Thursday, May 1st, 2014click here for past entriesGuiding Principles
Dave Daubert writes about a congregation in Illinois that did the work together in order to be clear about their purpose and guiding principles (in Living Lutheran: Renewing your Congregation). In this particular congregation (Bethel), one of the guiding principles that they adopted was “Everyone is welcome and invited.” A few months later, the congregation was faced with a major decision.
A neighbouring congregation (All Saints) had been providing shelter for the homeless in their church building. In fact, some of the members from Bethel had been volunteering at the shelter. Now, All Saints was going to do some renovations, and Bethel was being asked if they would house the homeless shelter during the remodeling.
At the council meeting where the matter was discussed, the discussion went back and forth like at many meetings. Some thought it was a good opportunity to get more involved in ministry with the homeless. Others worried about the wear and tear on the building and the associated smells. Some thought it might even be dangerous to be housing homeless people.
The discussion dragged on until one of the council members finally pointed to the poster in their meeting room where they had listed their purpose and guiding principles. It says, “Everyone is welcome and invited.” It doesn’t say, “except poor people.” At that, the answer to their dilemma became obvious.
At the time when the congregation had begun the process of clarifying their purpose and guiding principles, they had no idea that they would become a shelter for the homeless. They simply sought God’s guidance and God’s purpose for them, beginning in the Scriptures – and particularly in the book of Acts. Why the book of Acts?
It was a time in the life of the early church when the believers were learning and growing in their faith. It was also a time when the church was faced with some big decisions – like whether Gentiles had to become Jews or not – and even whether Gentiles were welcome or not! The believers were consistently led in new directions by the things that God was doing right in front of their eyes.
For us as Christians today, we also need to be open to discovering where it is that God is going to lead us next. We all have our opinions and our comfort zones, but God doesn’t always operate simply within what is comfortable for us. In fact, God has consistently pushed the boundaries in order to invite God’s people into new ways of seeing and doing things.
The chapters in Acts upon which we will focus for the congregational retreat on May 3rd are Acts 2, 10 & 16. These are excellent chapters to read in order to get the flavour of life in the early church and some of the new things that God was doing. These will also be the basis for developing our own purpose and guiding principles.
It is a process that will take some time and effort, but it is well worth the journey. There is no telling at this point where it will lead us in the future, but it will orient us toward what God has to say and help us to pay attention to what God is doing, even now. May God grant us the eyes to see, and the ears to hear!
In Christ,
Pastor Lynne Hutchison
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