Speaker
I once heard Richard Rohr give a talk in which he said, “Clergy do a great job of telling their congregations what to believe and a terrible job of teaching them how to live.” I’ve not forgotten that, and it’s one reason I follow the call to teach. I have the kind of mind that enjoys organizing information, enjoys thinking systemically, and enjoys extracting universal truths from reflecting on lived experience. I speak to inspire faith communities and the clergy who lead them. I endeavor to present provocative questions and ideas that get people thinking differently about worship and congregational life. If I can offer new perspectives, energy, hope, and practical skills, then I’ve been faithful to my calling.
“Susan’s keynote and workshops at our [2017] diocesan convention was the most practical and effective presentation we have ever had. Our clergy and vestries took her teachings home and are implementing them to build stronger, healthier, more faithful congregations.”
I was invited to serve on an interfaith panel for the "God and Smog" conference at Utah State University in October 2018. I joined LDS, Hindu, and Buddhist colleagues. Each of us gave a talk about the theology and practice of creation care in our respective traditions, and then engaged in discussion with one another, with scholars, and with the audience. Photo courtesy Eli Lucero/Herald Journal
I grew up in the 1960’s, a time of glory for mainline Protestantism. On Sundays, it seemed everyone went to church, and families gathered afterward for mid-day dinner. The rhythm of it was as dependable as the rise and fall of the tide. The world is different now. Religion in America has all but died to its old way of being—and yet it’s needed now as much as it ever has been. We can cling to a nostalgic view of the past and strive to recreate it, or we can acknowledge in faith that God is inviting us into new ways of being the Body of Christ.
I believe that God is dynamic and not static, and—as one earthly manifestation of God—faith communities are called to be likewise: to be aware, responsive, agile, and connected to the towns and cities in which they reside. I believe that the very same Holy Spirit who breathed life into the void at the dawn of Creation, who whispered in the ears of prophets, and who was exhaled from the lips of Jesus onto his disciples is alive and well in the Church today.
If I believe in the presence and power of the Spirit, then it follows that I believe that parishes in decline are not necessarily dying but rather are in the process of being transformed. Because the Spirit is in the business of bestowing aliveness, transformation may include some dying but it always also includes some resurrection. Nationwide we are experiencing aging and decline, and yet that trajectory is at this moment crossing with another trajectory: the emergence of a new manifestation of Christianity. If we want to be involved with this new life the Spirit is bringing forth, we have to make that choice*.
I take issue with the assumption that small, rural, under-resourced churches are doomed to die. Consider that the entire ministry of St Paul centered on speaking to small congregations (25 people or less!) who felt ill-equipped and understaffed. These are the congregations who transformed the ancient world*! These are the congregations who were the agents of change! Might they be so again today?
*Thanks to The Rt. Rev. Rob O'Neill for these good and wise insights.