Language: Everyone could understand

Reginald Bibby, a sociologist, whose research interest for the  past thirty years or so  has been in  religious tendencies and trends of the Canadian population, conducted several surveys from 1975 - 2000, and has  written three books on the results of his surveys.  Last year, Bibby published, The Restless Gods.  The book deals with the major perceptions or myths surrounding Canadian people and their relationship to God either through the Church or some other form of spirituality.  The common myths, until the publication of the book, were that people are not interested in God.  Religion seems to be on decline, churches will not survive, people  have no loyalty to a  tradition and shop randomly searching for spiritual beliefs in a spiritual market place.  All in all, this painted a pretty bleak and depressing picture for the future of churches and more than that, was a terrible and gross reflection on the Canadians.  The Restless Gods, negates all of the above myths as  Bibby through surveys of Canadians, discovered that  religion and spirituality is on the rise in Canada.  The news astounded everyone and has raised the possibility for churches to engage in ministry with renewed confidence, enthusiasm and trust in God.

Bibby postulates that religious renaissance in Canada could be because restless gods are stirring the people.  Along with it, one can speculate, that it could be that Canadians have learned that nothing can be taken for granted.  A relationship with others and God  has to be critically examined and evaluated to observe growth, that the consumerism is leading towards the destruction of mind, body and soul, and are realizing that only the word and the way of God can provide enough inspiration to bring meaning and adjudication into the complacent and longing lives.

Reginald Bibby further claims that the people are restless in Canada and are seeking spiritual homes and religion to quench their spiritual thirst.  Every other attempt in Canada to find inner peace, it seems, has failed to satisfy the spiritual quest of the people.  Those who walked away from religion and God, to look around, and construct and develop their own gods, have admitted their failure.  They are searching, looking to meet God, to be committed to him and find peace and refuge from the consumerism.   The present day Canadians live with the oppression of globalization and a rat race to outdo one another.

This research presents churches with an extremely exciting opportunity to reach out and engage in ministries which can ensure the return of Canadians to churches.  The intention of the series of articles is to share with readers certain thoughts on Congregational Development with hope that they will establish biblical, theological and practical framework to engage with Restless Canadians.  This article’s intention is to reflect biblically on the basis of congregational development.

The account of the day of the Pentecost, from the Acts of the Apostles (2:1-10), is the fulfilment of the promise Jesus made to his disciples (John 16:7:13).  The Spirit, who is the advocate, descended upon the disciples and worshippers, and gave evidence of the universal nature of the gospel and their ministry in the world, as everyone heard them speak in their own language.  Those who did not belong to the chosen nation (Deuteronomy 7:1-6) were now part of the covenant God had made with Jesus’ disciples and through that were part of the kingdom of God.

The event takes place in the city of Jerusalem.  The population of Jerusalem at that time was 250,000 people of various race, origin and creed.  The city became diverse and cosmopolitan,  because of the trade between Rome, Greece, India and China and also being a part of the Roman Empire which stretched from today’s Scotland to Saudi Arabia.  Thus the most incredible aspect of the day of the Pentecost is that the inhabitants of the city heard the message in their own language.  It was indeed a moment of Grace and eminent discovering of the nature of God for the disciples.  The Spirit revealed that their ministry had to be inclusive of all people in the world and that they had to strive towards the unity and integration of every facet of their culture and environment.  The apostles comprehended the message and went out to share the good news with the nations of the world.  To this end,   Saint Bartholomew’s missionary activities  near the border of India and in Armenia, Saint Paul’s missionary journeys to Syria, Cyprus, Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece, are an example of missionary activities of the disciples and the apostles.

This passage encourages the members of our churches to engage and develop the language which everyone can understand through their respective ministries.  The language could be the outreach ministries into our communities or ways to encourage people to be involved and engaged with the church.  This has to be initiated with great imagination, intuition and care for the restless Canadians in our communities who are looking and searching to find restless churches to enter into a relation so they can foster their understanding of and relationship with God, themselves and the members of their communities and find comfort, solace and refuge from the busyness of life. 

