At the first of our congregational conversations on Sunday, during the "dreams and visions" section, I repeated the question "is growth a dream of ours?" a few times. I felt a little silly asking it; maybe those of you who were there felt a little silly answering it. It is sort of a "duh" question.If you're like me, you might want to scream in response, "of course we want to grow!" After all, isn't that what church is all about? Aren't we supposed to grow and add numbers to our membership lists and need to add more and more chairs on Sunday mornings for the worshippers flocking to our doors? Don't we want to be bigger so we can do more things; so we can reach out more; so we can be known on the Peninsula? Growth? Duh! Yes!
But then...but then...I remember the words which I have quoted here before from Micah that inform us that God wants us to "do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God." (Micah 6:8) There's not much about church growth in there. And Jesus' admonition that you are to love God "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" and "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37 & 39) doesn't seem to me to be about pulling them into worship so we can be winners in the numbers game.
It is assuredly a tightrope balancing act that we are living as a congregation. On the one hand, there is the reality of being small and all that entails: a seemingly constant struggle to make sure there is enough money to pay bills and an apparent flagging of energy among some very busy people. On the other though, it seems if we focus our energy into growth alone, we won't be able to continue doing the good work that we have discerned that we are called to do and have done so far in our decade-plus lifespan. Chalice came into being, as I understand it, because a group of wounded people gathered together to do this church and religion thing differently than had been done in the past...inclusively...openly...caringly...lovingly...spiritually. God cared for our congregation then and I have no doubts that God will care for us into the future, no matter what our numbers are.
Yes, let us dream and vision of a day when our attendance and membership have increased and we are able to show that God's love and grace are for all people. But let us remember while doing that dreaming that our call as a church is not growth but justice, kindness, and love.
Pace e Bene,
Gerry
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