A Volley from the Canon, Number 123: Faith Sharing

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 123 FAITH-SHARING—IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH? (GASP) The liturgical tradition is the greatest—for worship. For hospitality, for building community, for deepening relationships in the congregation, not so much. Some of the Protestant traditions do some of their folksier, relational work during worship itself (to the detriment of worship, actually). We don’t have time and opportunity to do that, unless we create them. Another important activity that is not built into our liturgy is the opportunity for faith-sharing within the congregation. We need it. We particularly need to hear from our peers in the congregation about their experiences with stewardship in their own lives—their challenges, their struggles, their growth and their depth. A good stewardship program in a congregation will have these opportunities built in, and not just during the fall pledging season. An occasional five-minute time of sharing is well worth a shortened sermon several times during the year. There can be other gathering opportunities when faith sharing can be included, too, outside of worship. Written accounts or even “interviews” for the parish or mission newsletter can be effective. Most of us now have parish websites: these can be wonderful vehicles for members to share the stories of their own faith journeys. In many of our congregations, we don’t really know one another. Rather, we know one another socially, but not with much depth. We don’t know what really excites one another, what our hopes, fears, joys, and challenges are. If we are to be truly the family of God, we need to work at that. In the end, no one can inspire and challenge us quite as well as our own.