1001 Worshiping Communities

Transcription

1 Contents 1001 Worshiping Communities Introduction to Being Reformed: Faith Seeking Understanding...3 To the Leader...4 Session 1. New Opportunities...5 Session 2. Following Jesus into the World...10 Session 3. The Body of Christ...14 Session 4. The Church Gathered and Sent...19 Session 5. Lessons from Other Traditions and Cultures...24 Session 6. Beginning a Worshiping Community...29 Writer: Steven H. Shussett Published especially for use in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), by CMP, a ministry of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Louisville, Kentucky. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in this publication are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. In some instances, adaptations have been made to a Scripture or a confession to make the language inclusive. Every effort has been made to trace copyrights on the materials included here. If any copyrighted material has nevertheless been included without permission and due acknowledgment, proper credit will be inserted in future printings once notice has been received CMP, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, Louisville, KY. All rights reserved. Except where permission to photocopy is expressly granted on the material, no part of these materials may be reproduced without permission from the publisher. Printed in the U.S.A.

2 Meet the Writer Steven H. Shussett is the teaching presbyter and stated clerk of Lehigh Presbytery. He is also a spiritual director, retreat leader, and writer for a variety of publications. He previously served as associate for spiritual formation for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) and as a pastor in Virginia and Maryland. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, where he received his doctor of ministry in Christian spirituality degree. Steven and his wife, Alicia, live in Allentown, Pennsylvania. They have a son, Daniel, and a daughter, Rachel.

3 Introduction to Being Reformed: Faith Seeking Understanding Reformed and Presbyterian Christians are people of faith who are seeking understanding. From the beginnings of our Reformed tradition, Presbyterians have realized God calls us to explore ways the Christian faith can be more fully known and expressed. This vision has driven concerns for the education of people of all ages. Presbyterians have been big on providing resources to help us delve more deeply into Christian faith and the theology that gives our living tradition its distinctive heritage. This Being Reformed curriculum for adults is one expression of the desire to open up what it means to be Presbyterian Christians in the world today. Our purpose is to enhance, enrich, and expand our insights. We want Presbyterians to grow in understandings of elements that are foundational and significant for their faith. Encounters with theology, church, worship, spirituality/discipleship, and social righteousness will guide our ways. These studies engage our whole selves. We will find our minds moved by new ideas, our emotions stirred with responses of gratitude, and calls for action that can lead us in different life directions. Heads, hearts, and hands will be drawn into the joys of discovering what new things God is calling us toward. We invite you to join this journey of faith seeking understanding. Celebrate the blessings of our Reformed and Presbyterian tradition of faith. Be stimulated and challenged by fresh insights that will deepen your understandings. Find a stronger commitment to the God who has loved us in Jesus Christ. 3

4 To the Leader The authors of Being Reformed: Faith Seeking Understanding emphasize essential Reformed theological principles that relate to our lives of faith. These sessions will help you lead a group into the theology and thoughts inspired by the challenging and interesting articles in the participant s book. You might choose simply to begin the session with the prayer that precedes each session in the participant s book, then reading through the articles together, stopping when you or a student wishes to comment or raise a question. You could then close the session by discussing the questions at the end of the session and encouraging the group members to do the spiritual practice. Unfortunately, that style of leading does not meet the needs of every kind of learner. The session plans encourage group leaders to try some new things to light up the hearts and minds of more people. Most teachers teach the way they like to learn. Choosing one new activity during each session will stretch you and open a door to someone who learns differently than you. Over the weeks, you will notice what your group enjoys and what they are unwilling to do. Let that, rather than your preferences, be your guide as you prepare to lead. These session plans are designed to encourage group participation. Discussion and sharing create community and provide practice that all of us need in expressing our faith and wrestling with our questions. When asking questions, get comfortable with some silence while group members contemplate a response. Resist the urge to fill up the silence with your words. If your group members like to talk, you might not be able to ask every suggested question. Also it will make a difference in your group session if group members have read the articles prior to the session. If you find it necessary to read from the participant s book during the group session, choose the passages that convey the core ideas. You are more than a dispenser of information. In your role as group leader, you cooperate with God in the formation of faith and in the transformation of lives. You are the lead learner, modeling a way that faith seeks understanding. You are not trying to cover a lesson, but to uncover truth. Pray for yourself and your group members, prepare your session, relax, and enjoy! May God bless your faithfulness! 4

5 Session 1 New Opportunities Scripture Isaiah 43:18 20; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:37 42; Matthew 28:16 20 Main Idea Jesus commanded his disciples to make new disciples in all the nations. Since its establishment five centuries ago, the Presbyterian Church has proclaimed the good news in word and deed around the globe. As the world has changed, the church has had to do likewise to continue God s mission. Teaching Points This session invites participants to consider: 1. How God has called the church to new ways of making disciples throughout history, in light of changing circumstances. 2. The disconnection many feel toward the church today. 3. New worshiping communities as a fresh expression of God s reaching out through the church, to the world. Resources Needed Bibles Participant s books Book of Order Map of biblical lands or whiteboard and marker Masking tape New Faith video Computer with Internet access Video projector Hymnals with the hymn Gather Us In Newsprint and marker (optional) Construction paper and crayons (optional) Paper and pens (optional) 5

