Moderator Gary Paterson
A blog by Gary Paterson, 41st Moderator of The United Church of
Canada
So What’s a Good Church For? Part 1: What Do We Need
to Let Go Of?
Posted on July 3, 2015 by Gary Paterson
When I asked myself this question – “What’s a good church for?” – I found I had a lot of different
responses, and ended up writing a very long blog posting, too long to digest at one sitting. So I’ve
decided to send it out in “pieces,” in four sections: the first, “What do we need to let go of?”; the second,
“What’s our core purpose?”; third, “So what about core values?”; and finally, “Let’s keep praying.” I look
forward to hearing your thoughts about these questions.
#1 What Do We Need to Let Go Of?
What’s the purpose of your congregation, the vision, the “why”? Oh, your church is busy doing a hundred
and one things, and all of them good and even important… but do you know what the essentials are, the
priorities, the “treasure” in the earthen vessel? As Pegi Ridout said in a comment on a previous blog
posting, “We have expended a great deal of corporate energy on “how.” To ask “why” is a more powerful
and motivating question and draws us deeper.”
Sometimes we’re not clear about what’s essential until we’re forced to let go of stuff – “the way we used to
do it.” I think that’s what’s happening for the United Church these days – a bit like down-sizing, moving
from the familiar family home, where you raised all the kids, and now, into a condo perhaps, an
apartment, a shared home, or a residence… or maybe putting everything into storage and setting off into
a new adventure.
There’s a fine poem by Francis Dorff – “Lightening the Load,” – which talks about dumping all
unnecessary baggage off the camel if we want to get through the desert alive, eventually letting go of
even the camel itself. Then, the poet says (and this is what I find exciting), we might be free enough to
catch a glimpse of a “burning bush,” which is to say, the “letting go” is not just an unwelcome necessity,
not an end in itself, but rather, an opportunity to catch a fresh glimpse of God and mission.
I wonder what you take with you when you’re heading into the wilderness? I think about Jesus sending out
his disciples, described in this Sunday’s gospel reading, with instructions to take no bread, no bag, no
money… only a staff and the gospel message. I also remember Jesus talking about the vine and the
branches, and the need for some serious pruning.
So… for you, and for your congregation… what do you need to let go of?
Moderator Gary Paterson
A blog by Gary Paterson, 41st Moderator of The United Church
So What’s a Good Church For?
Part 2: Seeking our Core Purpose
Posted on July 6, 2015 by Gary Paterson
As part of the GC42 Prayer Pilgrimage, Moderator Gary Paterson has written a short series of blog posts
around the question, “So What’s a Good Church For?” This is Part 2: “Seeking our Core Purpose.” In case
you missed it, take a look at Part 1: “What Do We Need to Let Go Of?“
The other day I heard about a church going through a visioning process. They filled the wall with a
description of all the things they did well, and felt good about – like kids’ programs, a sense of community,
outreach, music… it was all up there.
But then they had a discussion about where else in the community these things were happening, what
groups or organizations were already doing a great job at these activities, perhaps even a better job than
the church – like the community centre, government programs, a hundred and one activity clubs, schools,
choirs – and then they asked the question, if this was already happening, should the church remove them
from the list of its key priorities?
Call it pruning, so that there could be more fruit; call it the naming of essential priorities, because you can’t
do everything; call it catching a glimpse of a burning bush. So, imagine what might be left on the wall if
your congregation did such an exercise… maybe priorities like spirituality, prayer, worship, following
Jesus, spiritual practices, forgiveness, liberation, radical hospitality, love, and justice? (Thanks to Simon
LeSieur, ministering at West Vancouver United Church, for sharing this story.)
Which takes us back to the question – the why of church, the vision. (Or if we were more comfortable
using the language of the business world, we might ask, “What business are we in? What’s our
product?”) Now, there are many ways to answer this question, of course, but these days I find myself
wanting to say something like…
-2The core purpose of the church is to enable (hold the space for, set the stage for) transformative
encounters with God – Creator, Christ, and Spirit;
so that people’s lives are changed,
and they discover their ministry (calling, vocation) in and for the world.
They feel, no… they know, they experience…that they are…
well, choose your words…
accepted, named, forgiven, found, loved, challenged, spirit –gifted, enlivened, empowered, sent, purposefull;
And – they are stirred into actions of love – of compassion and justice, for neighbour, all my relations, the
world.
As we continue on this pilgrimage to Corner Brook and General Council, I invite you to share your
response to the “why” question. What would you say about the vision or purpose of your congregation to
someone who is already part of your faith community, or to someone who isn’t, but who might selfdescribe as “spiritual but not religious”?
So What’s a Good Church For? Part 3: Naming Core
Values
Posted on July 8, 2015 by Gary Paterson
As part of the GC42 Prayer Pilgrimage, Moderator Gary Paterson has written a series of blog posts
around the question, “So What’s a Good Church For?” This is Part 3: “Naming Core Values.” Here are
Parts 1 and 2.
As I pondered what I was saying about the core purpose of the church, I found myself thinking about
many of the words and phrases that I have heard these past three years about the values that in some
way define the United Church. Were there some characteristics that, if not unique to the United Church,
did, in fact, when taken together, describe our denomination in a special way? I thought back to the
reason that I let my name stand for the position of Moderator, which was that I felt a deep passion for the
United Church, and knew that we were facing challenges, and maybe I could be helpful in this time. It’s
not that I am completely invested in the survival of an “institution” (well, I sort of am… it’s “my” church), but
much more, I am committed to the voice that the United Church offers to the world and within the
Christian community, to its understanding and interpretation of the gospel.
So, here is some of what I heard being suggested as core values of the United Church:




inclusiveness, hospitality, and big-tent diversity;
willingness to have courageous conversations, engaged in the world, justice-centred;
committed to thinking about our faith, with room for questions;
congregational and united,( and even uniting?)
What else would you add? What feels like a distinctive value that you would name as being essential to
what makes the United Church what it is?
And then another question – how do these values relate to the central vision? Are they fruits of the Spirit,
the consequences or the results of an encounter with God? Or is it more helpful, perhaps to understand
them as a way of experiencing the vision, that actually living out these values is what occasions the
“encounter with God”?
The members of the Comprehensive Review Task Group struggled a lot with questions like these, in
consultations and discussion. Surprisingly – or perhaps not – they found themselves returning to the
words of “A New Creed” (1968) as one of the best expressions of our vision, our mission, and they used
that statement of faith to shape what they had to say. Maybe take another look at the opening pages of
“United in God’s Work” [PDF] – not the six proposals with all the backgrounders that we will be discussing
and making decisions about at General Council, but rather, the “Invitation,” the “Prayer,” and the “Vision”
(pages 4-7).
How might this be helpful as we continue our pilgrimage to Corner Brook?