Chapter Two – “And Yet It is About You” - Guest Blogger Marcia Powell

Chapter Two – “And Yet It is About You”

By Marcia Powell

The comedy Rev is available on Hulu and BBC, and profiles the story of an Anglican priest named Adam and his efforts to make church relevant to his parishioners after he moves from a rural to an urban setting.  This is a show filled with adult themes and moral ambiguity, but it really makes me stop and think.  



This clip from YouTube shows Adam's struggle when a 'new contemporary service' from across town borrows his parish's building for worship during a renovation period.

Making the church relevant to the needs of people is not the same as building programs and processes with the priest-in-charge.  Take a moment to digest that, because this portion of the book  makes the problems it presents pretty clear.  

Now I don't want to seem to be uncharitable.  We've been raised in an industrial age,  which has focused on just-in-time solutions and want to DO something.  Unfortunately, that can mean treating nonactive church members as a problem we need to fix, much like a leaky faucet.  Sometimes, we even treat our ordained ministers like an on-call plumber, expecting them to do something. The analogy falls down, though, because in treating people and church as a problem to be fixed, we lose sight of what Jesus did.  Throughout the Gospel, Jesus loves and helps people, authentically, with their pain and flaws. At the same time, He challenged them to fix themselves through the relationships they had and the lives they lived. 

Watching the above clip is painful for me.  It's not what I want in a worship service, because it seems contrived, not authentic.  The theology is not my cup of tea, either, because it focuses on religio-u-tainment.  Perhaps you have an opinion on the value of such an effort.  But we know it is tough stuff to figure out how to remake churches.  We can get caught in stuck conversations--dead-end arguments that keep us from making progress on an issue, or in the false traditions that turn churches into exclusive clubs.

By the time the chapter ended, I found myself understanding the author's perspective much better.  While I cannot fix a societal end to Christendom, I am in charge of my personal commitment to Christianity.  I have the power to model the Love of Jesus, the power to invite and engage others in conversation, to learn of their needs and to grow with them.  This Third Way is really about personal commitment, outreach, and our empowerment as Christian People.  We need to create a hunger for the peace and justice that only Christ can satisfy.  The church, then, is the community of people, with the building site of secondary concern.

Radical thought?  It certainly is.  As one of my friends would say,  "It's about to get CRUNCHY in here.  Buckle your seatbelts."  These are, as Ellen said in the previous post, difficult topics to broach even though they are absolutely critical for our future.  Because our way forward is fanned by the Spirit, but it takes hard work and dedication to get that.  What conversations do you need to have with others in your church, as well as with those in need?  I'd love to have that discussion.

Marcia