In identifying “Listening Church” as a key factor in determining congregation wellness, we are saying that clergy and lay leaders must make a commitment to listening to the actual questions members are asking.
That commitment, in turn, leads immediately to a second: a commitment to act on members’ questions. Not just to hear them, but to respond to them, indeed to be guided by them.
Acting will lead in many directions, from program planning to pastoral care to facilities. In general, the question needs to be raised: Does this program (ministry, staffing, or facilities decision) respond to questions that people actually are asking?
For example, if people are dealing with financial insecurity, does refurbishing the church parlor respond to their questions? If people are dealing with anxiety about time management, is a decision to resurrect the Fall Bazaar a responsive idea?
To promote awareness of other people and consensus in ministries, share questions people are asking. Within normal bounds of confidentiality, enable the entire membership to know the questions being asked in their midst.
It helps people to accept diversity and change when they know the human drama behind those phenomena. It isn’t just the pastor meddling, it is a movement of the human spirit. Venturing into anxious questions raised by a war, for example, becomes a pastoral response to known needs, rather than a political statement.
Discuss trends. One way for people to understand their world is to see its impact on individual lives. For example:
“¢ A pattern of layoffs can seem cold and uninteresting until you know that people near you in the pew are asking questions about their jobs and their economic security.
“¢ If older members knew the loneliness-related questions being asked by many young adults, they might be more receptive to welcoming them and to rethinking congregational life to meet their needs.
In other words, transparency. We need to nurture environments where people’s life-questions and faith-questions are clearly welcomed and responded to, not just in the relatively straightforward matter of illness or death, but in more ambiguous matters such as economic anxiety or rising skepticism.
Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant, and leader of workshops. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. The church wellness project may be found at https://www.churchwellness.com
