Pouring some Passion into Spirituality
It has been far far far too long since I posted in this blog. Ironic since my last post on January 2nd indicated that I should really post more often. Go figure. However, now I am back from my first holiday in 8 months. Three weeks is a good amount of time, and I find myself refreshed and renewed and ready to get back into the swing of things.
Since early April, we've been mulling over the results of a survey intended to take the pulse of the congregation, to get a sense as to our health, and provide us a means to improving things. Not surprisingly, we have a lot of work to do. Without going into a lot of detail, the survey identifies eight areas that are key to congregational health. Those congregations that are doing well in all categories are also healthy and growing congregations.
As most in the congregation know by now "Passionate Spirituality" scored the lowest on our survey. There's a couple things at play... "Passionate Spirituality" does not mean that we need to become Pentecostal in our approach... far from it. What it does mean is that it is a measure of how connected we are to God... and our response to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. It may seem pretty basic, but at the same time it's more complex... because it shows how much we struggle with some of the very basic understandings of our faith.
So here's a question... is faith simply an "intelltectual assent to correct doctrine?" In other words, is it simply all about having our facts straight? Or is it something else? I vote for the latter... but for various reasons people both inside and outside the church tend to articulate it as the former... without really realizing it.
Maybe the question is, what difference does our faith make in our lives right now? I'm not talking about looking ahead to the moment when we die... I mean right now. Right here... in Clarkson, or wherever we happen to be.
I'll be blogging about this for the next little while... and I'd encourage you to give some thought and prayer to it too.
Since early April, we've been mulling over the results of a survey intended to take the pulse of the congregation, to get a sense as to our health, and provide us a means to improving things. Not surprisingly, we have a lot of work to do. Without going into a lot of detail, the survey identifies eight areas that are key to congregational health. Those congregations that are doing well in all categories are also healthy and growing congregations.
As most in the congregation know by now "Passionate Spirituality" scored the lowest on our survey. There's a couple things at play... "Passionate Spirituality" does not mean that we need to become Pentecostal in our approach... far from it. What it does mean is that it is a measure of how connected we are to God... and our response to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. It may seem pretty basic, but at the same time it's more complex... because it shows how much we struggle with some of the very basic understandings of our faith.
So here's a question... is faith simply an "intelltectual assent to correct doctrine?" In other words, is it simply all about having our facts straight? Or is it something else? I vote for the latter... but for various reasons people both inside and outside the church tend to articulate it as the former... without really realizing it.
Maybe the question is, what difference does our faith make in our lives right now? I'm not talking about looking ahead to the moment when we die... I mean right now. Right here... in Clarkson, or wherever we happen to be.
I'll be blogging about this for the next little while... and I'd encourage you to give some thought and prayer to it too.
posted by John Crowdis at 2:36 p.m.
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