I’m not one of those folks that thinks the church is dying. I think the church is changing, but that doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to deal with the transformation from a cultural force to a voice on the margins. Working in an institution that remembers the 1950’s and 1960’s as a time of prosperity, plenty, and peace and which spends much of its energy working to adjust to the realities of our current levels of activity and abundance is wearying. Being in an industry that is in decline isn’t easy.
In the mist of this stress of institutional change I know that I am so lucky to be in places of innovation and forward thinking. Over the past 13 years of my ministry career I’ve spent a lot of time in trainings and around tables talking about how we can be faithful to God in new ways as the world shifts. I am thankful to be in an annual conference where relationships matter more than programs and while we stumble to what is next we pick ourselves up and keep learning and experimenting.
In this season of ministry I’m more often than not surprised by the institutional church and the ways in which people are ready to let go of what has been in search of a richer faith experience and a simpler way of being community. When I think I know what the answer is going to be or how the system will react to change I find I don’t actually have a clue and that God is moving in ways here on the edges that are mysterious and amazing.
-Eilidh
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