6 Leader Prep In Gather, participants will learn that whether the methods used are from the first or the twenty-first century, sharing Jesus story is the core of evangelism. Today the term evangelical is frequently associated with particular theological and political characteristics. At its root, however, to be evangelical is to be one who exhibits the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed: an evangelist. Whether a Christian community is more traditional or new, Jesus commandment to make disciples still stands, and its yoke remains on all who follow him. In Head, a challenge that Christianity has faced since the earliest church how to remain rooted in Scripture and to be simultaneously changed by the Holy Spirit through Scripture will be explored. In this section you will also invite the group to ponder the new openness statements in the Book of Order (F ). Practice using the index for the Book of Order before the session. The brief and long definitions of new worshiping community are contemporary efforts to address this age-old quandary. You will benefit by reading these items carefully, identifying your own questions and observations, and raising these to spur participants responses. If your church does not have a set of biblical maps, look for one on the Internet or use a whiteboard and marker to draw a series of four widening concentric circles with dots on the inner three circles. These signify those named areas, or in our context, the local community, the wider community, the national community, and the international community. Heart includes a Presbyterian motto that is frequently conveyed incorrectly. Participants may not know that reformed refers to the Reformed tradition, of which the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a part. While the important phrase always to be reformed is frequently mistranslated, when used correctly it makes clear that the church does not reform itself, but is to be reformed by God, in accordance with Scripture. Moreover, this is a call neither for the new and improved, nor for a return to the old, but for integrity and authenticity grounded in Scripture and tradition. 1 In Hands, the pictures or poems can generate conversation in the wider congregation. By posting them a public place, some important seeds may be sown Anna Case-Winters, What do Presbyterians believe about Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda? in Presbyterians Today, May 2004.

7 Lastly, in Depart, set up the video (onethousandone.org/inspire/ Stories/New-Faith.aspx; search for New Faith ) and test the wireless connection before the session. Also, the closing litany may be easier for the participants if the responses are posted on newsprint; you will save time by writing these in advance. Leading the Session Gather Open with Dr. Dermody s prayer (participant s book, p. 7). According to Dr. Dermody, To make disciples for Jesus Christ today, we need a new approach to evangelism. Ask: What is your immediate response to the word evangelism? How does understanding evangelism as sharing the good news of Jesus Christ change your reaction? Sing Gather Us In, stanzas 1 and 2. Head Read Isaiah 43: Dr. Dermody writes, There is an increasing openness to change and reform across the church. Ask: Have you seen this openness in your congregation? How has it been expressed? Invite participants to take turns reading the four new openness points (participant s book, pp. 7 8). Ask: What in these statements strikes you as particularly significant? Which one especially resonates with you personally, and why? Read Acts 1:8. Using the map or a drawing of concentric circles, point out Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and gesture toward the ends of the earth. Ask: Looking at this map and the places Jesus named, what do you think he was trying to communicate? Heart Explain that the statement the church reformed, always to be reformed according to the Word of God (Book of Order, F-2.02) affirms God s continual call toward reform, change, and the new. Ask: How do you respond to change in your life and in the world? Invite a volunteer to read Acts 2: Ask: Considering how the early church connected with people before and after they joined, how is your congregation the same or different? 7

8 Dr. Dermody writes, The mission of the church includes reaching people who are disconnected from Christ and his church. For this to happen, many existing churches will have to make a fundamental shift. Ask: Why might someone feel disconnected from the church? Ask: What shifts could the church make to have new connections with the disaffected? Invite participants to review the chart (participant s book, pp ). Ask: In what ways does the idea of new worshiping communities excite you or make you nervous? Hands Dr. Dermody writes that Presbyterians have built new faith communities and helped these communities respond to the needs of those around them and provided educational ministry and medical service to people around the world. Our Presbyterian way of life overflows with a sense of responsibility to reach beyond church walls to serve the broadening community in faithful and practical ways. Ask: How have you benefited from this Presbyterian heritage? When have you contributed to God s kingdom by working through the church? Where have you seen Christ reach beyond church walls to serve the broadening community through his body, the church? Dr. Dermody asks: What is the new thing God would have us do to more effectively engage the people in our community? Invite participants to answer the question creatively: write a poem, draw an image using construction paper and crayons, or express creativity in some other activity. When they are finished, invite participants who drew images to briefly explain their drawings, and post participants creations in a visible place. Ask someone to read Matthew 28: Ask: How did you hear the gospel? Pair participants for an elevator moment. Ask: How can you say what God s love means to you, in one sentence? 8

