By Jerry Devine, Detroit Conference Director of Connectional Ministries
Perhaps you’ve heard a conversation like this:
“Do you know them?”
“No, they don’t look familiar. I wonder if they are just visiting from out of town or if they live around here?”
“They are probably just curious during this time of year. A lot of people are travelling through.”
I love Epiphany each year. Two wonderful professors from my early college days, Drs. Linda and Dwight Vogel, had invited the religion class to their home. The home had the rich character of the late Victorian era and they had decorated their home for the journey from Advent to Christmastide to Epiphany.
My young understanding of the length of time that is actually suggested in the Gospels was given a visual image through the symbols in the Vogels’ home.
The shepherds and their flocks were still on the hillside in one corner of the room, a respectable distance from the inn/manger scene where Joseph and a pregnant Mary had recently arrived.
Then, at a distance, there were sojourners that had a particular spiritual hunger and cosmic curiosity.
They were the Magi that had seen an unusual star in the sky and undertaken a journey to find the source of this mystery.
Had the Magi come to your local community would someone know where they might find the light that had shown in the darkness?
While working as a Ministry Consultant a few years ago I took a convoluted route through many back roads to find a modestly small town tucked into a rural community.
MapQuest could not identify exactly where the church was located so I stopped at a local gas station/convenience store. When I asked where the United Methodist Church was in town the two young workers looked at each other with a blank stare.
One of them named a couple of non-denominational or non-connectional churches she thought she knew about, but neither had any knowledge of or encounters with the local United Methodist community.
Did you catch that?
A local United Methodist Church was an unknown reality in the community it was located in.
While that was not true to those who were members of the church or attended its public dinners, it was obvious there was some growth in advertising, communication and evangelism that needed to take place.
The people of that particular congregation were good, likeable people. They loved God and one another, most of the time.
The challenge for them is not unique. In a post-modern, post-Christian world we cannot assume people know of our message just because we exist. Nor can we assume that they need to come to us or be just like us.
This brings me back to the journey that is faith and leads to deeper faith. It is invitational and relational. I come into community not simply on my own, community is created as I open myself in relationship to others creating who welcome me.
Now let us bring it closer to our own places of worship.
Prior to Advent 2010 I decided to explore which local churches might be invitational in approach, and intentional in shaping Advent as a journey toward the deeper mystery, call and grace of Christmas and Epiphany. Unlike some of you, I currently have the freedom to travel about on Sunday mornings.
Knowing that I would not have easy access to print materials from the local communities, I decided to go online. I pursued cyberspace for over an hour, only to be somewhat disappointed. That particular day I found only one church website that clearly focused on inviting the public to a spiritual exploration for the several weeks of Advent leading into Christmas.
Their website invited me without making it seem I would need to know the whole story, though I have read it quite a few times. The church was a significant distance from my home, but it did sound good.
I have to believe that most of the local churches were planning and preparing for such a movement, yet it was not being communicated to people searching online. I will suggest that person-to-person invitation is still the best way to open the door for people to connect with God and to build relationships that lead to Christian discipleship.
Perhaps all of these local churches had called their active members to invite people to specific events (see the December 2010 Michigan Area Reporter article and invitation to share your best practices). Nonetheless, as a Christian in search of a meaningful worship experience for the coming Sunday I was less than satisfied.
Had I not already been a committed United Methodist, I may have either chosen another denomination or not gone at all.
That is the option that many de-churched and un-churched people can consider every single day. Our calling is to invite, and to offer the opportunity for God to connect their lives to Christ and community.
Our challenge is to consider those not already within our fold, even as those within are discipled and sent forth.
Lent is but a few weeks away. What are your plans for inviting people to that journey of faith, community and discovery?
Share your ideas on our Detroit Conference website.
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