7 Priorities for the Church

Good morning friends,

it is good to gather in worship with you this morning!

Today we are picking up where we left off a couple of weeks ago, working through some questions of church vision on our way to retreat. By the way, have you signed up for retreat yet? Jennifer has the sign up sheet for this Sunday, and we'd love to get names nailed down this Sunday so that we can get meals formalized!

This morning, we're moving from examination to evaluation, from what is to what might be. For the next two weeks, I'd like to think about what we might want to do differently as a congregation, and the question for you at the end of the sermon today is this: “are there ways you'd like to see us live out our missional priorities better?”

Or, I put it in my original outline, “What are we called to do?”

The vehicle I want to use to help us consider this question is the Purposeful Plan for Mennonite Church USA. Mennonite Church USA over the last several years has been working on it's own strategic plan-a list of what we want to do, and why. I really enjoy this document, and the whole thing is available on the web if you're interested-it's enough for a serious book study. I won't try and go through the whole 25 pages! Instead, there are two parts I want to use for our reflections over the next two weeks. Today, we're going to reflect on the 7 priorities that the Mennonite Church has chosen for itself, the sense of the larger tasks where we ought to be putting our time and energy. Next week we're going to think a little bit about process, rather than content, and look at 12 traits of a Missional Congregation, and reflect on how we live those out in St. Louis. I'm hoping that these tools might help us as we think about what we might want to do together.

So today-the 7 priorities. I've put a little summary of each of these priorities in the bulletin, you may have seen them last week as well. You can pull it out and follow along. These don't map perfectly over what SLMF is doing-the priorities of a denomination do not always line up with the priorities of the local congregation, that's natural. But hopefully they will get you thinking about the ways we should be framing the tasks we are going to choose for ourselves, and thinking about what it is most important to be working towards.

And what I'd like to do is explain each of the 7 priorities, and follow it with a question I'm curious about for us going forward.

The first priority is Christian formation. As Christians, as a church, our first task is to get closer to God. We are not static objects, fixed in place. We are called to learn and grow and breath and live into the image of Jesus. The Bible is filled with stories of growth-Jacob reconnecting with Esau, Joseph reuniting with his brothers, Jonah, learning from his mistakes, Paul transformed on the Damascus Road. So too are we called to become something new in the image of Christ, through prayer and worship and study and conversation and practicing things that are difficult or frightening.

And what I wonder is this- Are we being well formed? Is there anything we might do together to help in our formation?

The second priority is Christian Community. We cannot be fully faithful by ourselves. We are supposed to tell our stories, unpack our understandings, reach out to one another. We are called to be a community of believers, extending hospitality, practicing unity and faithful relationships. Whether that is practicing medation with John Doggette, joining with others in cooking the peace meal, or sharing in potluck, we are called to be together, not Christians on our own. Facing a world filled with temptations, struggles, and violence, it is in the support of friends, of brothers and sisters in Christ that we learn to flourish.

So I wonder-Do we foster community well? Is there more we should say to one another?

The Third priority is Holistic Christian Witness. We do not just exist for ourselves, and for one another. The church exists for the sake of the world. As God said to Abraham, “through you all the nations of the world will be blessed.” This is a very big task-everything from proclaiming peace in a world of violence to feeding the hungry and inviting people to experience the love of God in Christ. It is the heart of the work of the church.

And here I wonder-is our witness properly integrated into the work of the church? Do we do enough outside these walls together?

Now, you may have noticed that these first three closely parallel the core tasks that we have claimed for ourselves as a congregation in our covenant that we wrote together. We are called to discipleship individually, collectively, and to the community. This is not a coincidence. And we could be done here. But Mennonite Church USA picked a few more important tasks that they wanted to highlight, and as we try and focus our energy, I think it's interesting to think about what else is important to achieve together, beyond the big three in order for our common life together to be fully in line with God's calling. So these are a little bit more for comparison's sake, though they are also things we could put more energy into.

The fourth priority is Stewardship.

All that we have is God's. We are but guests in this world, and we are called to remember who really owns our stuff. Thus, in a world of hunger and poverty, we are called to be generous with our resources. And in a world where environmental degradation is threatening the flourishing of our children, we must pay attention to the earth we have been given. We are to be generous people with one another and with those who are in need.

And I wonder-is this a priority that we should spend more time on? Our budget usually works out pretty well, and we have offering every Sunday. Are there different ways we should encourage generosity, or work for environmental sustainability?

Number 5 is Leadership Development.

We are all called to leadership at some level, in the church, at work, at home, and in the broader community. I'm excited that Jennifer is going to get to stretch her pastoral gifts in our midst, and we're always looking for people to serve on committees, as chairs, and on LCG. Actually, I think one of our strengths as a congregation is a leadership structure that is open to new people. I have always been amazed at how people who have been part of the church for 20 or 30 years are comfortable seeing things change and develop as new members come in and are woven into the fabric of the community. Of course, we could also say that one of our weaknesses is that we can overburden people with leadership-it's hard to be a bump on a log at SLMF without someone tapping you to do something!

So I wonder, do we develop leaders well? Do we equip the people we call to do the work appropriately?

Number 6 is Undoing Racism and Advancing Intercultural Transformation

We've seen a stark example of the divisions in our society over the last few weeks in Ferguson. Both the economic differences and different understandings of how the world works between blacks and whites has been demonstrated in sharp relief. And it is my prayer that we as Christians might be peaceful emissaries, reaching out to everyone with words of hope and transformation, learning how to reach form ourselves into bridges that reach across cultural divides.

But I wonder-

Should we do more to become anti-racist as a congregation, and if so, what?

Finally, the last priority: Church-to-Church Relationships

For MCUSA this means engaging with other Anabaptists, like Mennonite Church Canada, the Church of the Brethren and the Mennonite Brethren, but it also means getting connected with people who are very different, like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Church of God in Christ. For us, I think about our connections with Illinois Mennonite Conference, and camp Mennohaven, as well our work with Isaiah 58, or Metropolitan Congregations United, or the Peace Meal, and our relationship with Bethesda, and the congregations that rent our building. Each of these relationships is something we could spend more time on, or less time on, depending on how we hear God calling us.

And I wonder, how should we be in relationship with other congregations?

So that's what the denomination is supposed to be about these days. But these are not just tasks-they are a rubric to discern action. So for Mennonite Church USA, there is a list of what we are doing in each of these areas. You might remember the 12 scripture project we did a couple of years ago, collecting 12 scriptures that really spoke to us as a congregation. That was sparked as a part of Christian Formation. Or you may remember that Jennifer Harris-Dault went to the women doing theology conference, All You Need is Love, which was part of our leadership development initiative.

And that's what I'd be curious about from you today. Are there ways we should be living out God's mission in a new way? Are there things you'd like us, as a congregation to consider? Or, which of these priorities would you like us to focus more on, and why, and what might that look like?

I've passed out note cards, because now I'd like some notes, some thoughts about where we might be called in a new way because of the priorities that we have already claimed. And the way I want you to do this is as follows: Get in a small group, either two or a few more, and then write down the other person's suggestion (or go in a triangle or square, as necessary). And then we'll pass them in during the offering time. And what I'd like is two things-1) What is the priority you'd like to see us work on, and then 2) a specific way you might be interested in see us live that out together.