At The Table of Thanks

Worshiping Communities - the essential question

One of my New Testament professors in seminary would regularly caution us about the hardening of the categories in our interpreting the Scriptures. As the new Form of Government is implemented through the presbyteries, and as the Fellowship of Presbyterians promotes their vision of a New Reformed Body, I feel that we still must guard against the hardening of the categories as we look to what the PCUSA will be for the 21st century.

My question isn't primarily theological or biblical, but rather social. It is a question of how the church as an organization in society adapts to changes that are influencing us.

So, let's play a little thought game to get at the heart of this issue.

*One million Lebanese gather in Beirut, March 14, 2005, to protest Syrian occupation and the assasination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

The Post-Pentecost Structure

Let's say that right now at the end of the year 2011, Pentecost is happening, not two thousand years ago.  Right now. It may look like the picture above of a crowd of a million people in central Beirut, Lebanon in the spring of 2005.

You and I are present as the Spirit descends upon this random multi-cultural crowd of people gathered in a city square or park in places like Los Angeles, Hanoi or Beirut. On this day, we are present at the spiritual birth of the church.  Not the creation of a new denomination, but the church of Jesus Christ.

How would the media cover the event? What would the Twitter feed of the event be recording? How soon would there be a Facebook page up asking people to like the new social network of Pentecost? How would the dominant religious institutions of our time react? What would be the mainstream religious traditions, if there had been no Christian body for the past two thousand years, until this afternoon?

What do you think the people caught up in the Spirit's appearance would do next?  What do you think would happen tomorrow or the next week? After a year, what do you think would have happened to this group of people? Would they still be together?

More importantly, what organizational form would the people caught up in the Spirit's movement adopt? If the church were born today, what would it look like?  Would it look like a mass uprising or a few people sitting around a table in a coffee shop chatting? Would it look like a downtown, tall steeple church, a mega-church or a house church meeting in a suburban living room?

We have the Acts record to know what happened two thousands years ago. But what about now. The new Form of Government or NRB or any other traditional formalized structure of a denominational church are patterns of church organization that are also logical adaptations to current forms of secular organizations.  As a result, all church structures are products of their historical context. To understand this insight is to recognize that change is not necessarily destructive, but rather how the church adapts to the culture around it.

A Discussion of Structure

One day this past week, I celebrated the 30th anniversary of my ordination as a minister of the word and sacrament / teaching elder. I spent the day with a group of leaders from a presbytery discussing their presbytery's organizational model, and why it wasn't working. Like many presbyteries, they are divided up into regional clusters. The intent was to help this large diverse, geographically scattered presbytery create the conditions for community and shared mission. It hasn't happened like it was designed.

The essential problem, in my opinion, is a widely shared perspective about organizations that has found its way into the church. This adaptation to contemporary organizational norms sees the church as an administrative / programmatic entity created for order, efficiency and top-down accountability. This is the secular corporate model that has been the standard approach to organizations since the end of the Second World War. The PCUSA institutionalized this approach in the reunion of 1983. 

This approach elevates administrative process over human interaction. The result is the creation of an organizational environment of divisive special interests, each seeking to claim preeminence as the core mission of the church.

I am saying that the divisions in the church over the past hundred years are products of organizational design, not simply differences in theology and social / political ideology. The product is disunity in the Body of Christ.

The Structural Shift

Over at my Leading Questions blog, I've been writing for a long time about how change is affecting organizations and leaders. The key posts over the past 18 months are gathered in the compilation, Leadership for the 21st Century, that explores the social and organizational changes that are influencing what we understand the nature of leadership and organizational structure are becoming in the 21st century. Working both sides of the line that separates the church from for-profit businesses, non-profit community organizations, local governments, regulated utilities, healthcare organizations and institutions of higher education, I have come to see that there is an epic shift taking place in society from organizational structures of hierarchy to ones based upon a network of relationships. What I see is are Parallel Structures of Networks of Relationships.

Here's the juxtaposition that I see constituting a shift that is historic and transforming society as a whole on a global scale.

Organizations since the rise of the global empires of three millennia ago have functioned through a structure of hierarchy. As this image describes, hierarchical organizations are built around a leadership structure of institutional authority of delegated responsibility whose purpose is institutional integrity. This is the corporate model that we see designed into virtually every business and government institution in our society.

Functioning in parallel are relationship networks. These networks form around a shared mission or interest. I'm distinguishing these relationship networks from the more common social networks that one can find on Facebook, Google + and the myriad other online gathering points. These relationship networks are missional in nature, and are governed by the values that inform that mission. Participation in these networks is based on personal initiative to contribute. As a result, these networks are based upon a leadership structure of shared mission, shared responsibility, personal integrity and initiative to make a difference that matters.

These parallel structures of networks of relationships have always been present in the church.  They are what I see in this guide to 21st Century Congregational Distinctives and the shifts that I see taking place in congregations.

Understanding Parallel Structures

The key to understanding our future as a church and a denomination is understanding how these parallel structures function as worshipping communities.

A parallel structure is not a replacement structure, at least not by intention.

