Remember or Re-Member

The New Beginnings process gave us some data and much needed breathing room. Everyone who wanted a voice had a chance to speak. We’d voted to pursue a mission redefinition. However, we still needed a vision.  

While ‘no’ (to affordable housing) was the answer we’d heard, it still wasn’t a plan. Our conversations revealed a lot of nostalgia. The memories of some people in the congregation were tied to what we used to be. We were a hub of education and mission work. We were a vibrant place of worship and music. We were an activity center for youth and others in the community. All these things that we once were, we weren’t necessarily anymore. 

The work that got us to this place was not the same work that would carry us forward.  

These words from Proverbs fit what we needed. We needed to see how God was with us now. Some of us were affixed on the past, on what God had done. As a result, it became hard to see what God was doing in that moment.  

Our choices were to remember or re-member. We could dwell in the successes that created our church. Or we could seek to re-member ourselves as part of the South Arlington community. 

We couldn’t go backwards. Moving forward seemed murky. We needed a vision, a sense of what God was doing, is doing, in our community. To act faithfully, we needed to discern together how God was calling us to ministry in South Arlington. 

We’d simply stumbled. It wasn’t aimless, more like a limp. Our traditions and history together grounded us as a community. We also knew that traditions and history weren’t enough to sustain us. To move forward, to be disciples who were willing to follow Jesus, we had to do what the rich young ruler couldn’t. We had to put everything on the table. We had to be willing to give it all away and see what God was doing.