“How can we grow the church?” Someone usually asks this question at every annual meeting or strategy session. This month, the vestry (the church leadership board) read some papers on church growth. The literature divided churches up into three types, family church, pastoral church, and program church, based on membership and culture. We discussed the similarities and differences of the three types and how the size and culture of a church affect church growth. Church growth is a difficult topic, sometimes. We all want our church to grow; we want to share the joy we find in this community. We want to share the gospel as it comes to life in the people of St. Ignatius, as we bring the kingdom of Christ to bear in the world. We are eager to expand our “family”.
But there is another side to church growth, a shadow side, so to speak. As members of a capitalist society, as members of an institution with financial obligations, we also want new people to share our burdens. We want new people to pledge financial support and to volunteer for our missions. We almost cannot help it, because we are focused on accomplishing a goal: funding church projects, resale shops, Vacation Bible School, and altar flowers. The conversation of “how do we expand our family” quickly devolves into “how do we find other people to fulfill our needs”. It only takes a few turns of the conversation before we are asking the wrong question. This is where I become frustrated and end the conversation, because it seems wrong to look for new people to serve our own needs. Rather, we should long for new people so that WE can serve THEM. When I express this frustration, the conversation circles back around, “Of course you’re right, Linda. We want to meet new people and serve their needs. But, we still need to keep the lights on. What should we do?”
This familiar argument usually leads me to impatience and anger. But this Christmas season, I am beginning to see things in a new light. Like so many other things in the Episcopal faith, finding new members is not an either/or question, “either we seek new people to serve them OR we seek new people to serve our own mission”. It is a both/and question, “we seek new people to serve their needs AND empower them to serve the mission of God.”
I’m becoming acquainted with some of our newer members and they are BOTH looking to fill a need AND to serve. One new couple, who brought their exuberant daughter to baptism last month, are already looking for connections in our community and asking how they can help. Another new member, whose son will be baptized on January 8, has offered to help repair our church Blazer. They all come to Sunday School, eager to share and to learn, eager to bring treats to church socials, and to volunteer their services. These new families are transforming our community with their presence, their acceptance of sacraments, and their willingness to serve.
Just a little less than five years ago, I was new to St. Ignatius. As a new member, I longed to find a niche in the community, to be challenged to serve and to use my gifts. I found a true blessing in working on rummage sales, vacation bible school, and various committees and events. Becoming an active part of this community is one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of my life. St. Ignatius served me by needing me, it isn’t an “either/or” proposition; it is a “both/and” situation.
After all, our faith is not an “either/or” faith. Our faith is a “both/and” faith. We worship a God who is both human and divine, both transcendent and immanent, both always coming and always with us. We worship a God of possibilities, incarnated from a poor, unmarried girl, born humbly and celebrated by peasants. We worship a God of paradoxes, who defeated death by dying and who overcame hate with love. We do not need to squabble over whether to serve the community OR balance our budget. Rather, we should find a way to invite people into the blessed work of the kingdom, serving the community with their gifts and helping responsibly steward their resources. Rather, we should challenge our community to engage with each other: care for our building, our staff, and our mission, AND care for the community outside our doors. Through our work in the community, our love for each other, AND our joy in service, we will spread the gospel. We must have faith that through doing Christ’s work in the world, we will find the resources to successfully minister to ourselves and the world.
Rather than argue about EITHER attracting new members OR serving them, we must BOTH serve the community AND serve each other. We must BOTH spread the gospel AND balance the budget. Through serving in faith and not fear, we will find what we need.
