Beginning the Co-Creating Process

 At the beginning of this project, my thoughts are filled with wondering what Reimagining Church will become. My imagination is running wild with visions of what would make an already spirit-filled community thrive. The beginning of this project is special because we get to become dreamers, yet unburdened by the financial and communal realities impacting church. I am so grateful to be able to bear witness to the hopes of my fellow group members and observe how their faith and love of community will lead them through this co-creating process. We are co-creating an experience that combines the practical work of God and the moral imagination for what church can be.

I have been really enjoying getting to know the members of the working group. The group has met together once and I have had individual meetings with many of the members. People in my group cross generations, genders, and worldviews. We all come to the concept of “church,” both in the institutional sense and church as in relationship with God, differently and this has allowed us to begin rich dialogue about our perceptions on different practices. We all come to this time and this place differently, but we are all still in this time and this place together and can engage each other in what that can mean. Our group has decided to acknowledge the value of our differences in our community guidelines. We have agreed to emphasize respect and confidentiality, but we have also agreed to recognize the uniqueness of our individual relationships with God. Individually, we are only experts of the way we have experienced God working in our lives, communities, and churches. There is an acceptance that to do this work, we must be willing to listen to each other and learn from our individual experiences.

First UCC Milford is a special place. They have taken me in warmly and welcomed me into their space. I am only working with a few people but have gotten the chance to talk with several of the church members at the services and coffee hours. People have been curious about what Reimagining Church is and are looking forward to hearing what happens. I look forward to having progress to share with them. Hopefully there will be a way to involve the broader church community into the types of conversations we will be having. All in all, I’m blessed to witness the way God will work through this church and this project.

Image |  Zoe Schaeffer on Unsplash