Master and the Master Plan

The intention of this article is to posit three basic and simple ways for a congregational member to engage effectively in developing the profile, and effectiveness of ministries in their churches.  So far, I have submitted that the universality of the gospel and the acceptance of people of various ethnic backgrounds presented and preserved in the  account of the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-12) should be a biblical basis and model for congregational development.  I have also postulated that obedience to Jesus’ commandment to love others as he has loved us, will liberate and empower the adherents to create an environment of respect, acceptance and unconditional love.  In the last article, I surmised that Keeping Christ in the Centre of all ministries and encouraging the faithful to employ their gifts in an appropriate and productive ministry will certainly involve people and consequently will bring forth results in the congregations.  In this article, I am intending to share with you some thoughts on the Master and His Plan for the church.

The Lord and Master of the Church is Jesus, the Son of God.  The gospels are an account of the life, teachings, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.  Luke 5:1-11 is an account of Jesus calling his first disciples.  Luke along with Mark and Matthew remembered Jesus calling his disciples with an assurance and commandment to be the fishers of people.  In other words: to be the missionaries, disciples, apostles and messengers of Jesus to the people of the region.  In the subsequent passages particularly Luke 9:1-6 (Jesus commissions the twelve) and Luke 10:1-12 (Jesus sending seventy disciples in pairs), to various towns to proclaim the kingdom of God through their actions and words.  The disciples obeyed the Master’s commandment and assumed it to be the Master Plan for the mission and ministry of the church.  The Acts of the Apostles, the second book of Luke, gives a vivid and detailed account of the missionary movements of the early church, under the leadership of the apostles, and the results of their efforts, which were, no doubt, the direct result of the work and the grace of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  The Acts of the Apostles also underscores and accentuates the imagination and concern of the disciples and the early church for their members.  They had a common purse, they addressed the physical needs and wants of one another; they were diligent in praying for one another and were open, available and willing to travel with one another to proclaim the gospel in different parts of the world.  The above examples portray a community concerned for one another and willing to lay aside personal and individual wealth, possessions and ideologies for the obedience to the Master plan and the common good of the church.  Three lessons to be learned from the example of the apostles are: First. Jesus is the Lord and the Master of the church.  Second, the Master plan is to proclaim the kingdom of God to the world.  Third, execution and obedience of the Master Plan demands and expects creativity, imagination and concern for the members of the community.

The following are the three simple measures for the active members of the congregations to consider and implement as presuppositions for congregational development. 

First: to have an acute understanding of the demographics of the community.   This is extremely important, as it will dispel the myths and assumptions and will give a clear and realistic expectation to the members.  It is important to carefully evaluate the demographics of the congregation, i.e., the faithful members of the congregation and then the lapsed members.  This will accentuate the age groups, ministries, social activities, social issues, needs, expectations of the members of the congregation.  It can be achieved through a door to door parish census.  The questionnaire or form for the survey should include some pointed questions such as their specific interest, talents, ministry, and expectation(s) from the church.  The careful study and gleaning of the questionnaire will not only accentuate the new initiatives, if any, for the congregations but will also furnish them with an inventory of the gifts and talents of the persons in their pews.

The second step is the commitment of the active leadership of the church to let go of their pride, control, and preferences.  It simply means and implies the letting go of one’s control on the liturgy, ministry, fellowship and future directions of the church.  It will not only liberate and rescue the congregation from their comfortable pew but will also transform them to be daring, adventurous, risk taking and trusting of the movement of the Holy Spirit to perpetuate hope and expectation of new growth, vision and mission.

Third: to utilize all meanings of communication to spread the word around about the ministries and new initiatives of the congregation.  The age of communication and technology has blessed humanity with several tools to communicate with one another.  However, the most efficient and effective is the personal invitation.  Therefore, after all is said and done through every conceivable form of communication, feel free to personally invite another person to take part in the ministries of the church.  It could very well start with an engagement and participation in a project or a committee of a parish and with time translate into a regular attendance at the worship service.  The key is to meet the person where he or she is without judgement and to create a place for them in a church.

Another fundamental element of congregational development is patience, because it is long process, to be persistent in efforts to invite and encourage others and to be loyal to the Master and the Master Plan.