The Future

It was a little more than a week ago that we gathered in the sanctuary on Ash Wednesday to mark the beginning of Lent.  We received a cross of ashes to signify our inclusion, as children of God, in this journey through the season of prayer, penitence, and thoughtful consideration of those things in our lives that create distance between us and the love that we are given.  We took bits of cloth and nailed them to a cross, each one representing an individual concern and a commitment to doing something about it.

I have to admit that my concern was a bit vague, a need to improve an attitude that I still don’t know how best to address.  I’ve often used Mark Twain’s explanation of his white suits to illustrate it- when asked why he wore them, he replied “to help fend off cynicism.”   But cynicism is only symptomatic, just a way to avoid addressing the real issue.

I think the real issue is fear.  And much of my fear lives in the future.

Two years ago our church celebrated 50 years of service and worship.  The stories of just how this unfolded are inspirational, and when I hear them, and think of all the people whose work and dedication made it so, it always makes me glad to have discovered St. Mark when we moved here 6 years ago.  I want to keep building on what they have given me and my family, but the world is changing in ways that are hard to fathom.  Who can imagine what things will be like 50 years from now?

One thing that is obvious is that the way we communicate with each other as individuals and as a congregation is changing every day.  As I write this the World Wide Web is celebrating its 25^th birthday, but much of what it is today wasn’t here 5 years ago.  Searching for links to “future of the church” I found much that is really scary, but this one to be comforting.  It is an old (three years!) blog entry which helped me see some of my concerns in another’s thoughts, and shows how  we are not just readers anymore- we are all contributors.  http://confirmnotconform.com/blog/give-fear-churchs-future-lent

St. Mark has a web site (soon to be rebuilt!) this blog, facebook pages, twitter feeds, pinterest pins, and will soon be modernizing phone and e-mail systems.  To feel overwhelmed by the possibilities is not, in my opinion, unreasonable.  But we need not succumb to fear, and the paralysis it can bring. We can face the future, together, because we are doing it not just to survive as a congregation, or even to be a force of good in the world, but to serve the will of God!

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV  For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.    

J. Northrip, Chair Communications Committee