Dear Caldwell,
On the eve of my last day for this January session of my doctorate study, I finally have a few minutes to write. I have missed you all and look forward to seeing you soon. You have been in my thoughts during the day and my prayers at night. These two weeks of intensive study have been, at once, both stimulating and tiring. The six members of my cohort all agree that, while we have been feed immensely by this process, we are ready for a break … at least until our next two-week session in June.
While here, we have been reading and discussing some of the key questions facing the church at large: What does it mean for any congregation to be a truly Christ-like covenant community? How are we called to be a missional community that abandons itself in the service of others as Christ’s hands and feet? What does it mean to bear witness to an alternative way of living, serving and being together in a way that is both “in” yet not consumed by the ways of the secular world and surrounding culture? What constitutes evangelism in these days when so many are cynical and wary about organized religion?
How should the church go about its mission of heralding the in-breaking of the Kingdom in Christ now that we live in a post-Christendom era, now that the church is more on the margins of society and culture than in the “mainstream,” as it was for much of the last century? Can it be that salvation is not just something that comes at the end of life – but, rather, that salvation is realized through participation in the church in the work of exhibiting and advancing the kingdom of God on earth (a question N.T. Wright, one of the world’s great living theologians, asks in one book we’re read.)?
These aren’t easy questions. They won’t be answered this week, this month or this year. As we have talked about at Caldwell from the pulpit and in all sorts of other gatherings as people of faith, we are living through a rare time, an up-setting of the church, a transformation in organized religion. We are experiencing the “birth pangs” of something new, yet we do not yet see it fully – and won’t any time soon.
While here, I must say that I have had the same thought that I often do when I gather with other pastors, each with their own congregation and context for ministry. That thought is one of thanks for the “new thing” God is doing at Caldwell, gratitude for the saints who hung on fiercely and faithfully amid Caldwell’s decades-long decline from 1960 to 2006 and deep appreciation for all those who then came and, with those senior saints, served as midwife to God’s rebirth of Caldwell. You are a congregation that holds what we have been given carefully, preciously and faithfully in your hands, serving as fine stewards and, at the same time, being bold in taking risk and experimenting on behalf of the Gospel. Thanks be to God.
There is so much I want to share – and will. As I said in the pulpit before I left, this study is more about advancing what we can do together at Caldwell than anything else. For now, let me offer just one ‘nugget’ for your prayerful consideration and reflection. It’s from a book that asserts that the work of evangelism today is not about recruiting new members. It is to bear a true witness to the gifts and demands of our baptism. Brian Stone writes:
“For it is in and through a people that bears faithful witness to God’s reign that the world comes to recognize what it truly is – and thereby stands invited and summoned but also exposed and judged.”
While I am here, you have been ‘bearing witness’ to how the Gospel calls us to live differently in important if not routine ways – celebrating weddings that give promise to love for all, marching for justice and reconciliation in the MLK parade, worshiping, praying, studying, attending meetings, caring for each other, organizing and refining our ministries for 2015 and more. Your staff has been working hard, too, especially with both Susan and I gone for these two weeks. To Evie, Anne, Sally, Smitty and Manley, I am so thankful.
My mother has declined further. So I will spend the weekend in Atlanta and be back in the office early next week.
On Sunday, we will have a fresh voice in the pulpit, Rachel Pence, a friend, frequent visitor at Caldwell and a seminary graduate. Rachel will pick up on a theme of Evie’s last Sunday – what it means to be ‘called.’ Her reflection has included the beautiful prayer elder Eddy Capote offered last Sunday, which is below.
We have a call
To be loved
and to love
To be shown mercy
and to show mercy
To be forgiven
and to forgive
To receive hope
and to offer hope
To know joy
and share joy
To feel peace
and bring peace
To be made whole
and offer wholeness
We have a call
Listen…
Listen…
Do you hear?
See you soon.
Yours In Christ,
John