DETROIT– Commissioners of the Church Vitality committee finished their work on Monday night and were sent out in pairs to the streets of Detroit. After a day of deliberating over reports and overtures on being “church on the ground,” they had an opportunity to live this out through one final assignment.
“We did an exercise with the Committee on Congregational Vitality that we often do in our trainings with existing congregations and with teams who are discerning new worshiping communities,” says Shannon Kiser, a 1001 Catalyst for the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
“We talked with them about what it looks like to do some neighborhood listening. Incarnational/contextual ministry begins by listening to the stories of the people. … So we teach what it means to go into communities not to offer a program or to tell people about our church, but to ask curious questions and listen to what they are willing to share about their lives and their neighborhood. [They went] out two by two into downtown Detroit with open eyes and ears to discover the deeper story of downtown Detroit.”
At first, commissioners were hesitant at first but they leaned into the invitation to experience something new. They came back with reflections on what it meant to truly embody the church to the specific context of Detroit. Hannah Kim, a YAAD from the Atlanta Korean Presbytery, reflected, “We practiced reaching out to people we encounter and getting outside our comfort zone. It taught me the value of engaging with those you encounter on a daily basis.”
The Living Missionally recommendation found in 14-03 addresses the historical commitment of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to joining Christi’s mission in local and global communities. It encourages congregations, mid councils, and the Presbyterian Mission Agency to continue to join intentionally in God’s mission in the world in terms of societal injustices. It calls for the 221st General Assembly to launch a churchwide initiative that will inspire, equip, and connect Presbyterians to continue beyond their walls. It directs the PMA to develop tangible metrics to determine success and impact to report back to the Assembly in 2016.
It was wholeheartedly and unanimously affirmed by 44 voting commissioners and delegates.
The other intiatives and recommendations are connected to the call to live missionally. Education is increasingly becoming tied into poverty issues and advocacy, and an expression of living missionally. Likewise, one aspect of living missionally means calling the whole church to enter into the work of encouraging more racial/ethnic and new immigrant churches. The committee hopes this will help the wider church to address issues of equitability in terms of race and culture, gender and generations at various levels.
At the bottom line, the final task of the committee was a chance to experience the conversations around the tables in the committee room as worship and work in the world. And, it was clearly a meaningful time.
“All afternoon, I have bumped into committee members around and about the convention center, the exhibit hall, and even the People Mover, and I can’t count the number of times that people have come up to me to tell me how meaningful the experience was for them,” said Kiser.
“It seems like such a simple thing – go into the community and just take the time to pay attention and listen. But it is revolutionary. Because it reminds us that at the end of the day, ministry is about people … people who God loves.”
Following the experience, many on the committee reflected that this has given them a tool to use with their congregations in their ministry context. One woman commented: “I’m old and tired and I thought my time on this committee was my swan song. But what we did in Detroit today has re-energized me for ministry.”
