With so many pulls and pushes in society, the Church must remain a beacon of light, love and compassion in the world as we follow Jesus Christ who is the Light of the world. With this as the Church’s goal, it follows that the choice of leadership is pivotal. I suggest that the Church wants leaders who can help inform, educate and positively shape the Church’s ministries, inside and outside of the Church.
I believe that the Church is called to reach out to young adults, youth and children and to meet them where they are and to assist them with the challenges they encounter in life and society. Youths and young adults should be represented on parish councils and listened to and have their concerns and perspectives carefully considered. They are a part of the Body of Christ and have important messages for the rest of the Church. I suggest that God calls the Church and its leaders, including bishops, to journey with our Anglican youths and young adults on Sunday and at events and to include them as equal partners in the faith.
The music of young people speaks to people of all ages and can bring long-time Christians into a deeper walk with God in Christ. Many Anglicans of any age long to see a truly contemporary component in worship. Also, the music and artistic statements of youths should be respected as a careful and meaningful expression of God in their lives, regardless of whether people, 50 more or less, like their tempos or not.
The Church is everyone’s Church and everyone should have a say in how the congregation chooses its music. With good music resource people available to them, youths can become more alive in their walk with Christ and the Holy Spirit can touch them through a congregation’s embrace of their young expressions of the Christian faith.
I believe that the Church is called to make the Gospel relevant to people of any cultural background and to intentionally learn ways to cultivate a multi-cultural congregation. Without intentional liturgical and social planning, people from other places and cultures can feel on the fringes. As we overlook those who have not adapted to the mono-cultural-melting-pot approach and if we fail to warmly welcome people and their customs and their music and their ways of thinking, people can feel unwanted and will keep searching for God in Christ elsewhere.
In fact, God is calling people of various backgrounds to leadership in different and significant roles. Can we discern God’s call in the lives of others? It is special for people of different backgrounds to see people of their own background or life experience in key leadership positions. One could say that inclusion in leadership is one important litmus test of what academics now call “inter-culturality” in the Church.
I believe that God is calling the Church to be inclusive of people even if we don’t understand or approve of their way of life. Jesus was inclusive of those who felt downtrodden and excluded by the majority. Some who are excluded today, feel judged by the Church and are sometimes alienated from God even through the Church.
Who are we to cut someone off from a beautiful channel of God’s grace in the Church? For people of various backgrounds, God’s grace can look and feel different than it feels for others. For example, God’s grace can mean freedom from violence and oppression. Or it can mean using words that include all present.
As individuals, we are all in error in some way and yet we choose to label some people as “un-Christian” and act as if “the other” is beyond the pale. The Church has a profound responsibility to care for all of God’s people. There is so much to learn to help people of all backgrounds and walks of life to feel loved, included and not alienated.
In the 13th century, Francis of Assisi acknowledged that we are all called to be channels of God’s love, peace, healing, hope, joy, pardon and light as conveyed in the lyrics he wrote. May God guide the Body of Christ in our choices of leadership so that we can discern together God’s call to the Church and be shaped more and more into the likeness and love of Jesus. May we carefully follow Jesus Christ who is Light, Love, healing, hope and grace for us all. God, make us a channel of your peace for everyone we meet!
