It has taken me over a week to write this and even now I don't feel I have accurately conveyed the thoughts that are going through my head on being church, emergent churches and locations. But I will probably never accurately convey these thoughts.
I've been reading a lot of "emerging church" voices lately, Brian McLaren, Shane Claiborne, and Rob Bell to name a few. Along with my readings, I've been participating in formal and informal discussions via facebook, ravelry and with other in the synod about this revolution that is going on in the church as we, as Christians, are trying to figure out what it means to be the Church and a follower of Jesus in this changing world. Overall, I am excited for the future of the Church.
These conversations have also been closer to home. Bob has had the pleasure of being part of the St. Francis House community in New London this year. At Bishop's Convocation multiple conversations occurred about starting a living-learning community somewhere in the synod. And Bob and I have talked for a few years now about wanting to open our home (granted not the small two bedroom we currently live in) to college students and other young adults, especially those who are working with non-profits, as a intentional living community.
Among all these experiences, conversations, books and websites, one thing that keeps coming up, though never directly is location. Many emergent churches and emergent communities like the idea about being in a city, in an area with a good public transportation system, in an area near the poor, in an area surrounded by the least of God's children. Often this is for practical reasons, more people are in urban areas and therefore there are more jobs, more public services, and therefore also more places to volunteer and serve God.
The other option is to be in a rural area, set apart from society in order to focus on God, or in an area with a large enough plot of land to farm for the community that is created. Or to be a place that is a destination, a getaway, a sanctuary for those in need of an oasis from their daily lives as people come and go for personal retreats.
But where does that leave the rest of us?
I have been called to Georgetown Connecticut. And for those of you who do not know where or what Georgetown CT is (which is about everyone who lives more than 15 miles away), Georgetown is well, Georgetown. The town/hamlet/village (whatever you want to call it) was built around a factory starting in the 1800's. Georgetown never became a city, and many would say it is a stretch to call it a town in the population sense of the word and as it is at the border of 4 townships it is not a town in the political sense of the word either. Being less than 60 miles from Time Square it is not really rural either (even by Connecticut standards, much less midwest standards). So maybe "Metro North" (which is the name of the rail-line that runs near the house) is the best name for this area. We are north of the New York Metro area but still close enough that many people do commute in daily, but yet it is not a suburb nor a bedroom community as it began before people ever dreamed of being able to commute to New York on a regular basis and most people do not commute to New York but to more local cities like Norwalk and Danbury.
So why am I going into so much detail to describe Georgetown? Well because God is here even though it is not the city. God is here even though it is not a place to get away from it all. And even in this area, that is wealthy by not just the world's standards but the United States standards, the least of God's children are here too.
And yet I struggle with how to reach and connect them. I don't believe that people in urban and rural areas are better able to experience God compare to those in the suburbs or towns. I don't believe that some of the wonderful values that have come up (or in some cases been reborn) in the emergent church movement do not apply to those in suburbia. (you can find a nice list of those values here). And please trust me when I say that I also do not believe that the emergent church is only focusing on urban or rural areas as many churches that have readily identified with this movement are located in suburbs.
My concern though is that we see the poor and the needy only in the city and we see places to commune with God through nature only rural areas. That we are saying to people who live in suburbs or in towns that you go to the city to serve God and you go to the country to reconnect with God but in your everyday life you do not need to interact with God.
Yes the percentage of people who live below the poverty line in Georgetown and the surrounding areas is quite low. But often I find that instead my neighbors can be poor in Spirit. They are living the American Dream: a few kids, two (or more) cars, a big house with plenty of land and enough money to pay someone else to take care of it.
Yet they are also searching for something. Their kids are over-scheduled, they work long hours, many feel the need to constantly compete with their neighbors for the latest and greatest.
But I don't sense that with the members of Bethlehem. There is a sense that God is with them daily and they are able to connect with God in their everyday lives. I have been blessed to be called to lead this community.
And yet we still struggle with how to serve God. Per capita this congregation collects more food, cleaning supplies and personal toiletries than any other congregation I know. Whenever a natural disaster occurs, there is no discussion that a special collection will be taken over the following month to give to Lutheran World Relief or another worthy agency. But doing something hands on? Well that hasn't happened so much, at least not yet.
That is my hope, that is my struggle, where are we being called to serve God with our hands and feet? Do we help out at a already existing soup kitchen, homeless shelter, children's program and if so do we go north to Danbury or south to Norwalk? Or do we find a way to feed the spirit of those around us? And how do we do that? And isn't that all really what being church is about?
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