Go to People Where They Are (Part One)

It's true, and it's urgent... 

In case anyone hasn't noticed or admitted it yet, the Church as we know it has been experiencing accelerating decline for the past sixty years.  Our own congregation has experienced this phenomenon for ourselves over the past ten years.  And yet some congregations are discovering ways to thrive.  So other than going to entertainment style worship, or to easy answers to complex questions of faith, what are these successful congregations doing? 

A number of best practices include getting out of our comfort zone and going to people where they are rather than simply opening our doors and waiting passively for them to come to the Church.  That is, taking the Church into the workplaces, the neighborhoods, and the homes where people actually gather and pursue their needs for relationships and meaning.  This approach acknowledges that the Church no longer has automatic credibility or trust.  These have to be earned.  It acknowledges the reality that no one cares anymore what we do on Sunday mornings until they know that we care.

What does that meant for Church of Reconciliation?  Most likely this will mean finding ways to meet the people who live and work in the neighborhoods around the church, not to proselytize but to just be good neighbors - to become aware and sympathetic with the needs and concerns of the families and folks who live and work around us.  It means addressing the needs and concerns of our neighbors and collaborating with them in meeting the needs of others.  It means creating positive social visibility as well as improving our physical visibility.  And...... it includes learning to use the dominant social media of our culture, electronic networks.  That's the focus of this email. 

As you know, we have been working on a Facebook page for Church of Reconciliation.  This is only a first step, and we still have some bugs to work out on it, but it will be up and running soon.  This will require a great deal of my time as the Vicar, but it will also require your participation and help.  Unlike a website that waits passively for people to find it, Facebook is an interactive electronic medium that reaches out and interacts with people - with friends of friends of friends of friends.  And that's where you come in.  You are the center of your friendship network.  You are the one who can use our Facebook page to engage with your circle of relationships, which can engage other circles.  But first, you will need to take an active part in the Facebook ministry yourself, to "Like" and "Comment" on the posts, to post your own comments, to engage in the discussions, and to send pictures or stories about things that are going on in the Church or in your own life of faith - to help develop a tool for reaching your network of friends of friends of friends. 

Here are five specific things you can do as we all prepare together to go to people where they are electronically (using our church Facebook page).

FIRST, join Facebook if you haven't already.  To do that, go to "facebook.com" on the internet, and follow the instructions for setting up an account.  Create a user name and a password, set up your profile, and set your privacy settings.

SECOND, click on this link and "surf" (look) around the Reconciliation Facebook page >> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Episcopal-Church-of-Reconciliation/135421449861110.

THIRD, find the "Discussion" link in the menu on the left side of the Facebook page, and click on it to go to Discussions.  To engage in a discussion, write a comment in the reply box at the bottom of a discussion and click "Post reply".
 
FOURTH, help me start a collection of questions.  SEND YOUR OWN QUESTIONS, honest questions, for discussion.  Post them here, or send them to this email address (reconciliationcorpuschristi@gmail.com). 

FIFTH, as we create an active Facebook page together, start inviting your friends to go to it to see what is going on at Reconciliation, to join in our discussions, and to post their own questions.  They will if you will!

Your partner on the journey,
Fr Bruce+

Taking the Journey

"Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Instruction, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon’s location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger, right?"  - The Sixth Patriarch Huineng

Some people worship the finger, some use it to gouge each others' eyes out.  Other people take the journey to the moon.  I want to take the journey and to hear from others who are on the journey.

Bruce