In the inevitable gallop towards Christmas, while trying to slow down to appreciate the full value of a meditative Advent Season, I find myself thinking about the process of birth and rebirth. This coming Sunday I will be preaching about the story of Mary and her mystical/mythical/divine conception. It is clear from this Biblical story that Mary is much more than a mere vessel for divine procreation. She actually functions as a co-creator in bringing about the means for significant religious and cultural change. I submit that she does not stand alone in this role. The congregants at The Park Church, and for that matter, the congregants in any church also can function as co-creators in the potential rebirth of the church in American religion and culture.
I observe many (mostly main-line) congregations that are slowly fading away into oblivion while those people who remain in them continue to wonder how to bring in new families so they won’t go out of existence. It seems to me that too often they are trying to “survive” as the church they remember from the middle of the twentieth century rather than “co-creating” something that can not only serve twenty-first century needs, but that can thrive as part of the transformation of American religion and culture.
I am convinced that trying to restore the church of forty or fifty years ago is a losing effort. There are too few people who still embrace the practices of a generation or two ago. The present generation has its own unique challenges and needs and its constituency is not likely to revert to the practices of a previous age. It is my opinion that if it is not only to survive, but to thrive, a congregation must identify and claim its unique contribution to the spiritual health and well-being of present culture. And it must get involved.
So, what is it about The Park Church’s identity and unique qualities that that make it useful, at least, and potentially indispensable, at most, as a valued resource in the collective life of the present generation?
The beginning point in answering this question comes from the creation of The Park Church in December 1845. A group of members of one of the established
One consequence of social justice advocacy is that it creates broad tolerance of diverse groups. Actually, tolerance is too mild a word for what actually happens: diversity becomes something to be embraced, not just tolerated. We might call it “Love in Action”, and it soon results in a motivation towards love of one’s neighbor and even of one’s enemy.
Through its life of advocacy, The Park Church has developed a liberal theology. For me, a liberal theology always leans towards acceptance and love. I think The Park Church congregation embodies that active love in many ways. Its challenge right now is more about how to market its broadly liberal identity. Many people in the surrounding area don’t know that a Christian church can be like this. I think that if more people really understood what is being “co-created” here, many of them would want to be a part of it. They would want to participate in its educational life, its warm and supportive community, and its mission not only to be open, but to advocate for, and minister to, many who have been disenfranchised by our socio-economic structures and cultural prejudices.
To put it in theological terms, our identity as a Christian church is not based so much in what we believe “about” Jesus, but whether we answer the more practical call to be his followers. Believing is much easier than following any day, but following makes all the difference.
So, what do you think?
Wayne Gustafson
“No matter who you are, or where you are in life’s journey, you’re welcome here!”
The United Church___of Christ
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