Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

Issue 4

January 2006

WELCOME

The Heart of Welcoming

"There is always space for everyone in a congregation that shares God's values with one another."

—an anonymous respondent to the Emerging Spirit questionnaire

Making Impact

by Lesley Harrison

Gales of laughter fill the room as the group breaks into choruses of "Living in a material world and I am a material girl," from Madonna's song "Material Girl." It's a Generation X pop culture quiz. What year did Madonna record the album that featured this song? What are the major cultural influences that have shaped the demographic of 30- to 45-year-olds? Passionate debate takes over the meeting.

The Emerging Spirit Impact Teams of Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver are lively and passionate in their contributions to the discussion. People between the ages of 30 and 45 have been profoundly shaped by their culture and their church. Are they ready and willing to talk about this "shaping"? You bet. Are they eager to put their ideas, beliefs, and hopes to the test of developing and reviewing resources? No doubt about it. Why? Well, let's see what members of the Impact Teams have to say.

[read the full article]

Best Practices And Other Good Ideas

During their first round of meetings, each of the Emerging Spirit Impact Teams shared the positive models of congregational welcoming they have experienced. These experiences offer good ideas of welcoming practices that other congregations might also use.

What is an experience of welcoming that you have had?

• I was welcomed but not swarmed. I could participate if wanted to but did not feel I had to. The first time I attended I knew this was where I wanted to make a church home.
• I've been in many small groups that have been welcoming. This is perhaps an easier setting to welcome people into, as in a large worship setting the music and message must reach a broad range of people who are coming from very different backgrounds and understandings.
• There was a full latte bar in the church, with free lattes for guests.
• I went to a church where people were able to grapple with theological issues in a way that made sense. I took part in a study group working with "An Experiment in Practical Christianity," and the people I met in this program are some of my closest friends even today. This program had a very intimate relationship piece to it.
• Bringing refugees into the congregation was an experience that brought diverse groups together. The person with the idea to host a refugee family was not "shut out" and people discovered each other in new ways as they planned and worked for the arrival of the family.
• A friend told of an experience at the Metropolitan Church in New York where the staff people "worked the floor" before service, intentionally connecting people, getting to know newcomers, and generally being visible and friendly.

[read the full article]

THE BUZZ

by Aaron McCarroll Gallegos

Emerging Spirit has launched several research initiatives in the past 90 days. Looking from various perspectives we have probed attitudes of people between the ages of 30 and 45 about spirituality, religion, and The United Church of Canada and practices the church might embrace to be more welcoming.

Each research initiative highlighted different aspects of mission and ministry and surfaced important insights about our ever-evolving journey of faith.

Starting this month with the findings of the nation-wide survey done by Environics for The United Church of Canada, "The Buzz" will feature reports on the findings of Emerging Spirit's research projects.

ENVIRONICS

Truly Not Alone: There Is an Audience for the Message of The United Church of Canada

The United Church of Canada and Emerging Spirit worked with the prominent Canadian firm Environics Research Group to do a survey assessing selected attributes of the United Church and their implications for communicating the message of the church to people between the ages of 30 and 45 who don't already attend church or belong to another religion.

[read the full report on Environics' research]

Watch coming issues of Emerging Spirit News for reports on the research gathered from TerraNova Marketing Strategies, the Emerging Spirit Questionnaires, and the Emerging Spirit Impact Teams.

WELCOMING MINISTRIES TOOL BOX

The following reviews may be helpful as you consider tools and resources to help your congregation navigate the current context of the church and develop more effective welcoming ministries.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
(Walt Disney Pictures/Walden Media, 2005)

I wonder where the lions are. Lions, God, and popular culture floated through my mind as I watched Walt Disney/Walden Media's adaptation of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Near the end of the movie, Mr. Tumnus, the gentle faun of Narnia, and Lucy, the youngest of the four Pevensie children, watch as the lion, a Christ figure, walks away. Lucy wonders where he is going and Mr. Tumnus comments, "He'll be coming and going…He's wild you know."

Some might apply critical analysis, systems theory, or even the tools of exegesis—this is what I thought was the normal approach to movie watching. However, I remember after a lengthy debate on the themes of patriarchy, monarchy, oppression, and resurrection in another movie, The Lion King, someone commented, "maybe it's just a movie!"

And maybe The Chronicles of Narnia is just a movie as well?

hat percentage of our time do we spend engaging visual media, what value do we attach to media and its messages, how much influence, conscious and subconscious, do the themes within the medium have on our lives?

