How to proceed now?
The sun was shining, but there was a subdued atmosphere in the little room where I sat around the table with three brothers and a colleague. A vibrant church of a thousand members had shrunk over the years to 76 members, half of them over 65 years old. Only 38 members younger than that. 'God is great and mighty to do a miracle,' sounded full of faith. But humanly speaking, things looked complicated. How could this congregation continue?
Vulnerable and small
Sometimes congregations do have the desire to change, but the question remains: How do we do it? Where do you start with a new process in an existing municipality? I therefore begin this article with an example. Perhaps it will offer recognition and, hopefully, guidance.
It was a small, inward-looking congregation in Rotterdam, where Fellow counsellor Rev Jelle Nutma and I were visiting. An imposing building, in the centre of Rotterdam. A neighbourhood fraught with problems, poverty and vulnerability. The once very lively congregation has become so small that it can no longer exist in its current form. We decided that afternoon, to do a first reconnaissance with as many congregation members as possible, to gain insight into the current situation. Framed by prayer, the congregation members not only gave the answers to us on paper, but also discussed the situation with each other. It turned out to be a long time since such conversations about how things were really going had taken place.
There were words of disappointment and loss, but also of faith and resilience. We recommended a course of at least a year's missionary counselling. This advice was adopted by the church council. Besides the appointment of pastor Ester, missionary experienced evangelist Cees van Breugel, who is familiar in and with the Rotterdam context, came to assist the congregation, under the supervision of a missionary consultant.
God has a plan
One of the questions that had resonated was: what would the neighbourhood miss if this church closed? The confrontational answer was: probably nothing. The church meant very little to the neighbourhood, while it was clear from conversations with the neighbourhood team, among others, that there was a lot of work to be done in this neighbourhood. Still, no immediate action was taken. The hands were rolled up, but to fold them first. Time was taken to face the situation together and bring it to God together. It always starts with prayer. Based on the belief that God has a plan for this congregation, the congregation was helped to discover how to be engaged in God's mission. As well as praying together, a prayer letter was created with points for which congregation members and stakeholders could pray. New life was also breathed into the prayer circle. Thus, a culture of prayer grew as a foundation.
Gifts from God
There still appeared to be much present to be thankful for. For instance, the congregation has a large building with plenty of space, there is still some money, a church council and a pastor. The congregation may be small, but the commitment is enormous. Two services on Sundays, it's all running, young to old cooperating. There is tremendous motivation and also missionary drive. All that God gave and there was some thinking, what else could be done with those gifts of God. After praying and many conversations, the idea arose to renovate the church and make it a missionary-diaconal centre.
And then everything happened. "We prayed for God to put a partner in our path and we got six! Miracles are all happening." In addition to its own congregation, the new building will soon house several migrant congregations, an ICF congregation, an Arab group and diaconal centre The Umbrella. And there will be living space for people committed to missionary work or managing the building.
Church members are happy and hopeful because of the plans. The desire is for people to join, come to faith and connect. To put that desire into practice, the congregation can again learn from the ICF congregation, for example. It is great that all these different nationalities are church together and thus also reflect the colourful city neighbourhood. People in Rotterdam have had, and still have, the faith and the guts to take these steps. There is new hope, new courage. Like the Spirit who blew new breath of life into barren bones in Ezekiel 37, new strength came into this congregation. With the starting key: prayer.
Recognisable?
Perhaps it is recognisable: the desire to go by the title of the book 'Engaged in God's Mission' to be is present. But everything seems potentially inward-looking. So how are we still involved in God's mission as a church? It is good with the people among themselves, but not so open to the outside. What is the witness to the neighbourhood? Maybe the neighbourhood only hears the church bells on Sundays, or neighbours are annoyed by parking on the pavement during church services? That is not the testimony we want to give. But how do we with compassion bring those neighbours, colleague, friends or sports mates into contact with the love of Jesus Christ?
Mission
In many churches, mission seems to be an item on the church cake. In that case, being church is the goal (or pie) and mission is one of the pie slices. If a cake point is missing, it is not so pretty, but there is still plenty of cake left. In recent years, we discovered more and more, that mission is not a cake point, but a key ingredient of the cake. Let's say: the sugar. If that is missing, it is not a cake; it is indispensable. The church is not the goal, but God's mission is central. The church does not have a mission, but God has a mission for which He wants to use the church. God the Father sends the Son, the Father and Son send the Holy Spirit and He moves us. His mission is to reach the whole world with His overwhelming goodness. He calls his church to participate in that mission. How do we respond to His invitation to be involved in His mission? This is the question in all elements of our church life: how do we offer a foretaste of God's kingdom through our church life?
Mission Country
Meanwhile, as churches, we look around us and see that the Netherlands has changed, it has become a mission field. The church is still at the centre of the village, but it is no longer at the centre of people's lives. People do not automatically believe in 'more between heaven and earth'. There is very limited demand for God. How do we set up our churches accordingly? How do we speak intelligible language, how do we be present? God has this world in mind and into that world we are sent. It is precisely now that we have to take position in our own local society. A good testimony went out from the first congregation in Jerusalem; they stood in the favour of all the people. It was said of the congregation in Thessalonica that the word of the Lord spread in their neighbourhood. What is said of us? How do we carry out the Gospel?