We can see parallel structures throughout the church. The Fellowship of Presbyterians is a parallel structure. The overseas mission work of a presbytery is a parallel structure. The ministry to the homeless in the congregation where my family worships is a parallel structure. The choir in almost every church is a parallel structure.

These structures provide a way for people to gather around a common interest of shared mission. It is how our diversity as a church functions. These are relationship networks that provide what I observe people saying about what they want from their life.

People want their lives to be Personally Meaningful, Socially Fulfilling and Make a Difference that Matters.

People want their values to matter and a purpose to their lives. They want their relationships to be healthy, respectful and caring. And they want to make a difference that matters.

I'm convinced that we need to structure our congregations, as well as our businesses, schools, community organizations and government organization to help people achieve these goals for themselves.

The idea of the PCUSA creating 1001 worshiping communities during the decade is an attractive one to me. It is because I see in this simple goal a way to elevate parallel structures of networks of relationships as places of worship, mission and community that create opportunities for people to find the church a place of Personal Meaning, Social Fulfillment and where their contributions make a difference that matters in the context of shared mission in Jesus Christ.

However, if this vision that I have is to be achieved, it means that we have to change some of our understandings of what church structure means.

A Reforming Structure

The organizational world outside of the church is changing. It is adopting a network perspective where relationships of shared mission and responsibility are their core organizing principle. The old corporate model is failing. The emerging paradigm is the network of relationships. This model puts a premium on personal initiative, creativity and commitment to contributing. The old hierarchical system discouraged initiative in favor of compliance. 

Networks of relationships provide a way for people to become engaged in the full mission activity of the organization. The stronger the relational interaction, the stronger the organization, and greater the opportunities for impact.  This is true in the church as it is in the business world.

For example, in my presbytery, two of our mission endeavors are partnerships with a Guatemalan presbytery and with a hospital in Malawi.The significance of these partnerships is that the Guatemalan churches are financially supporting the mission in Malawi. Shared mission, shared responsibility and the result shared impact as the church.

People involved in these mission partnerships find their faith strengthened, their skills of ministry expanded, and their perception of God's work in the world broadened through their involvement. As a network of relationships, they are functioning as a worshiping community.

The same can be said for the campus ministries that I serve with through the North Carolina Presbyterian Higher Education Ministries.  They are very much are like mini-congregations with programs of worship, fellowship, faith development and mission outreach.

Each of these mission endeavors are parallel structures aligned with a board, a church and in many cases through a presbytery. Each one has aspects of faith development, worship and service as a part of their program. Each is a network of relationships functioning as a worshiping community.

The Structure of Future

Here are my convictions about the future structure of the church. These are not predictions. Rather what I see is how we can adapt to a 21st century social context that is unlike the last century.

1. Relationships precede structure.

2. Connectionalism first must be relational if a connection system of governance is to work.

3. Presbyteries are the key to strengthening the connectional relationship between people and churches.

4. Worshipping communities are networks of relationships of people who are personally engaged in faith development, take personal initiative to contribute, and build relationships of shared mission and responsibility to live out the Great Ends of the Church.

5. As a denomination, we'll be smaller with greater impact, as we become more missional as a church.

The essential question of what will the structure of the PCUSA look like in the future I believe is answered in the development of parallel structures of networks of relationship of shared mission and responsibility as worshipping communities in Jesus Christ.

If Pentecost was to take place today, I believe this is what we would see. Networks of Relationships as Worshipping Communities of Shared Mission.

This is our future.

 *http://www.calpeacepower.org/0201/images/Lebanon_overview_bg.jpg

The Sacraments as Social Objects

The zipper pulls seen here were designed by students at Crissey Elementary School in Holland, Ohio. Their project was developed through the services of RandomKid, a non-profit that helps kids change the world. (Note: I am the board chair of RandomKid.) The zipper pulls were created by children to help children undergoing chemotherapy as a part of their cancer treatment. From the RandomKid store description:

Each collectible zipper pull, made of acrylic, represents one of six character traits: Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Fairness, Citizenship and Trustworthiness. The zipper pull to pay particular attention to is the Zebra with spots instead of stripes, reminding us of the respect each of us need no matter how different we may look because of the medical issues we face. Proceeds from this project will go to fund ICEE machines-- carbonated, flavored slushy machines for pediatric cancer wards. The ICEE's soothe the tummy when experiencing nausea, and cool the mouth from the harsh effects of chemotherapy. $30 (for a set of 6) will fund ICEE's for 60 children. If ordering singles, specify Zebra, Elephant, Monkey, Lion, Giraffe or Tiger.

These zipper pulls are a social object for these kids at Crissy Elementary.

Stowe Boyd calls himself a Web anthropologist, clairvoyant, and futurist. Not sure what the clairvoyant part means, but the rest is pretty accurate. The other day Stowe made this comment on a post about Google+, the Facebook like social network.

I have long argued that social communities pivot on creation and sharing of social objects: the medium is the message, again. ... one measure of the depth of connection to a social network by members — and the strength of the connection between members — is the fit between the network’s social objects and the members’ goals.

