Change

Okay, so change became a buzz word over the past two and a half years.  But before it was a buzz word and still for those happy with the way things are in life, change was a dirty word.  For some, it was almost the equivalent of a four-letter word (even though it has six).

But change, as the cliche often notes, is the only constant in our lives.

And lately I’ve begun to think a bit about the rate of change (or flux for those of us who are geeks).  Much of this comes out of a conversation I had with my brother regarding cell phones.  Mostly how different the phones we have now are from those we had two years ago and how different those phones were from those we had nine years ago (or I had nine years ago).  But also how quickly it’s changing.  Cell phones, in a race for the edge in the market, are bringing out new phone after new phone.  It seems like every month or so companies are releasing newer, slicker, faster, smaller phones.  And that rate is a drastic difference from the rate at which they were released even three years ago.  Not to mention when my mom first got a cell phone fifteen or sixteen years ago (back when they were bricks… almost literally.  But I digress).

So I’ve begun to think about this with relationship to the church (because we always get here right?).  If my generation and especially those who come after me are used to the rate of change in life being at a dizzying speed, if we’re used to a new cell phone every month or having the size of notebooks become so small we change the name to netbooks, then what happens when they/we enter the church and find change happens at a snail’s pace?

And really, I suppose my question is what happens in congregations where the average age is below 35?  Are these congregations more likely to change at a quicker pace?  Or will that become true in the future?  Will change be quicker as our generation ages?  Or will the change always be slow the change?  Or will those used to quick change become so frutstrated with the pace and leave before it ever speeds up?

I’m curious to see what others think…

Photo courtesy of zenera (rights).

What is Church to Be?

I was visiting somebody today and we began to talk about church.  On that subject he said, “I don’t need a place to go on Sunday, I need a place to work.”

My immediate thought was, “Yes!  That is exactly what we should all be saying.”  It’s not that this guy wouldn’t attend worship on a Sunday morning, in fact I know he would and that is part of what he’s looking for, but that he’s got a different idea of what that looks like for him.  Since our conversation this afternoon I’ve been doing some thinking about this statement  and what the church is to be.

First, I do agree with him.  As far as a place to be – there are lots of places to be on a Sunday morning and if my faith wasn’t important to me, then I would probably “be” in my bed on a Sunday morning.  On the other hand, my dog would probably make me get up – at which point I would be sitting on the couch, drinking coffee and reading the paper.  So why would any of us show up at worship on a Sunday morning if it were only a place to be?

So then that brings us back to the work aspect of the comment.  Our faith has transformed us and as Jesus came to serve, not to be served, we are called to do the same.  So church – the people, not the building – is to be people who work.  People who tell the story, who spread the Gospel.  People are in service to the world, being God’s hands and feet.  This happens even in worship – Liturgy, that order of service we Lutherans and other Liturgical churches follow in worship, means ‘work of the people.’  Worship is work!  So why do we sometimes act like church is a place to show up rather than a place to work and be involved?

But then I began to think a bit – what if I’m the one who needs to be served?  What if I’m not in a position to serve yet – not in a place to work?  Am I part of the church too?  And if I am, what does that mean?  And if I’m not, then is that really such a bad thing?

Thoughts?