can offer levity and get people working together and listening to one another.

Have an emergency play bin handy. You can put anything you like in it: bubbles, art supplies, Play Doh, fidget toys, building toys, puzzles, minifigures, and more. Advertise that it’s in the room and available for use whenever anyone would like to use it. Alternatively, open it up when needed for everyone to get out an activity that will help them engage more fully with the purpose at hand.

These are just a few ideas. You probably have many more to add. That’s great! The important thing is to ramp up joy and innovation and especially to connect to one another in new ways.

Photo by Vanessa Bucceri on Unsplash.