9 Depart Show the New Faith video. Ask: How do you feel about what is happening in this new worshiping community? Sing Gather Us In, stanzas 3 and 4. Ask: What is one reason you are grateful to be connected to God s church? Invite participants to state their reason, and have the whole group respond, Thanks be to God for the church! Close by saying in unison, In Christ s name we give thanks. Amen. 9

10 Contents 1001 Worshiping Communities Introduction to Being Reformed: Faith Seeking Understanding... 3 Editor s Introduction... 4 Author s Introduction... 5 Session 1. New Opportunities... 7 Session 2. Following Jesus into the World Session 3. The Body of Christ Session 4. The Church Gathered and Sent Session 5. Lessons from Other Traditions and Cultures Session 6. Beginning a Worshiping Community Suggestions for Further Study... 47

11 Session 1 New Opportunities Scripture Isaiah 43:18 20 God initiates new things. With the Holy Spirit s guidance, we can perceive that new thing God is doing. Acts 2:37 42 The Holy Spirit gives birth to the church, affirming the promise of God. Prayer God of love, help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Give us the vision and creativity to discover how you want us to live. To you be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Introduction The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) asserts, The church reformed, always to be reformed according to the Word of God in the power of the Spirit. 1 This historic principle of our faith is finding new energy. There is an increasing openness to change and reform across the church. As Presbyterians, you and I affirm, In Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all creation, the Church seeks a new openness to God s mission in the world : a new openness to the sovereign activity of God in the Church and in the world, to a more radical obedience to Christ, and to a more joyous celebration in worship and work; a new openness in its own membership, becoming in fact as well as in faith a community of women and men of all ages, races, ethnicities, and worldly conditions, made one in Christ by the power of the Spirit, as a visible sign of the new humanity; a new openness to see both the possibilities and perils of its institutional forms in order to ensure the faithfulness and usefulness of these forms to God s activity in the world; and 1. Book of Order , Part II of The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Louisville: Office of the General Assembly, 2013), F

12 a new openness to God s continuing reformation of the Church ecumenical, that it might be more effective in its mission. 2 This new openness to the movement of God s Spirit provides both foundation and hope for the 1001 Worshiping Communities movement. For almost two centuries, Presbyterians have responded to the call of God through mission work. We have built new faith communities and helped these communities respond to the needs of those around them. Presbyterians have provided educational ministry and medical service to people around the world. Our Presbyterian way of life overflows with a sense of responsibility to reach beyond church walls to serve the broadening community in faithful and practical ways. However, the day is past when the church could build programs and buildings, and the people would come. To make disciples for Jesus Christ today, we need a new approach to evangelism. Needed Shifts New times and contexts call for new ideas and new approaches. Today s average church is burdened with financial and institutional demands. Churches focus much of their time, energy, and financial resources on building and property maintenance, and in creating and maintaining programs. The church leaders assume that if they spend the church s money in these ways, people will be drawn to the congregation. The problem is: It s not happening. People, especially young adults, are staying away. It has been said that the definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. The church will not achieve different results until it embraces new approaches to being the church. For example, Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger call for a return to simple church. Simple Church calls Christians to make a clear return to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. No elaborate, multilevel outreach strategies required. 3 Churches making this shift to becoming more outward focused launch people into their communities to make authentic friendships. Mike Breen and Alex Absalom advocate missional communities. They define these emerging new worshiping 2. Book of Order, F Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger, Simple Church (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2006), 4. 8

13 communities as a group of anything from twenty to more than fifty people who are united, through Christian community, around a common service and witness to a particular neighborhood or network of relationships. 4 These smaller communities exist as their own new worshiping communities or as subsets of larger church congregations. The authors conclude: If you build a church around Missional Communities (households of people on a mission), what you end up with is a movement. This will be a network of networks, with leaders at every level who are passionate about seeing the Kingdom of God infiltrate every crack of society, planting authentic expressions of church that draw people back to their God and Father. 5 The mission of the church The mission of the church includes reaching people who are includes reaching people who are disconnected from Christ and his disconnected from Christ and church. For this to happen, many existing churches will have to make his church. For this to happen, a fundamental shift. Reggie MacNeil many existing churches will have characterizes three shifts the church will have to make: From internal to to make a fundamental shift. external in terms of ministry focus; from program development to people development in terms of core activity; from church-based to Kingdom-based in terms of leadership agenda. 6 Opportunities for Change Evidence of a new wind blowing through the Presbyterian Church is found in the recent change to our constitution. Since its adoption in 1983, the PC(USA) Book of Order had almost doubled in size by Over time, the Book of Order came to be seen as suffocating, rather than life-giving. Instead of a document that brought inspiration and clarified ministry organization, it had become a book of regulation and enforcement. Leadership began to ask basic questions about the fundamental purpose of the Presbyterian constitutional processes and the role of its middle judicatories. 4. Mike Breen and Alex Absalom, Launching Missional Communities: A Field Guide (Pawleys Island, SC: 3DM, 2010), Ibid., Reggie MacNeil, Missional Renaissance (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009), 10. 9

