Why a regular column about healthy churches and healthy ministers?
Some would argue that such a thing doesn’t exist. For far too many clergy and laity alike, healthy is not the word they use to describe their life in a local congregation. Ministry and congregational life at the start of the new century is in a state of flux, and often the result is something we would describe as un-healthy and less than inspiring. Perhaps it is time to give up on the whole enterprise.
Bill Wilson
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I don’t buy it. In fact, I believe church and clergy health has never been more important and more needed. Please understand: healthy doesn’t mean conflict-free, without stress or always successful. That wasn’t the experience of Jesus, and it has never been the experience of the church. Instead, we are called to do the right things the right way and to allow God’s presence and spirit to transform our meager efforts into something that far exceeds our expectations. Healthy means being responsible for our part of the Kingdom work with integrity, honesty, humility and an undying love for Christ and his Church.
In these columns, we will learn together how to be healthy on our journey toward bringing the Kingdom to a reality here on earth as it is in heaven.
In the prelude to A Hidden Wholeness, Parker Palmer offers a powerful metaphor for life in local churches today. He tells of a time when farmers on the Great Plains, at the first sign of a blizzard, would run a rope from the back door out to the barn. They all knew stories of people who had wandered off and been frozen to death, having lost sight of home in a whiteout, while still in their own backyards.
The blizzard that is life in the local church rages today. It brings with it anxiety, confusion, fear and a sense of having lost our way. Swirling around us is a culture and a time that disorients us. Every week we hear of churches which have lost their way, of clergy who have wandered far from where they intended to be, of ministries who have awakened and not known which way to turn.
Part of our individual tasks is to carefully tie a rope around that which is our home in the faith. Authentic biblical faith begins with an internal experience of abundant life and passion and wholeness in Christ. Whatever swirls around us cannot touch that security. We then find churches and communities of faith that keep us connected and grounded and tie our ropes to them.
When there is a whiteout outdoors, what people need is a secure path toward safety and warmth. Too many clergy and churches only add to the storm by functioning in unhelpful and disorienting ways. While healthy clergy and congregations have never been needed more, being healthy has never been a more challenging ideal. In the midst of the storms that surround us, can we be the steady presence of faith, hope and love that so many seek?
Ask yourself: are we a clear and present hope in the midst of the storms of life? Do we/I embody the warmth and inviting spirit of Christ to those in need? Am I willing to put aside my personal agenda in order to welcome in those who have lost their way? Have we remembered our calling to be a shelter in the storm?
Such a ministry will honor the One who came to calm the storm, and to lead us home.
Bill Wilson is president of the Center for Congregational Health in Winston-Salem, N.C. He is a former Virginia Baptist pastor and has served as president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. His columns appear regularly in the Religious Herald.