I had dinner with my family this week.
As lovely as it always is, on the surface
that hardly sounds blog-worthy. However: my family live some 2,000km away -
this was not a matter of just popping down the road to split a pizza. What it was, though, was a fun conversation
and a good meal; me in my home, and them in theirs. Over Skype, we had dinner
together. We had decided that distance is not going to get in the way of our
relationship; we made it work. We found a way to overcome the obstacles so that
we could all benefit. It was great!
In contrast, this week I finally got feedback
on some paperwork I submitted to a small organisation not known for being
user-friendly. Despite the unusual circumstances of moving (and various
equipment being inaccessible for several weeks) they would not allow any
discrepancy in their paperwork submission process. It felt as though they were
putting up obstacles just for the fun of it; setting my work back several weeks
and making me consider removing myself from said organisation. (The work is
lovely, the bureaucracy is suffocating).
Given these two extremes, I pondered what I
might learn about church, and how we access the church. For those of us with a
comfortable pew, we may not notice that our ways might in fact be preventing
the Gospel from being spread. The average person on the street would likely
struggle to comprehend a church sign that read "BCP 8 / BAS 10 wSS"[1]
and thus may never darken the door. Even writing "All welcome!" may
not have the intended effect, despite best efforts.
If we are not careful, we will be the
church community that (intentionally or otherwise) puts up barriers: using
insider jargon, leaving newcomers to navigate the service alone, making
indistinguishable references (inviting folks to speak to Mary about a luncheon
is only effective if they know who Mary is, and how to reach her).
If we are careful, however, we can be the
church community that is intentional about making church happen: Skyping in a
godparent for whom distance would prevent attendance at a baptism, providing
large-print bulletins and reading lights for those with vision challenges, having
volunteers host a Sunday School pizza party so their parents can go out without
the (often prohibitive) cost of a babysitter.
If we want to BE the church, we will find a
way to make it happen. We will overcome the obstacles which would give us the
easy way out; we will choose to intentionally engage with God and one another
in the world as we live it.
It means thinking outside the box. And it
won't always be successful. But it just might be worth it to try.
And in my opinion, the Good News is always worth it.
Let's make it work.
[1] "Book of Common Prayer at 8.00am, Book of Alternative Services
at 10.00am with Sunday School" - this was a real sign on a church whose
leadership did not understand why there was declined connection to the local
community
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