Joel’s Jottings

The first weekend in May, the Session held a retreat. The purpose of the gathering was to spend time thinking about how we make decisions and take actions at North Decatur Presbyterian Church. In a couple of places in the Bible, the apostle Paul speaks of the church as “the Body of Christ.” All parts of the body are important – and all parts of the body feel and respond when something happens to another part.

There were some good conversations about how things have been done and how things could be done. At one point along the way, someone referred to the church “Handbook.”I could tell from the looks on some folks faces that this was new information. I was one of those.

Since then I have learned that every year or so there was a Handbook published with the list of committees and their responsibilities and members. It was often given to new members. Versions of the Handbook go back at least to the early 1990s.

One of the tasks that a congregation encounters during a pastoral transition period is labeled “coming to terms with history.” We ask – Who are we? and Where are we going? The emotional dynamics of a transition bring these kinds of question to the fore.

Discovering long held practices that have lapsed is an opportunity to re-examine not only what was done and how it was done, but also to ask why did we do that? Long held practices were once new. They came into being for a purpose and were maintained for a purpose. When things that have been f0rgotten are recovered, then there is the possibility of re-creating a new way of doing things.

I can’t say exactly what will happen about a “new” Handbook. But I do kno that this is an opportunity for the whole church to think about the ways to communicate among the members of the body. And that is a very good thing!

Peace, Grace& Thanks,

Joel