From Pastor Kristin

In Middle School, I was drawn to the bright lights of the school stage. So, in 7th grade I tried out and was cast in a play based on life in a typcial Middle School. Depending on our role / character in the play, each of us budding actors was instructed to portray the persona of either a Middle School “Insider” or “Outsider”.

I still remember how each of us so easily assumed the traits and characteristics of the group in which we were cast. Insiders naturally took charge and knew how to suceed in the social system of Middle School, while the Outsiders were constantly trying to just get-by and get on with life.

One of the Bishop’s of the ELCA, Michael Rinehart, brought to mind my Middle School acting career, because his December Newsletter article was also about “Insiders” and “Outsiders”. But, instead of Middle School, he was talking about the average ELCA congregation. (The article is on Holy Trinity’s Facebook page and in the office.)

In his article, Bishop Rinehart argues that the cycle of decline that is occuring throughout mainline denominations (Lutheran, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, etc) will not stop until “we care as much about those outside the church, as we do those inside [the church]…mainline churches have ceased to be relevant to the culture, because insiders trump outsiders every time. Decisions are made for the benefit of those inside rather than those outside the church.”

Those are strong words. Words intended to shock us and shake us up, because we are the “insiders” of the church. We are the people who benefit from the decisions we make. We set the budget. We serve on council and ministry teams. We like the music. We hold the keys. We make the decisions. And we don’t really want any of that to change.

But, if we want to be faithful to God’s call to mission, to change lives (not just our own) and change the world, it seems that we are going to need to change our ways. Because “what got us where we are now will not get us where we need to go in the future.” We need to begin listening and caring more about those “outside” the church than those of us “inside” the church.

We’ve just begun the season of Epiphany. A season in which we hear Jesus call his first disciples and show them a new way to live. A season in which wise-men from the East dared to follow a star in the sky, and stumbled upon God in the flesh. A season in which we trust that God will shine light into our darkness of unbelief and confusion and disillusion. A season in which God calls outsiders to faith and the insiders to love.

In this season when God calls us to unexpected new ways of living and believing, how are you being changed and challenged by God? How is this congregation being called, like the wise-men, to risk our comfort, our control, and even our very lives for the sake of the outsiders?

Pastor Kristin