[read the full article]

Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People
edited by Dorothy C. Bass (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997)

Practicing Our Faith is an excellent resource for congregations that are seeking ways to become more welcoming, vital, and growing spiritually. In this deep and beautiful book, writers from a wide range of different backgrounds explore traditional Christian spiritual practices that shape and sustain us in our journey of faith.

Christian practices can often seem as simple as what one of the authors calls "the perennial Christian strategy" of gathering, breaking bread, and sharing stories. While many churches often take such things for granted, this book encourages us to intentionally embrace Christian practices as essential elements of our faith lives. Congregations that do this as a group, writes Dorothy Bass in the preface, have the potential to become revitalized communities of faith that are guided by ancient wisdom and fully engaged with their contemporary context.

[read the full article]

Resources from The United Church

Rooted in the Divine: Nurturing Our Faith through Small Group Ministry
by Anne Martin
(Toronto: United Church Publishing House, 2004)

Small group ministry has become an entry point for many people into congregational life and is changing the way congregations share the life of faith together. Rooted in the Divine presents small group ministry as an alternative way of being a congregation and relating with one another in ways that are prayerful, affirming, challenging, and celebratory. This resource will help congregations develop small group ministries that encourage different theological perspectives, support spiritual nurture, provide the opportunity to journey with others, are welcoming, and help congregations be open to the Spirit's creative demands for developing community.

Thanks Giving: Growing Generosity among God's People
by Christopher Levan
(Toronto: United Church Publishing House, 2005)

How do we shamelessly invite people to give money for God's work through the church? Based on the belief that our bankbooks are a window into our soul and a spotlight on our spiritual convictions, Thanks Giving answers this question and at the same time explores a good deal more than financial issues, including the nature of discipleship, the ethics of philanthropy, and the structure and mission of our faith communities. This book includes a template for a stewardship campaign, a sample proposal that tells people what they are being asked to give and why, an extensive bibliography, and more.

Tell us what you think!
Post your own comments about these resources.

Do you have suggestions for resources that can help congregations strengthen their welcoming ministries? Let us know!

All book titles are available from UCRD.

Pulsetaking

Below are samples from some of the e-mails Emerging Spirit has received. Go to the PulseTaking section of our website to see more responses from readers.

from Dave Le Grand, North Bay, Ontario
I'm a 37-year-old order of ministry person (for almost 10 years) within the United Church, presently taking Sabbath from pastoral ministry, hopefully to pursue a brief overseas personnel stint.

Quickly clicking around the net I stumbled across your Emerging Spirit questionnaire and managed to completely disregard the fact that what I filled out was the questionnaire for those NOT in church. I apologize.

Yet, while preparing to do a guest preaching stint, I found your questions provoked me to think like a self-proclaimed non-church person. I often feel outside of church and I am supposed to fit the role of leader! Your questions for those outside the walls of our sanctuaries should be asked also of our congregants that still have not truly been confronted by the challenge we face.

I want to say kudos to your group for taking on the critically important task of discerning the path of engaging a generation that has fallen away.

from Sheila Duffin, Thorndale, Ontario
Many thanks to the Emerging Spirit team for your very meaningful Christmas greetings. The wording in the second paragraph of your message is very meaningful. I have just returned from a trip to the Holy Land. While we were in Israel the tour guide who was fluent in English sometimes used different wording than we might. One of his expressions was how Jesus associated with the "invalid" persons, a word we couldn't use here but a word packed with meaning. Just thought I'd pass that along.

from Rev. Whit Strong, Nepean, Ontario
One of the biggest problems facing Christianity is that we – Christians in the mainstream churches – seem to be afraid to address this time of year by name. I would have preferred, and expected, an email with the greeting of "MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Emerging Spirit Team" in the subject line, rather than an anaemic "Happy Holidays." But I appreciate the sentiment and wish all of you the best as you continue the Emerging Spirit journey.

Aaron McCarroll Gallegos responds for Emerging Spirit:
Thank you for your note Rev. Strong. The subject line of the Emerging Spirit Christmas email was changed inadvertently from “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays” during production. We’re sorry about that. Your point is well taken—the mainline church sometimes tries so hard to be accommodating that it can miss important opportunities to share its unique message with the world. Thanks again for your comment.

from Dave Henderson, Pembroke, Ontario
Dear Emerging Spirit Team, I just said a short prayer that your work be blessed by God, directed by Christ, and anointed by the Holy Spirit. Thank you for your ministry.