Watchfulness.
The word is carved on a pulpit in the chapel at the Baylor University Spiritual Life Center in Waco, Texas. Until two years ago this worship space was what interior designers call dead space. A couch here. A coffee table there. It reminded Chaplain Burt Burleson of a bank lobby.
Now there are kneelers. A basin and towel adorn a small table near the pulpit. There's nothing new about the large panes of clear glass -- a staple in modern buildings. They filtered natural light before. But now the space has focus and so does the light.
What was dead space is sacred space. Another corner of the world has encountered the reign of God in the right here and right now.
Such a transformation from dead space to sacred space should make us think. It might even make us watchful.
It's a good word for the church. In his instructions to the church at Colossae, Paul asks his readers to be watchful. Leadership trades more often in words like 'vision' and 'future.' These are not bad words. But sometimes our attempts to vision the future blur the world right before our eyes. Vision and future allude to coming events. They're like marks on a trajectory. Watchfulness is more than that. It's a constant state of being and becoming.
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| | IDEAS THAT IMPACT: THE WORLD AROUND US |
It is pretty easy to stay within the four walls of the church and make assumptions about the lives of the people in the broader community. It is more difficult to actually build relationships with community residents and grow in your understanding of their needs and desires. It takes more time, too, but the benefits include ministries that better serve your community.
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It's time to start asking new questions. Better answers to the same old questions about the church will not get us through the tumultuous times in which we live. This is a time for out-of-the box thinking. Old questions keep is in the box. New questions invite us to move outside.
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| What if times change so much that our original mission starts to look like a mistake? Is it possible that our mission -- as stated in the mission statement or as lived in our daily practices -- needs to be changed? If so, what then? Read more » |
Lending Your Leadership: How Pastors are Redefining Their Role in Community Life by Nelson Granade
As America faces great change, we must find new ways of cooperating with one another to solve problems beyond our individual control. As leaders of one of the largest pools of community capital -- our congregations -- pastors have both the opportunity and the skills to help guide local communities through transitions and to help cast a vision of renewed communities. At the heart of Granade's book is a firm belief that clergy can play a unique leadership role in community life. He encourages clergy to reclaim that role and to share with their communities a message of hope: God still cares and is involved in the life of individuals, families, communities, and the world.
Learn more and order the book » |
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