a friend, sweet & salty...community

On the heels of the " Dust and Light " evening of Lenten reflection I got together with James Kingsley for lunch at Martin's Place...a short drop down the hill from the University of Victoria into the village center of Cadboro Bay. What can I say about Martin's Place...very nice ambiance, great food...everything for great conversation. James the radical man he is, turned me on to something new around the realm of eating french fries. If your bored with ketchup, or mayo on your fries...try honey. YES, it's the sweet and salty thing...those to crazy cravings we have combined. Now, would you want a steady diet of this low cal dish...Hmmm, I'm thinking not...but, they were good.

One of the things James and I tossed back and forth was the idea of community in the context of a larger congregation/ gathering. How do you make it work ? Creating more splinter or self interest groups, or programs does not seem to create community in the big sense. The conversation was great...and I left still thinking about it.

The people participating in large congregations are less and less able to find a common center around the links that once held people in congregational community together. Personal family relationships, ethnic identity, a shared denominational history or identity, polity—the way of “doing church”—or a neighborhood location were ways in the past by which the people in a congregation could share a commonly held center. Today, for example, people will drive for miles from all areas of the city and beyond for the Sunday night gathering.

While these centers can still hold in smaller congregations, they have, for the most part, disappeared in the large congregation. People are drawn to large congregations for the multiple opportunities and choices among programs, for the alternative worship settings they represent, and for the small group connection with others like them that they offer, all of which underscore the differences that people bring to the congregation rather than providing a common center that all share.

So if this is the new reality...what makes the community “hum,” gives action purpose, gives faith meaning, makes ministry live? I'm thinking it has to be the power of the story...Israel had a story, the early church had story, God's people have always had a story...each community must gather around a story. The effective use of story is leadership that goes well beyond efficient and effective organizational management. To be sure, large congregations require effective management, but a well-run organization does not call a person to personal searching, nor a community to reach beyond its own comfort for greater purpose.

In the story of Esther in the Hebrew Bible, Mordecai learns of a plot to destroy the Jews. Haman, an officer of King Ahasuerus, plots against the Jews because Mordecai, himself a Jew, will not bow down before him as did all the other servants of the king. When Mordecai, knowing that all will be lost if the king is not alerted, charges Esther with going to the king in her role as queen to plead on behalf of the Jews, Esther shrinks from the task because she has not been summoned to speak with the king, a considerable problem since those who speak uninvited are subject to death. But Mordecai is not put off. He retells Esther’s own story in a way to empower and embolden her. “Who knows?” he says. “Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” In his retelling he shifts Esther’s understanding of herself from one of powerlessness as one of the servants of the king to a position of power in which she sees herself in a role of royal dignity. She is moved from fear to courage—all in the retelling of who she is.

Powerful stories do not need to be long and elaborate. Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, came upon two brothers, Simon and Andrew, who were fishermen. “Follow me,” he said to them, “and I will make you fishers of men.” In this very brief retelling of Simon and Andrew’s stories, Jesus used simple wordplay (from fishermen to fishers of men) and the first disciples answered the call and set out to do things they had never before dreamed of.

As a storyteller, whose stories must wrestle with those that are already operative in the minds of the community, one obtains a powerful way of conceptualizing the work of leading. The visionary leader doesn’t just rehearse or retell an existing story but, having learned the story of the people, actually creates a new story that produces change. Jesus took simple Galilean fishermen and gave them a better story to live: as fishers of men. Similarly, the “better story” told effectively and embodied authentically by the leader of the large congregation galvanizes, directs,  provides leadership, provides vision...it becomes the identity the community gathers around.

But another reality is the tension between the diversity of the whole , or separate gatherings in the context of one church, and the similarities sought out in smaller groups. Hopefully all can come to the reality  that “belonging” is never negotiated in the community. As long as individuals are able to see themselves in the communities story about the inclusion of the great differences in God’s creation they can both participate themselves and welcome the participation of others who do not share their particular interests or life experiences.

Clearly, leadership is not telling people what they want to hear. It is not creating the story with enough “spin” to manipulate people for personal or congregational advantage. Leadership happens when the leader tells a story sufficiently healthy, authentic, and purposeful for others to feel connection, respond with resonance, and find greater meaning. Connection happens when people are able to say to themselves, “I see myself in that story.” Maybe connection seems not to rely upon full agreement or a need for compliance from others. To feel like a part of the larger whole seems to be enough.

Resonance suggests that the historicity or accuracy of the story is not as important as the question of whether or not it rings true. When the story rings true it enables the listeners to generate a new way of thinking and acting that embraces—and even advances—the truth the story represents.

^{Is there a story in your community, a powerful story...that the community can embrace, see themselves in, that shapes their identity, a history that they can reach back to...while at the same time jumping into the future with excitement.}

^{Ok, I could keep going, but my thoughts are a little fragmented here...but in the next day or two, I want to look at telling the story. If we have a story, how do we tell it...what happens when the story changes? Anyway stay tuned.}

Comments

[James]

i'm glad to hear i've pulled someone else into the great meta-narrative of the sweet 'n salty!

and i'm very excited to see where this series of posts goes. the links between "resonance" and "participation" are very interesting. in my "work" with the Place I used to say I helped "create" community. over the last few months i now consider that i merely "uncover" or "discover" community. i didn't really have the words to explain why i made the switch but it had something to do with the faith that under/through/because of christ we are one and we do experience unity...

i think your post today is starting to connect those dots for me. our participation resonates because it's true, and that awakens us not to a new reality, but a new way of perceiving the reality we have been adopted into...

[ron]

I think that is the way I see it also James, If the story is true...it has a resounding quality, it rings, it echos. It is the power of " Light " that resonates touching and transforming every heart. The " heart " of the community resonates the story...it becomes the heartbeat of the community.

[casey]

My Dad used to say, "If you're not part of something bigger than yourself, you are full of yourself."

The power of the Meta-narative, or story is personally powerful, because it creates an environment of investment. People that invest themselves in something want a return. When we see long-term results we continue to want to pour into the investment.

A good "spiritual director" or "pastor" creates this environment by asking God, "What is the 'story' we are called to be part of", then communicates it non-stop.

This is why mt Fathers ministry was so effective and grew so rapidly, he became the message. And he preached it and shared it everywhere, all the time, no matter what circumstance. Even while councelling an individual, he tied their journey into the overall meta-narrative of the community they are invloved in.

Thanks, makes me ask, "What story am I part of?"

[ron]

Hey Casey, thanks for your thoughts here...the more I thought about what I had written here, and where I felt the spirit leading me...story becomes a powerful instrument for leadership, and for directing and guiding the community. But again, real authentic community will only happen to the extent all engage, live and bretahe the story.