I wonder if you have ever had this experience: sitting at a party or at dinner with friends, you hear someone mention religion. Someone tells the story of their grandmother’s faith, beloved to her but so very rigid. Someone else shares a story of the nuns who taught them in Catholic school and their proclivities for discipline. But you find yourself full of stories of another kind – of a church you love, where you have found friends you never thought you’d make, which has kindled in you a hope which is nothing short of divine. But you choose not to share them. What will everyone think? How might they see you differently? Might they mistake you for one of those Christians?
Many of us have lived this moment like Groundhog Day. I certainly have. And our silence has been understandable. None of us wants to be mistaken for someone who will exclude another because of their identity, who will use the Bible as a weapon, who will try to “save” the person sitting next to us on an airplane. But of course, there is another way.
Our way of being Christian is a gift both to us, and to those we serve. We trust that God gives us gifts in order that we might give them again in love and gratitude. And how do we share the gift of the church? Through the work of Evangelism.
There’s the dirty word. Evangelism.
But it should not be a word from which we recoil! We can practice Evangelism (as Jesus commands us to) in a way which is gentle and kind, which reveals to the world something of the heart of God. Good evangelism is generous and humble and elegant. It is a ministry we can do together.
One way we will do this is by putting energy into our online presence. Our social media and our website are like a digital front porch. Most people searching for a new church home do so online. They “church shop” through livestreams. In the last six months, our website has been visited more than 16,000 times! Our Facebook page has more than 2,000 followers. The potential is extraordinary.
One easy thing you can do to support this work is to follow our Facebook and our new Instagram account. Like posts, comment on them, share them. Take photos (especially of happy human faces) and share them with us. Think of each picture and video as a window into our wonderful, vibrant, growing community. Every one helps us tell the beautiful story of the Church of the Good Shepherd. And, this is only just the beginning…
In a committee meeting this week, someone shared that they have lived in the area for more than a decade and work around the corner but only recently learned that Good Shepherd is here. I’m sure her experience is not unique. We have a lot of good evangelism to do!
And as we renew these efforts, trust that our parish is a gift for which so many hope. In our neighborhood alone, I wonder how many people yearn for a way of being Christian which engages the mind as well as the heart. I wonder how many ache for beautiful worship in which their souls can rest. I wonder how many yearn for a place where they can belong, without exception. Perhaps you remember hoping like this.
So let’s share this beautiful gift.
Mthr. Maddie