14 As criticism grew about the length and regulatory nature of the Book of Order, an earnest effort to recast it began. At the 217th General Assembly (2006) a Form of Government Task Force was charged with drafting a revised Form of Government. In 2010, the General Assembly approved the draft and sent it to the 173 presbyteries for their approval. By May 2011, it had received a majority vote, and the new Form of Government was reflected in the revised Book of Order. 7 Inherent in the new Form of Government is a permission-giving spirit, allowing more flexibility for local judicatories to make Inherent in the new Form of Government is a permission-giving spirit, allowing more flexibility for local judicatories to make ministry decisions. 10 ministry decisions. The new Form of Government promises to eliminate much red tape and bureaucracy. Leaders hope this will allow for the possibility of new mission and creative ministry to emerge. Time frames for processes that once took years are being shortened. For example, in our denomination, it is commonly understood that you must have one hundred people regularly attending a new church development before it can officially be chartered as a church. So, to be chartered as a congregation in the PC(USA), new churches have to be larger in membership than more than half of the existing churches in the denomination. Some of this definitional encumbrance threatens the life of a new church before it even has a chance to begin. It is therefore necessary to think of church in a new way. The new Form of Government allows us and encourages us to do just that! New Worshiping Communities This study is part of a campaign to cultivate a churchwide understanding of what is meant by new worshiping community. New worshiping communities are new in that they are making new disciples and taking on new forms. They are worshiping in that people gather in worship where the Word is proclaimed and the sacraments celebrated, and then the people are sent out to the local community to do mission and ministry. Finally, they are communities in that they are connected to other established churches and bodies, yet are independent as their own community in growing to self-sufficiency and local empowerment. 7. pcusa.org/resource/overview-new-form-government/, accessed February 3, 2013.

15 Characteristics of a New Worshiping Community New Worshiping Definition Taking on varied forms of church for our changing culture Seeking to make and form new disciples of Jesus Christ Gathered by the Spirit to meet Jesus Christ in Word and sacrament Implications Living out the gospel demands ministry that engages today s cultures (John 1:14). New ways of joining Christians together for contextual ministry will use current and historic ways of being church as springboards for creative innovation (Matthew 9:17). We witness in word and deed (1 John 3:18), continuing Jesus own mission of discipling, feeding, teaching, healing, welcoming, crossing boundaries, and proclaiming God s coming realm. Those with new and renewed faith join the Spirit s transforming work in the world. We seek to hear, come to believe, and are equipped to live the promises of God revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. We welcome new members of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27) through the Sacrament of Baptism and are nourished by Christ s spiritual presence in the Lord s Supper. 11

16 Community Definition Sent by the Spirit to join God s mission for the transformation of the world Practicing mutual care and accountability and connection to other governing bodies Demonstrating sustainability in leadership and finances Implications The Spirit impels us outward, so that worshipers participate in the redemption of the world in Christ (Colossians 1:20). Therefore, the primary beneficiaries are not members, but rather the community and world. We commit ourselves to love one another (John 13:34) in relationships of mutual care and accountability, as faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Entrusting the church and ourselves to the Holy Spirit, we seek to grow to maturity in faith and life. Local leadership arises from the community of faith (Exodus 18:21). Pastoral leadership, facilities, and programs are all appropriately structured to demonstrate good and faithful stewardship. Responding to Christ s gift and call, we do all these things only by God s grace, seeking above all else to glorify God through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. 12

17 Together, these characteristics will differentiate a new worshiping community from a small group or other ministry. All of these marks are essential components of the worshiping community from its inception; the new worshiping community lives out each mark regularly in its life together. This movement is helping Presbyterians shift from an inward-focused, membership-maintenance This movement is helping Presbyterians shift from an inward-focused, membership-maintenance model of church to an outward, creative, and disciple-making model of church. model of church to an outward, creative, and disciple-making model of church. Fewer people are asking, How do we do church better? and more are asking, How can we be church in a new way? The 1001 Worshiping Communities movement gives definition to something God s Spirit is doing. Already, new things are emerging. Already, lives are being transformed. Already, presbyteries and churches are feeling compelled to ask, What is the new thing God would have us do to more effectively engage the people in our community? Spiritual Practice Pray daily for openness to God s transformation. Offer a prayer to cooperate with God in all that God is seeking to accomplish. Questions for Reflection Does the idea of new worshiping communities excite you or make you nervous? Explain. When have you felt called to do something new with vision and voice to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ? 13