better know a (current) humc staff member
(interview with andy)
((part three))


read part one here.
read part two here.


continuing...

Let's tackle this topic of relevance. For the last several years, I've worried that HUMC has lost its place in the community, therefore being on the cusp of becoming irrelevant.

Last week, though, I got some interesting feedback on a question I asked to Facebook. I am interested in the idea of adopting a church planters perspective in our church, and one of the comments I got in a conversation on that topic suggested to abandon the pursuit of relevance. Now, I realize they and I may have been thinking in different terms, but religious thinker, Mircea Eliade, suggests people are looking for more of the sacred to contrast the profanity of daily life. I am not sure I agree with that, either.

Either way, how do you define relevance, and what role do you see the church filling in a person's life?

 

 

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I think this is a very interesting conversation to have, that of relevance. I don't think there is a question that the church must be relevant. Irrelevance equals death, at least eventually. But the conversation to be had us what, exactly, is meant by the word. In speaking if the church, I don't think relevance has anything to do with worship styles, or music, or the perceived hipness of a pastor. Many contemporary churches are irrelevant, and many liturgical churches are relevant. (The other interesting question is the one you brought up regarding a sacred contrast to the profane we see in the rest of our life. I'm not all in on that idea, but on some level I think there may be something to it. But, I digress...)

What I mean when I say the word relevant is the churches ability to speak into the real life mess of someone's life. The ability of the church to help someone manage the joys and sorrows that are inevitable in life. To pitch a tent, so to speak, squarely in the middle of where people actually live and move and breathe, and provide hope and direction and relationships that help people live into the kingdom that God is building. Clearly, this doesn't have much, if anything, to do with the style of worship.

So with that said, I think the church's role in a persons life is to provide the community and the context for living a life of faith. That's a pretty big idea to unpack, and I don't know that this would even be the space to unpack it, but I do think that when the church gives you the relationships and the meaning and guidance to live with the kingdom of God as your focus, it is being incredibly relevant.

 

 

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In your experience, how often has a church been helpful in the context of living out your faith journey versus how often it has hindered that process?

 

 

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to be honest, more often than not, the church has not been helpful to me personally in living out my faith. i wouldn't say it has always hindered me, but it certainly has not given me the freedom to question or the direction in how to live in the tension of faith and doubt. to be fair, this has a lot to do with the role i have been in at nearly every church i have been a part of. a staff minister is supposed to have arrived, and be sure and confident (at least that is how it is made to seem). i am not there yet, so the tension is there.

for me, there have always been people who have been helpful to me in the process. more of my issues have been worked out over ribs with the editor of this blog than anywhere else. for that, i am grateful. but i do dream of the day when the local church is this community for me, and everyone else there.

 

 

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I resemble your comments about staff persons not being allowed to continue developing. More often than not, that scares the crap out of me. For, if you ever convey that you have "arrived", you've decided that you have figured it all out and can sense God in a way others can't.

You and I share so many of the same frustrations with the local and global church, and, yet, we keep coming back for more. In fact you continue to believe in being on staff. Do you consider yourself a masochist, old-fashioned, or is it something else that brings you back in time and time again?

 

 

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I definitely considered the masochist angle. For me, though, I guess it just comes down to the fact that I still believe that the church, local and global, can be what it was intended to be. Certainly there is a long way to go, but it is ground that can be covered.

I also can't stress enough how necessary it was for me to step away for a few years. Not only did it recharge the batteries, so to speak, it gave me a different perspective. In ministry, it is very easy to think that the world that exists is the one where you get paid to pontificate on religion and always be at church. Working a regular job gave me the chance to have the same struggles and issues as any given congregant may have. And that is invaluable. And where five years ago I considered my career to be youth pastor, now I don't think of it in those terms. Don't get me wrong, I am very proud to call myself the Director of Youth Ministries at HUMC, but if it is the last time I hold this position, I am ok with that, too.

I guess if I could boil it all down to one thing, though, it would be the people. Churches good and bad, big and small, are filled with good people who are sincere in their faith. And I very much enjoy the chance to work and live my faith alongside them. (And it definitely doesn't hurt that HUMC was full of friends before I came in staff).

 

 

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This sounds like an appropriate place to stop for now. Thanks for taking some time out of your last few days to give us some insight into your worldview. Your thoughtful and reasonable responses should be quite enlightening for my readers that only know you by your name.

Thanks, brother!