Over the last few months I have started the monthly Steering Team meetings with reading our mission statement:
We welcome all people to experience the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.
So who is it exactly that we welcome?
According to one of the documents that led to the creation of Christ United Church, it is the unchurched:
“We will self-consciously seek to build a congregation from among the presently unchurched people of this area. This will affect our styles of worship, patterns of inclusion, allocation of time and resources, and a host of other things to be discovered in the doing of this ministry.”
This document was written on April 1, 1999 by then Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese in Michigan, The Rt. Rev. R. Stewart Wood, Jr. The document is titled “Some thoughts about the ministry of St. Anne’s, DeWitt.” (St. Anne’s Episcopal Church is the predecessor body of Christ United Church). In this document, Bishop Wood wrote his vision for the ministry being dreamed of in partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at the time.
A focus on reaching the unchurched continues in the Plan of Agreement for the newly minted Christ United Church. Adopted on April 28, 2002, the statement of purpose begins:
“We will seek to build a ministry for those in our area who are not involved with a church.”
Even today, the unchurched are mentioned again in the Wise Thoughts that are listed on our website:
We will continue to nurture and support the present membership of the church and continue to reach out to the un-churched.
Since the beginning, the goal of Christ United Church has been to reach the unchurched.
My Own Interest in Reaching the Unchurched
The unchurched has been something that I’ve been interested in since the beginning of my ministry career, beginning in seminary.
In a paper titled “Church Planting Can Save the Lutheran Church,” I cited statistics of how at the time (2016) people identifying as Christian was decreasing, while people identifying as “nothing” was increasing.
I had updated stats in one of my first blog posts for Christ United Church in June of 2022: both numbers were increasing: Even less people were identifying as Christian, while even more people were identifying as “nothing.”
Meaning: more and more people in that “unchurched” category.
Within the unchurched category are subcategories: those who have been hurt by church/religion, those who are lonely, those who never want to set foot in a church again.
There are hurting people out there, who need to hear about an unconditional love that comes in knowing God in Jesus.
It has been a worthy goal of this church to reach those who are unchurched. The need is indeed great.
So How Are We Doing at Reaching the Unchurched?
Bishop Wood included another goal in his document from 1999: “We will self-consciously ask ourselves on a regular basis, ‘How are we doing at what we have set out to do?’ This is for the purpose of tracking our ‘progress’ and continually reminding us of our vision.”
The Bishop wanted this new church to constantly be asking the question, “Have we done what we have set out to do?” The Bishop wanted regular check-ins - soul searching if you will - to make sure that what the church had started out to do at its beginning, was still happening in the present.
And so 25 years later, that is the question for us: “Have we done what we have set out to do?”
How are we doing at reaching the unchurched? How are we doing at reaching those who have been hurt by church? How are we doing at reaching those who are lonely? How are we doing at reaching those who never want to set foot in a church again?
These are questions for all of us, including myself, to mull over and process through and talk about amongst ourselves.
I believe asking these questions and finding the answers will help us as we plan for the future. This in turn will help us to continue doing what God has called us to do at the corner of Webb Road and Old US-27.
Peace and blessings,
Pastor Alex Aivars
Comments