Baby Steps
I have to admit that joining the Reimagining Church group took me a bit outside my comfort zone. I had the same fears and questions that everyone has expressed to our group from the start. What is this really all about, why are we doing this now, and what are other groups around CT doing in their journey to re-imagine? As we were sort of voluntold that we should get involved, it quickly become clear that this was a sizable commitment to a goal that seemed intriguing but was still developing. As we got further into our initial meetings with Molly, a Yale Divinity student leader and soon-to-be priest, we began participating in workshops to get to know and learn from other groups/churches throughout CT.
Admittedly, we were reluctant to attend the first workshop as it was on a Saturday that might normally be filled with either hiking with the dogs or much needed fall yard work. This was a real test and one that we never regretted after the bonding and activities we experienced with members of our own group from St. John’s Church in North Haven (Molly, my wife - Charlotte, Kara, and Cheryl) as well as several other groups ranging from Hartford to Milford. Going into the first workshop, I felt ill-suited to be doing this and outside my comfort zone. After all, as a clinical psychologist, I naturally question everything about human nature, and these days that includes views/beliefs at the intersection of Christianity and politics. Is this really something I want to be doing with my Saturday? My wife and I quietly shared our reluctance about spending a beautiful day this way.
Coming out of the workshop, however, we agreed that it had been refreshing to hear from experts in the field (our main speaker was another Molly who makes her rounds and shares her faith experiences in an uplifting/intense but non-judgmental way) and participating with other groups from the larger CT community who had similar questions and struggles with daily life. Many had common concerns about the current state of Christianity in today’s world of divisive dialogue and intense differences even among neighbors as well as concerns about how best to move forward. One of my main concerns in recent years has been how many young people feel either negatively or ambivalent about their faith journey once they are free from their parents’ rules. I’m not sure that’s something we can solve overnight, but it does seem like a snapshot of some of the issues our Reimagining Church group is exploring, like how to take an honest inventory of the strengths of our church and create a vibe that feels maximally inviting and accessible/open to everyone - while also respecting and learning from our rich history.
Last week, our Reimagining group took a few baby steps down that path by hosting a coffee hour at St. John’s. We shamelessly lured people in by upgrading our normal coffee hour offerings thanks to Yale’s generous budget. Molly led us taking inventory of our timeline by identifying some of the key memories and defining eras – members’ baptisms (earliest was 1939, I believe), marriages, funerals, priests coming and going - that have all contributed to where we are now. It was fascinating to hear so many different perspectives and interpretations about events and emotions represented on that timeline. I also think it can be a way to collectively take a few more baby steps in deciding how we want to build toward the future.
Image | Stephen Bartlett on Unsplash