February 2002
Dear Members and
Friends,
This letter is intended
to be very difficult to read. It is meant to be a CHALLENGE to pull
together into a cohesive unit. But if you PeRsEvErE, perhaps the
result will be worth the extra effort.
At this writing one of
the more common
sentiments
expressed by some of the "gurus" of congregational growth is that
DiVeRsItY in the Church is an obstacle and may not be a helpful dynamic in a vibrant community. So with words like "focus" and "target", we are told that
the road to success is paved by intentionally honing in on one segment
of the local population, resigning ourselves to the fact that we cannot serve
everyone.
Naturally, it makes a
great deal of sense that a church may grow more smoothly when the membership all hails from the same
perspective, age bracket, educational or economic status. Unity based in uniformity is so simple to achieve, we need not
call upon Christ to make it happen.
Therein lies the heresy behind this sociological "vision" of the Church.
Here on the Branford Green, our goal is somewhat
more lofty and certainly more
difficult. Far from being perfect, if
we ever fail to serve a particular segment of God's people it is largely
due to human limitation, not deliberate intention. Still, in our midst each Sunday we have the young and old; the rich and the less materially well
off; liberal and conservative; Republican, Democrat and
Independent; we have many perspectives and many SiZeS among our
many people. But hopefully, we are not simply
naive.
Looking at the world
around us, we know full well that bigotry is easy, labeling is easy,
division is easy,
parochialism is easy and
segregation is easy. We seek more than what might easily work. We strive for what is right.
In Christ, the
lines of demarcation and categorization are meant to be swept away in favor of
an attitude. It is an outlook of love and respect for
those who are DiFferenT, as being equal in the eyes of
God. From Birmingham to Bosnia to
Belfast and Boston we've seen the products of uniformity gone wild. Yet, for those who are willing to reach for
the ONENESS which is in Christ alone, a far greater vision will be granted
them. What they gain may only resemble
a church gathering on earth, but it will
be like a family alive in Heaven.
Godspeed,
