More from Alban Institute, this time from Jim Wind, President. It is a column about 'conversations we fail to have' from their Congregations magazine.
Dying is often different today than it was 2000 years ago... Still final, still hard to face - but today there is often so much medical intervention just prior to death that the end (that is, the last few weeks, or days or hours) is often not what people want because it robs them of the chance for closure. Medical machinery can sustain 'life' for a long time, but is the extension worth it? Jim contends that the church can help people have 'the conversation' about these things.
And there are certainly more people facing those end times at an older age when, without some advanced preparation and planning, medical intervention is more likely.
Wheat Ridge is supporting a wide variety of projects focused on older adults (search for 'older adults' under the 'Topical Areas' tab).
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Being the Church Today...
Here is another Organization/publication I have come to enjoy. There are a wide variety of authors who speak to a wide variety of church 'issues'...
This one speaks about being the church today. Here are a few sentences to give you a taste:
"As mainline Protestants, we are still working through our fixation with numerical decline. We used to be the popular kid in class, but now—not so much. One response to this changing circumstance has been the creation of an unrealistic mental picture: once we were a great and glorious church, but now we are doomed to the dustbin of history. This fanciful delusion keeps us from seeing the ministry right in front of us. This Camelot-like dream diverts us from both the joys and the challenges of being the church today. We have romanticized our triumphs. We have confused our former popularity and status in the culture with being the church of Jesus Christ. We pine for the glories of our misremembered past."
The author, Steve Willis, speaks about the small congregation but I think what he says applies to churches of any size. The church in any century needs to be careful about what we use to measure 'success'.
More from Steve:
"The small-church lament is that things are not as they should be. And that lament has a long, important tradition in the life of covenant people. Angry protestations about declining membership rolls and budgets do not offer a prophetic word to the church. But paying closer attention to people and places and speaking out about who people are and what they are created for carry the potential for genuine transformation."
Hopefully that is the lament of all churches. And "paying closer attention to people" often gets us to what Wheat Ridge wants to help congregations do: engage their community with health and human care ministries in the name of Jesus. Check out how we can help and what others are doing.
This one speaks about being the church today. Here are a few sentences to give you a taste:
"As mainline Protestants, we are still working through our fixation with numerical decline. We used to be the popular kid in class, but now—not so much. One response to this changing circumstance has been the creation of an unrealistic mental picture: once we were a great and glorious church, but now we are doomed to the dustbin of history. This fanciful delusion keeps us from seeing the ministry right in front of us. This Camelot-like dream diverts us from both the joys and the challenges of being the church today. We have romanticized our triumphs. We have confused our former popularity and status in the culture with being the church of Jesus Christ. We pine for the glories of our misremembered past."
The author, Steve Willis, speaks about the small congregation but I think what he says applies to churches of any size. The church in any century needs to be careful about what we use to measure 'success'.
More from Steve:
"The small-church lament is that things are not as they should be. And that lament has a long, important tradition in the life of covenant people. Angry protestations about declining membership rolls and budgets do not offer a prophetic word to the church. But paying closer attention to people and places and speaking out about who people are and what they are created for carry the potential for genuine transformation."
Hopefully that is the lament of all churches. And "paying closer attention to people" often gets us to what Wheat Ridge wants to help congregations do: engage their community with health and human care ministries in the name of Jesus. Check out how we can help and what others are doing.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Food, Faith and Community...
I have always appreciated the Church Health Reader out of the Church Health Center in Memphis.
Check out their Summer Issue on Food, Faith and Community - it explores:
- What is healthy eating?
- Mindful eating
- Serving one another with Grace before meals.
- Entering the fry-free zone...
and more.
Check out their Summer Issue on Food, Faith and Community - it explores:
- What is healthy eating?
- Mindful eating
- Serving one another with Grace before meals.
- Entering the fry-free zone...
and more.
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