Embracing Experimentation: AHCC reflects on Rev. Tyler Sit’s plenary

As we - the Asylum Hill Congregational Church Reimagining Church Working Group - reflect on Rev. Tyler Sit’s plenary session, we find ourselves drawn to the idea of embracing experimentation and an ethos of learning as part of the reimagining process. Here are a few of the questions and ideas that are resonating for us in the wake of the plenary.

✴ We need to believe, know, and trust that God is present when God’s people talk about ministry and creating the new church. How does that change how we might have approached conversations on related topics in the past? What does it really mean to say that God is present? Maybe it simply means we believe that the best and truest ideas might come from the least likely person in the room - a reminder to pay attention to everyone.

✴ We hear a powerful truth in step three of the five-step method of lean ministry: be in touch with the people who will be participating in the ministry!

✴We love the idea that our primary job is to be “stewards of momentum.” And we are holding the reminder that “momentum” does not mean “moving forward as fast as is humanly possible,” but rather not getting stuck. To steward our momentum is to nurture continuous forward motion at whatever pace makes sense.

✴We are most excited by the approach of lean ministry: the invitation to be experimental, to lead with a desire to learn, to take small risks in service of that learning. We dream about becoming a church that has ample space to nurture new ideas into life - and we are intrigued by the possibility that lean ministry might offer a way to bring that dream to life.

Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash