• On the Brink . . .
• The Healing mission metaphor…
• Check it out…
• Index of Emergence Issues

On the Brink . . .

Last month I asked for some feedback on questions regarding what you would do if your church building were suddenly destroyed and taken from you. If I were to summarize the responses, I might use the phrase: "take the money and run." There clearly was a consensus of thought, not having property would provide some much desired freedom on the part of congregations. I wonder if this is in part a reflection on our times. Building expenses are eating into church budgets at an alarming rate. One of the tensions in congregational life is how to balance building expenses and ministry/mission costs.

Perhaps the most interesting response to my questions last month came from a member of the First Baptist Church in Clinton. Some of you may remember that their property caught fire and was totally destroyed in 1993. As you might expect, the questions I asked were real questions for them. It took about two years, but the congregation rebuilt and continues to minister today.

The response to this question, "What message would you try to communicate with the wider community through the media coverage?" provided me with food for thought. The writer suggested that it was important for the congregation to communicate that the fire destroyed the building, not the church. It is an identity issue that many congregations face. Are we known for our ministry/mission or for our building?

How members of our congregations answer the above identity question has a direct impact on how we respond to the money challenge of supporting building and/or ministry. A congregation that has its identity in its building, most likely will place the facility budget above everything else. And the opposite is also probably true. A congregation that has its identity in its ministry and mission will place ministry before building when it comes to their budget.

Where does your congregation find its identity? Are you known for your building or for your mission? What is your budget telling you?

Sam Brink

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The Healing mission metaphor…

…we might adapt the metaphor and speak of the medical mission of God, adding the relational connotations of caring and healing. Imagine that everyone on earth has become infected with a horrible virus. The virus makes people physically sick and mentally insane. Its symptoms vary from person to person and place to place: in one place it causes violence, in another sexual aggression, in another lying, in another paralysis, and so on.
Imagine that a doctor develops a cure. He brings the cure to you and says, "Once you take this medicine, you'll begin to feel better but I'm not just giving you the cure for your sake. As soon as you feel well enough, I want you to make more of the cure and begin bringing it to others. And tell them the same thing: they are being healed not just so they can be healthy but also so they can become healers for the sake of others." Just as the disease spread 'virally," now the cure will spread. A healing mission- where you are healed so you can join in healing others - would be an apt metaphor for the kingdom of God.

p. 144 The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren

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http://www.missio.us/

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Index of Emergence Issues

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