Quantum Discipling, Part 2
“Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.”
Last week, we explored the ways that we, as a parish, are creating new connections in our community and how those connections not only are shaping who we are as a parish but also how those same connections lead us into boldly confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior. We explored the ways that we have created new invitations to groups and community organizations by opening our parish buildings to them and by creating spaces for people to gather for community, for learning, and for support. The ways that we are reaching out to the community by being a place of hospitality is a wonderful way of being church, and it is one way that we can be a storefront for relationships to flourish.
Perhaps, though, I have left something off the table for our consideration as individuals. While the new connections we are creating in the community are wonderful for us as a parish, we also might want to consider the ways that we, as individuals, are invited into that same work as disciples of Christ.
Throughout these months of pandemic, it has been difficult to know through Sunday worship attendance if new people are finding our parish and seeking to make it their new spiritual home. Thanks to the hills and valleys of COVID cases in our community, we have yet to return to a time in which all of us feel safe gathering for Sunday morning worship. Thus, we still have many people who join us online for worship. I am thankful that we have the technology that allows us to extend our worship out to the world through the modern miracle of the internet, but I also think it is important for us to highlight the ways that we attracting newcomers to our in-person worship and fellowship experiences.
In the last year alone, we have seen nearly 100 new people cross the threshold of our church to worship with us on a Sunday morning. While not all of those folks have returned, it is telling that we had that many people get curious enough about who we are as a parish to worship with us at least once or twice over the last year. Perhaps thanks to the modern miracle of streaming worship and Google, people are discovering us and getting curious about who we are as a people of God, and they are getting curious enough about us to come to a Sunday morning worship service!
Following in the thoughts of quantum mechanics and the idea that the basic building block of the universe is the web of relationships that exists between things, we can look at the curiosity people have about us as a way of inviting new relationship. Though we have not seen all of the visitors return to make Epiphany our spiritual home, we were able to engage with them for a single Sunday. We were changed simply because of the one interaction we had with each visitor to Epiphany in the last year, and I pray that our visitors had an opportunity to experience God’s grace at work in the world because of their interactions with us!
Still, there is a possibility for us to take this further and to increase the opportunity for interaction with still more newcomers. While the internet is great for helping people find us and test the waters before coming on a Sunday morning, it is slow. People have to come back to us time and again to determine if they are curious enough about us to actually show up for in-person worship.
Thus, I am left wondering how we can “shine with the radiance of Christ's glory” out in our community. And of course, I think it has a lot to do with taking the opportunities we have with new and old friends to invite them to get curious about who we are as a people of God. If we are able to understand invitation as the simple act of extending an open and welcoming hand to people we already know in the community, if we can take the opportunity to invite others to join our community of faith, if we can risk a little bit of ourselves in the act of invitation, I know that we will begin to create new and lasting relationships with people new to our parish - or even someone who is returning after a long hiatus!
The idea of quantum discipling is the idea that the more we create invitation in our community, the more people will get curious about who we are as a parish. Whether it is a book group, a Bible study, a midweek worship service, or Sunday morning worship, we have plenty of opportunities for newcomers to join us in their journey towards and with God.
But, sometimes, it is difficult for us to know where to begin with such an invitation to relationship. Is it simply a case of inviting absolutely everyone I know to come to church - even if I know that person would not welcome the invitation? I would suggest that we begin with prayer. Begin by praying about who it is that God is hoping you will invite into a worshipping community. Invite the Holy Spirit to guide you as you seek to share the radiance of Christ’s glory. I am certain that God will lead you towards inviting the right people and that your invitation will be received with gladness because you took the risk of inviting that person with intention.
Our parish vision statement begins with the premise of inviting relationship, and we are being shaped by that same invitation. We are a place in which people find relationship with each other and with God, and I know that those same relationships will lead us into the depths of faith, hope, and love as we continue to shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory.
In Christ,
Hunter+
