Tuesday Morning: Congregations Matter

Do congregations really matter?

The season that we find ourselves in as a congregation has left me wondering.  We are in the process of selling our building.  We've spent the last year worshipping together after spending a prior year apart.  We've lost members as a result of both situations.  Another sister congregation closed this spring after 105 years of ministry. All of this makes me wonder: why does a congregation exist?  Why do we need churches? In light of the pandemic and technology, can't we just worship online? Why can't we just spend time with God alone?

It's a question with no easy answer, but it is a question that needs an answer because the times we live in demand it.  Back in the day, people joined churches for many reasons, usually a mixture of spiritual and social.  But in a time when the culture no longer closes down to allow you to go to church, when you could sleep in or watch a baseball game or talk a walk around a lake, why would you want to spend time inside of a building with other people?

These questions aren't just for pastors.  Church members are also called to question, why do we gather for worship in person?  If we want to see our churches grow, we have to be able to ask and answer these questions.

So, what's the point of physically going to church?

Anglican priest Tish Warren Harrison writing in a weekly column for the New York Times wrote in January that churches need to stop having virtual or online worship services.  Now, I disagree that we should drop online worship, but she did explain the value of coming to worship in person.  She talks about how humans need to have embodied experiences. "We believe God became flesh, lived in a human body and remains mysteriously in a human body. Our worship is centered not on simply thinking about certain ideas, but on eating and drinking bread and wine during communion," she said.  

That's nice to think about, but then she comes to brass tacks and asks us, what is essential?  Harrison opines:

Throughout the pandemic, everyone has had to evaluate what is and isn’t essential. We as a society have had to ask whether in-person church attendance is more like going to a restaurant or more like elementary school education — whether it’s something that is a nice perk in life or something that is indispensable. There was a time, of course, at the beginning of the pandemic, when, like churches, schools went entirely online. But around the globe, experts believe that the costs of school closures currently outweigh the risks of Covid-19. In Christian theology and practice, physically gathering as a church should be seen as similarly essential and irreplaceable.

"And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching," writes the author of Hebrews in the 10th chapter.   Coming together is a way of spurring Christians to love and good deeds.  When you don't meet, it makes it easy to forget what it means to be a Christian in our world. In the Design of the Christian Church, which is the constitution/confession for the Disciples of Christ, a congregation is defined as:

...the primary expression of the community of faith within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Through congregations, individuals are brought to the saving grace of Christ, baptized into the Body of Christ, nurtured in their faith, and gather at the Lord’s Table. Joined in discipleship, congregations partner with their regions and the general ministries of the church to share the good news from their doorsteps to the ends of the earth.

That's why congregations matter and it reminds me why this congregation matters. It matters because this is the place where people come to know salvation through Jesus and are baptized into the family of God. This is the place where they learn to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus.

As we go through this in-between time of selling the building and looking for a new place, we are faced with anxiety. We suddenly lost a long-time tenant which meant the budget took a big hit. We lost members partially due to COVID. We wonder if our little congregation will survive. Everyone, including yours truly is unsettled and longs for some sense of normalcy.

But these times remind us that we aren’t alone. Look at the above definition of what the church is from the Design. If you notice, all those activities require people other than yourself. A church that gathers together runs against the zeitgeist that believes that life is all about me, myself and I. The church stresses community, reminding us that we belong to something much bigger than you. You are called to be part of a family that is the local church and the larger family meaning the church worldwide. The gathered community is a reminder that God is with us in these uncertain times.

I think that this congregation matters because it is a place where people who might have everything they want in the world fill empty and need to hear of the God who loves them. It matters because it is a place that is diverse and may, just may give an imperfect glimpse of what heaven will be, with people from every ethnicity and nation. It matters because those who have long been told they don't belong in the church like LGBTQ people, find out they are loved by God and can join in the mission of God.

Congregations matter.  Our congregation matters.  Too often, we get wrapped up in things to realize that. But First Christian Church of St. Paul matters because it can make a difference in the lives of so many through the power of God. It has done that in the past and will do so in the future.

Dennis Sanders, Lead Pastor

Tuesday Morning is a weekly column written by leaders of First Christian Church. You can receive it in your email inbox by sending an email to info@fccsaintpaul.org.