St. Paul's 2021

Congregational Size Sizing up a congregation In the 80’s and 90’s much was made about a study that sought to identify different characteristics in congregations of different sizes. It’s a common sense kind of observation that a congregation of 1,800 baptized members is going to be different from one that has, say, 50 members. From that time there emerged a kind of working vocabulary that allowed for conversations among church members and leaders. Over the years I have found it useful, not in a prescriptive sort of way but more as a reminder that size matters, that the needs of a small “family” sized church are quite different from the expectations of a larger “program” sized church. cell or family sized church: x < 50 pastoral sized church: 50 > x < 150 program sized church: 150 > x < 350 corporate sized church: 350 > x The numbers themselves are old numbers and, in any case, were rough estimates even then. A description of the basic schema can be found at:  https...

  Time of pandemic Martin Luther, writing during the Bubonic plague of the 1500’s, seemed to be talking directly to us today. “I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I will fumigate, purify the air, administer medicine, and take medicine. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order to not become contaminated, and thus perchance inflict and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me, and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person, but will go freely. This is a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy, and does not tempt God.” Nostalgia and Hopes At our monthly diocesan interim’s meeting, some of the conversation prompted me to observe how things that we remember as the “way things used to be”, things which may appear to be nostalgia, are really hopes ...