Newsletter

September 2022 Newsletter

Every living system has a life cycle. Human bodies, institutions, ministries, and churches all have life cycles. They have a beginning, middle, and end. They travel forward in a loop-like pattern. Human bodies and institutions don't travel backward – at least in our theology. For example, we can't go back to being 15-year-olds once we've turned 60. However, God does use new energy and creativity to create something new. God creates new things in two ways. One is through resurrection. Our theology teaches us that we essentially cross a threshold or bridge to a new life when we die. Institutions, ministries, or churches may go through resurrection, too. They have moved through the cycle of being planted, growing, maturing, and hospice care. Yet the Holy Spirit shows how to use the compost of the past to nourish a resurrected life together.

The second way is resuscitation. When a church is resuscitated, it doesn't have to die to give birth to the creative new thing that emerges. Through listening to the Holy Spirit, a church or institution that has matured and moving toward hospice care may recognize the possibility of new life and choose to transition into that possibility before the institution actually dies. Resuscitation operates on two loops rather than one. As the church reaches maturity, a small group or one ministry begins something new. That new ministry or group grows and nourishes something new while the rest of the church continues as usual. In resuscitation, the rest of the church finds a way to transition to the new creation, and the life cycle begins again.

A courageous and forward-thinking group of individuals founded St. Andrew's. That core group nurtured it through a growth period. Like many mainline churches, St. Andrew's has begun to lose members over the last few years. I believe it is now headed down the curve of the first loop. It's not at hospice yet, but it's probably past its initial growth spurt. However, I see the Holy Spirit influencing many things in the church on the second loop. Love Rising, the addition of a music assistant to our staff, intergenerational activities, Adopted Family, the café service, the hybrid service, and the new energy in vestry are all a part of the newness of the second loop. I also observe a church trying to make the transition. I hope you will join me in praying that we continue to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and transition into what God wants us to be in our modern times.

Randi+

September 2022 Newsletter

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