Get involved with a Mainline Church!

 

Church is good for you

I’ve written about this for quite a while, I am convinced the regular practices of the church, the seven central things, can be a powerful good for a person’s wellbeing and life. In my experience, because of Christian worship I: value and can navigate community, have an increased sense of self-worth, have tools to get over slights and make sense of life, and am more content, generous, and gentle.

 

Church is good for the world

              Church isn’t just good for you; it is also good for us. Church is a third space, meaning it is a place that is neither work nor home, a space society is in short supply of. It is (or at least should be) a non-partisan space; sometimes the most radical political act is opening up space where people can meet as humans instead of red or blue partisans. It is also a non-commercial space, ideally the church isn’t selling you anything and isn’t trying to part you from your money. I am convinced society is better off when there are places for people to meet together as humans, not consumers, partisans, workers, or even of a particular family. Church can be a space to reflect on all of those identities and vocations without their immediate pressures.

 

The Church needs you!

              So, pre-pandemic, it felt like the mainline church tradition maybe had a 10-to-15-year window to stabilize and reengage with the Gospel and the world, otherwise we would cease to exist in any meaningful way within a generation. Unfortunately, the pandemic accelerated everything—we probably lost 8-10 years in the last three.

Yes, that means the mainline tradition needs to get our act together by 2025-2030, and if we don’t, we’ll cease to exist in the mid-2030s. As we head into the year of our Lord 2024, I’ll admit that’s a tight window! If Millennials and Zoomers are going to make a move to steer the mainline to the deep sea of the Gospel and the meaningful work of ministering to the world as it is, this is it, this is our shot! Now is the moment where you can make an impact and have a voice like never before.

 

Now is the Time

              Now’s the perfect time to get involved with or reengage with your local mainline congregation! The urgency of the moment means most every denomination is at a generational turning point and is doing something new. Locally the Presbyterians are restructuring their middle judicatories, the Methodists are finally facing the question of human sexuality, and the ELCA is preparing for a reconstitution convention. There is a space for you to make a meaningful difference in a congregation and a denomination!

              The Mainline still has enough resources for one more push, one more directional change. We can’t do everything, but we can concentrate on doing a few things and doing them well, and likely those things we choose today will be the direction the ship goes for the next decade at least. You can be part of that! I hear all the time people saying, “Hey, why doesn’t the church do X, Y, or Z?” This is the moment where we choose between X, Y or Z; come be a part of it! Be a partner in the Church’s discernment, help us to see where the world and the Gospel intersect at this time and place!