5 Myths About Today's Parish Ministry

As followers of Jesus seek God’s renewal of the neighborhoods they inhabit, as they begin to discern how to be the church together in everyday life, it’s inevitable that myths will arise. Here are five myths I’ve already discovered about this type of ministry.

#1. That the gathering doesn’t matter You’ve likely heard this phrase many times: “We need to BE the church, not just attend the church.” I couldn’t agree more. When we talk about “going to church,” we reconfigure the church into something we either produce or consume. So it’s easy to overcorrect by assuming that the weekly gathering or liturgy doesn’t actually matter. That’s a grave mistake. The truth is, the more deeply embedded a community is in their context, the more important it becomes to remember, to reflect, and to discern together the Story of God.

#2. That it’s small Last summer I visited neighborhoods in over 35 cities around North America, and then a few cities in England. In each and every neighborhood, I saw courageous, faith-filled church communities weaving together a fabric of care and love in the place they live. Honestly, walking the streets, eating in the homes, and hearing the stories of localized faith communities is like an adrenaline rush of faith. When you piece together the small acts of care happening all over the place, it’s undeniable that something very big is happening. It’s just that because most of these folks are not identified, celebrated, and connected, so of course they stay relatively hidden. But, here’s the thing: Movements happen when people who thought they were alone, find out they are not. God is up to something really big and global, but it’s happening through the ordinary and the local.

# 3. That it’s “hip,” young, and white … If you agree that in nearly every neighborhood there are ordinary people who are pursuing neighborhood renewal because of their Christian faith, then of course, there is no dominant demographic. Many of the communities that have learned how to fit together at the neighborhood level are from historically marginalized neighborhoods, and as such, are pioneering leaders with much to teach everyone else.

#4. That it’s urban We are definitely witnessing more people living in cities than ever before. Certainly thousands of faith communities are in the neighborhoods of great cities. God definitely loves cities. I live in Seattle and don’t ever plan on leaving. But, at least in North America I believe the next great frontier of parish ministry will actually be in the suburbs and smaller towns.

Here’s a reality we don’t talk about enough. As cities grow, they almost always gentrify. This means folks who don’t own property are usually forced to move away. Where do they move? Usually to the suburbs just a little farther outside the city. So there’s a great demographic sloshing between suburban and urban.

Suburbs that were once homogenous will have far greater economic and ethnic diversity, just as more middle- and upper-income people are likely to move into historically marginalized neighborhoods. However, a key distinction between urban neighborhoods and suburbs are that suburbs were literally built for the automobile.

With this in mind, it will take our brightest minds, our most courageous leaders, and most prayerful pastors to literally help re-imagine what suburb could become. This will play out over the next 15 to 20 years, especially as energy costs and traffic congestion grow. God is obviously present and at work in suburbs and small towns. My hunch is that some of the most inspiring and instructive examples for all of us will arise from communities seeking to join in God’s holistic renewal in these challenging environments.

# 5. That it’s ultimately about the church We LOVE to talk about the church, but the truth is this: the most hopeful, innovative, and courageous expressions of the church will not arise via new strategies or new techniques. They will arise as we participate as a community in an actual place where the Spirit is at work.

If we are honest, our story neither begins nor ends with the church, it begins with God at work, and it ends with all places, peoples, systems reconciled and restored to God. The church plays a part in between.

But as my friend Alan Roxburgh often says, “We need to ask God questions (namely what is the Spirit doing out ahead of us) before we ask Church questions.” By asking these questions in real places, with followers of Jesus right around us, a grand adventure awaits. By going on this adventure, we will rediscover what it means to be the church, but it’s really all about God.