Witnesses
How do we shape our witness, in a post-Christian, secularised society where most people have been in touch with the church or have consciously abandoned it? This varies by context and is partly dependent on the gifts in the congregation. Five characteristics of mission have been defined in the Anglican Church, the Five Marks of Global Mission, gaining recognition worldwide. Not meant to be exhaustive, but they reflect the breadth of God's mission. I explain them using five verbs. In missionary churches, all five recur and are connected. With the core being that God's mission is not only about witnessing with words, but touches the full life, with word and deed.
1. Telling
This involves giving words to the content of the gospel, that Jesus Christ is Saviour and Lord. This happens in different types of worship services, celebrations and training courses, in home circles, through contacts in the neighbourhood and by sending people out.
2. Forms
Forms involve (baptismal) teaching new believers, but also discipleship and spiritual growth. It is about giving practical shape to following Jesus. Through moments of eating together, meeting, Bible study and spiritual mentoring, this takes place in, for example, home circles and training courses, but also through joint volunteering at a neighbourhood social café or involvement in a care home. These are meeting places between church members and the neighbourhood.
3. Provided
Here it is about caring for the neighbour in need. The commitment of money, time and networks creates a movement of service to those who suffer, far away and nearby. A church building can thus become a meeting place where church members, social organisations, neighbours and those in need know how to find each other. It challenges both church members and local residents to have a heart for each other and the context. This can be done through a coffee corner, but also through language lessons or homework supervision, administrative support or a repair café. Always depending on the demand in the neighbourhood and the gifts in the congregation.
4. Move
When we think of resistance, we think of resistance to injustice, far away and nearby. This requires knowledge of injustice in the neighbourhood, but also worldwide. What position can you take in this as a church? There are churches that work in cooperation with local governments against poverty and government victims, such as in the earthquake area or in the allowance affair. There are also 'churches with dot' that are welcoming people with a detention history. Far away, it may be 'our child slaves' producing cheap clothes or picking cocoa beans for us. How do we offer resistance to injustice to show the goodness of God?
5. Take care
The fifth word is about caring for God's creation. We may live in the world God made and care for it. By creating awareness in conversations or Bible studies, by picking up trash together or encouraging recycling, and by preaching about the hope that is within us, may we move and participate in God's mission.
Previews
The above five verbs teach us to feed on God's love, to receive compassion. It is like breathing in and breathing out: we first receive the miracle of His grace and then share from it. It is God who calls and moves us to be present in society as his body from our relationship with him. From there, as followers of Jesus, we embody his love in the world around us. This does not happen automatically. As a church, we will have to create space in which conscious encounters take place on the border between church and society. This can be done in many ways as we see in the five verbs mentioned. It is a prayerful search for opportunities to connect our lives with others.
Living Lab
With that, the most important thing comes first: prayer. God goes before us in this world. This also means that we may learn to listen to his voice and learn to look with his eyes. The English Fresh Expressions of Church provides a model of 'fourfold listening': listening to God, to the context (neighbourhood, village, city or target group), to each other as a congregation and to the global church. Where are traces of God's Spirit to be discovered? Where can we connect to the work God is already doing? Can we create space in our listening and our words, actions, our church building and our hearts for these people? Not just to give, but to receive? To receive what God gives, to discover how He goes out for us and how He allows connections to emerge? That is prayerful seeking. That is daring to try it out and see if it works. Just starting small, because if it fails, there is still enough resilience and energy to pray and listen again, or even longer. Make connections with what is already there: both in the church, and outside the church. Then something can happen!
What happens in your context, I cannot tell. But as a missionary counsellor, I see and hear encouraging examples, such as those outlined above. Then it may just be that coffee after the service becomes a moment to meet neighbours and invite them to come and eat home-baked cake. As a renewed attempt to be a good neighbour as a church, as 'compensation' for that annoying double parking and with the promise that you will do something about it. Or then the creed is read in the local vernacular, the Lord's Prayer is prayed in different languages, or the local brass band is called in for music. Then gardens are tidied up for the elderly, film nights are organised for young people or there is a weekday coffee café in the church as a meeting place. Then situations arise to witness by word and deed to the hope that is in you (1 Peter 2) and people can taste the amuses of God's kingdom.
Party
Have you ever noticed? These are regular parties where Jesus appears on the scene in the gospels. He is our example in 'celebrating the church', for familiar and new people. He turns water into wine at a multi-day wedding feast. He joins the party of Matthew, the tax collector who went to follow Him. There must have been more people who did not follow God's laws so closely. A neighbourhood barbecue, the opening of the library, the New Year's party at the town hall, Neighbours' Day: these are places to build relationships, to listen, to hear what is going on, to learn from the other. This also means that the obviousness of 'us knows us' is disappearing more. But there can be a welcome culture in return, for believers and non-believers alike. Celebrate the church! A celebration with doors opening. So that your voice too may sound inviting to those around you: welcome today to our lunch! Pull up a chair, there's plenty of room! Or as Psalm 34:9 says: 'Taste and enjoy the goodness of the Lord.' And new people may discover and agree: 'Happy the man who takes refuge with Him.'
Petra de Jong-Heins, missionary consultant
Need advice or guidance? Please contact the missionary consultants or with the Support for local churches.
This article is reproduced with permission from Ambtelijk contact 2024, number 4.