I think it is appropriate to think of a local congregation as a social network, not unlike Google+, Facebook or any number of their wanna-be online kin.

A social object is something tangible that takes on the symbolic and functional meaning of the community.

In sports, the social object can be the game. Pick up basketball is a social object that brings kids together to play. Also a university sports team unites fans and players in allegience and commitment to winning a championship. When the team wins, we win.

In literature and the movies, the best stories are are built around a social object that provides a reason for the connection between the characters. In the Lord of the Rings, the destruction of the "One Ring" is the meaning that gives the Fellowship their purpose. The ring serves as a social object.

In technology, Steve Jobs turned his Apple products into social objects that created a community of people who see themselves as a special and unique community.

Social Objects in the Church

As I read Stowe's post, I reflected upon the church, wondered what are the social objects that are embedded with a meaning that creates a spiritual social bond.

When I served as the interim pastor of the Newland Presbyterian Church, we created this rock cairn as a social object to serve as a focal point of their pastoral transition. Here's the story.

A social object is something tangible. In this case, rocks that were given a specific meaning. My first Sunday with the congregation, following Abraham's example in Genesis 12:7-8, we began to create a rock cairn that served as a focal point of confidence for the future.

For something to work as a social object, it requires investment by people in the idea. The Monday morning after I suggested that we create a rock cairn symbolizing the church's confidence that God will be with them in the future, rocks began to show up in the church yard. Several months later, the Confidence Cairn was constructed, a day of dedication celebrated, and the church discovered a deeper life as a community of faith

Social objects create engagement, participation and contribution. They are more than ideas. They are the bond that gives people a sense of connection and meaning to their relationships.

The Sacraments as Social Objects

It is pretty clear to me that the sacraments are our social objects in the church.

Baptism and the Eucharist are signs of God's engagement with us as his creation. We celebrate them and they point beyond their activity to a deeper reality of grace that as Christians we share.

There is an experiential aspect to the sacraments as social objects. When we celebrate them, we experience ourselves as the church in a manner that is different than when we are simply in worship.

Baptism as Social Object

In Baptism, we become the divine incarnate family to the child. The bond is the Spirit of God expressed through the church to be faithful in the care and nurture of the child baptized.  We see and experience ourselves as a family in that moment. The social object of baptism transforms our sense of who we are, deeping the social context of our relationship as members, to being sisters and brothers responsible for their new sibling.

Earlier this year, the board of the North Carolina Presbyterian Higher Education Ministries initiated an awareness campaign to raise funds for the support of Presbyterian campus ministries and chaplaincies. One of their reasons was to fulfill our baptismal vows to the young people in our churches.

The sacrament of baptism functioning as a social object provides meaning to our mission, and guides us to see the continuum that exists in the church's relationship to young people from infancy, to childhood, adolescence, on to college, and later as young adults. Our understanding of baptism as a sign and seal of God's grace provides a basis for not only the church's ministry along the youth continuum, but also as a way to link the generation's together in a meaningful way. In this respect, every generation has responsibility for the care and nurture of those younger than them.

The Lord's Supper as Social Object

As a child, my home church celebrated Communion once a quarter. Some churches celebrate every week. Today, our family's church celebrates on the first Sunday of each month. In the past, the lack of frequency was thought to elevate the importance of the sacrament, assuming that if you celebrated too often, the sacrament would just become a meaningless ritual.

The real issue here isn't the frequency of celebration, but the purpose of it.

When we understand The Lord's Supper as a social object, we experience a fresh realization of the Father's love and forgiveness through the sacrifice of his Son for us. We see all of us partaking in the meaning, being one in our reception into the community of Christ's church.

The meaning isn't just about my being spiritually fed. It is about us being fed together. This just isn't a sign of God's love for me. It is a sign of God's love for all, and as a social object, becomes a sign of God's inclusion.

Our family usually sits in one of the first half dozen rows in our church. As a result, we are one of the first to receive communion. After sitting down when we are served by intinction, I have begun to pray for each person who receives the bread and wine. My simple prayer is, "May they know God's love."

The Eucharist has become, for me, more than a part of our church's ritual observance of Christian tradition. It is a moment of real communion as a community.  Even when I do not know the person receiving the elements of the meal, I am bound to them by the grace that we have each received through Christ.

Social Transformation

 The church is changing in dramatic ways. How people connect to the church is one of the most distinct ones. Here's a simple way of understand this.

Membership Shift

From Member to Personal Call

From Institution to Community

From Spectators to Participants.

From Consumers to Contributors

In each of these shifts, the sacraments of the church, Baptism and The Lord's Supper, are providing a social context for these changes. This is why I consider them social objects that serve to unite us together as followers of Jesus Christ.

I hope you can also see that other aspects of the church, which may appear to be the dominant forces within a congregation, are not the social objects which provide a social context for uniting the congregation as a community of faith. The are expressions of our purpose derived from the experience we have together.

As a result, if you want your church to grow, then treat the sacraments as social objects for meaning and connection as the people of God.  Build community through the practice of celebration, and the congregation will find new strength in its life together.