By Maureen Wright
Many of my newsletter articles since I began my work as your Transitional General Presbyter have focused on scripture, nearly each one has included the biblical theme of wilderness. I have continually shared my belief that this time of transition is guided by the Presbytery moving from where we have been to an unknown place – a place yet to be determined, a time of discerning who God is calling us to be and where God is calling us to go. Since August I have been amazed by the work of the Holy Spirt as we journey in this liminal space.
The Holy Spirit is often referred to as wind or breath; it can be as soft as a warm breeze on a sunny beach or as rough and bracing as freezing fog in the middle of a storm. The Holy Spirit can be as easy to hear as your favorite song or as difficult to understand as an unknown language. I have often heard the Holy Spirit through faithful conversations with the people whom God places in front of me. My experiences with the Holy Spirit are often reminiscent of the phrase about entertaining angels without knowing it. (See Hebrews 13:2.) By this I mean that I have experienced the Holy Spirit speaking through others, often without my knowing it.
Recently the Holy Spirit has nudged me to reflect on what it means to be the church and how our experience of church is sometimes tied in unhelpful ways to buildings. Let me share three recent conversations or situations that led me to make this statement.
The Presbytery Trustees have met several times to discuss how best to be responsible stewards as they make arrangements for the building of a dissolved church. This is a building from which a community of faithful Presbyterians engaged in ministry for many years; a building where people gathered to worship, where discipleship was nurtured, from where Presbyterians were sent out to minister in the name of Jesus Christ. It now stands empty, neglected because it overwhelmed – spiritually, emotionally, and financially – those few members who remained. In part of the building the roof leaks so that puddles form on the first floor as rainwater makes its way from the third floor. The Presbytery Trustees are seeking to find the building’s legacy while protecting the Presbytery’s resources. They are trying to answer questions: are the Presbytery’s resources for building maintenance or for mission and ministry? Is the cost of replacing the roof in question a better use of resources than taking the building down? What decision best reflects faithful stewardship? This situation is heartbreaking – spiritually, emotionally, and financially.
I got a call this week from one of our pastors who shared that since late fall the Spirit has continued to place in their heart a possibility of two churches, both with vital ministries, sharing pastoral leadership. The vision and possibilities for ministry are exciting. It was a hopeful conversation of thinking creatively about ways for two churches to continue in mission and ministry in two neighboring communities. It was a conversation about this pastor being faithful to their call to ministry, faithful to their call as an installed pastor in one of the Presbytery’s churches, and faithful to new ways God may be calling them into ministry. A reality check was talking about the love each congregation has for their building; will there be enough resources to support two buildings? Will this love for their buildings shut down meaningful exploration of this possibility?
When visiting with one of our pastors recently we discussed the amazing ministry that has evolved in the past few years to the people in the community – those who are hungry, those who need clothes, those who need medical care or a safe place to commit to treatment for addiction, those who need a place to clean both bodies and clothes. The contrast to the amazing ministry is a reality check grounded in a building that demands resources be used to maintain it and a faithful congregation whose membership is shrinking. The session has chosen to work with Ellie Johns Kelley of the Presbyterian Foundation on Project Regeneration. The project works with churches to answer the question, “What is God calling your church to do?” They will reflect on property, giving, membership, and mission. They are seeking to write the next chapter in the church’s story.
The common theme in these stories is buildings or property. Buildings can be used as tools or resources for ministry. Buildings can also be turned into shrines that lead to making unhelpful decisions when considering mission and ministry. Buildings challenge us to exercise skills related to faithful stewardship and discernment – listening for the Holy Spirit, to make decisions based on God’s will beyond the love of a building and the weddings, funerals, worship, fellowship, and discipleship that have taken place within those walls.
Here is where the Holy Spirit is leading me. I challenge the session of each of our congregations to engage in difficult conversation about their building. This is an important conversation for churches whether they have 500 members or five. Talk about the ways in which your building is a resource or tool for ministry and mission, the ways it adds to your community; discuss the ways in which your building is a burden. Pray about what God is calling you to do with your building. Engaging in difficult conversations about buildings now allows the session and congregation to act faithfully. Difficult conversations about buildings allow the congregation to have agency about its future mission and ministry. Difficult conversations about buildings allow congregations to control their legacy into the future.