Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

Many of my colleagues are struggling to get ready for Lent this because it begins so early (Feb. 6 is Ash Wednesday). And yet, I find myself excited for a focused time of worship, reflection, discussion and prayer around the theme of spiritual renewal in our lives. Last summer I discovered a very helpful and intriguing book, Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith, by Diana Butler Bass. For three years, Ms. Bass visited a select number of neighborhood based, mainline congregations to see what it was that brought vitality to their ministry. It is a timely and appropriate book as we begin 2008, a year of exploration and experimentation in our life of faith.

In a recent blog, she reiterated her belief that, “Congregations that intentionally engage Christian practices are congregations that experience new vitality…Intentionality involves choice and taking responsibility for individual and communal spirituality; that practice is not a program, rather it is a meaningful way of life; and that vitality cannot be measured in terms of numbers as it means spiritual health and maturity. A vital congregation is one where all people—including the pastor—are growing members of an organic community of spiritual practice.”

She continued that for years, as she has been saying this, people have asked about mega churches. She would respond that if a church is about numbers, it is not vital. “They focus on numbers, on getting people into church, and on ‘one-size fits all’ programs for the spiritual life. That isn’t bad for them; it is their path. And it is different from what my team found in small and medium-sized mainline churches. We found the programs don’t make Christians. Practices do.”

But now she is quoting Bill Hybels, founder and senior pastor of Willow Creek – the flagship of mega churches outside of Chicago. He wrote in a recent journal, “After an extensive study of their congregation (and several similar churches), Willow Creek’s leaders concluded that participation in programs did not inculcate Christian discipleship and that they had spent “millions of dollars” on programs thinking that they would help people grow—only to find that there was no real increase in parishioners’ love for God or their neighbor.

“We made a mistake,” says Hybels. “…We should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self-feeders.’…how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”

Here at ORUCC, I hope this season will be a time of honest reflection on our own spiritual practices, our own life of faith. I hope we can experience and reflect together on ways our community life can enhance and strengthen our personal faith journey. I hope some of us will take a risk and try something new, listen for a new way of being in the world, learn from one another.

Look forward to Renewal on the Ridge, our original Lenten Devotional.

Watch for future blogs and Java and Jesus discussions about important themes on this topic of spiritual renewal. Offer your own comments and feedback as we go.

For now, here are the preaching themes.

February 10 –Ephesians 1:18 – “Putting God in the picture”
[Discernment – Listening for Truth…]

February 17 – Luke 8:43-48 - “Go in Peace”
Service will include a healing ritual with the laying on of hands

February 24 –Matthew 4:35-5:1 – “Experiencing Awe”
Worship – experiencing God.

March 2 – Christine Odom, Director of Affiliate Tithes, Habitat for Humanity

March 9 –Matthew 28:16-20 – “Trusting Ourselves in Matters of Faith”
Testimony, or sharing our story, as the most democratic and empowering – of all Christian practices…not a formula of salvation, rather it is a way of being, a map to an undiscovered country.”

March 16 -Matthew 26: 1-29 or 30

March 23 – Matthew 28:1-10

Easter Sunday -”From Tourists to Pilgrims: Transforming lives, transforming congregations, transforming the world”