One thing weird about scheduling newsletters is that I'm writing on Sunday but need to act like it's a week later Monday morning. It's exactly the opposite of "being in the moment".

Pastors struggle with this all the time! We plan Lent in January, and in March, before Easter even happens, I'll need a plan for May and June.

But still it's important to think about being in the present--in this place and at this time.

Be Here Now

Small church ministry is very much a ministry of place. We are grounded in a particular place, and in a particular time. For some churches our primary role in this time of disruption will be to hang on to the holiness of this.

Our place is not only our building, but where we are in town, which street corner, which neighborhood. Our place includes all the people around us, and near us, and the roads and yards and woods and lakes that take up that space. Many who are in this place do not know us, and we don't 'know them.

And yet, together, we are beloved by God

Psalm 91 suggests that living in the shadow of God is living in a place of refuge. This is a time that it feels there is no refuge from the chaos and violence being perpetrated on our nation. God's protection does not feel sufficient. We need to do more to recognize God's presence in this place.

One project we might engage in is to focus on caring for the people who are under attack in this location.

If you don't know your neighborhood now is a good time to get out there. Figure out who lives around you and what they are dealing with. Look for people strengths and engage in Asset Mapping (from Asset Based Community Development). This is where you identify who you know, and who they know, and identify strengths, skills, passions, and connections. You are building a web of information about who is available in a crisis.

If you are engaged with a particular part of the community, now is a good time to expand that engagement. What is one more thing you can add. You'll figure out what by asking the community members you already are connected to.

Pay attention also to who is hurting. Immigrants, trans people, people who are poor, and people who have been laid off from Government employment comes to mind, but this will be very specific to your community. Remember to focus on these people strengths, skills, passions, and connections, too. No one is only a need, everyone has something contribute.

And consider the strengths of our church. Are you an available meeting place? Do you have leadership with particularly useful expertise and passions? Are your members good community organizers, bringing your neighbors together? Do you have the skills to bring the powerful practices of lament, or the tiny embers of hope to a secular conversation--without telling others how to feel or what to do?

Perhaps your church will start these community conversations, or perhaps you will join the gatherings already happening. Either way the take seriously your role as a church to be part of what makes this local community a refuge, a balm, a support. For God to be a refuge, God's people must step up to build safe community.

Be Here Now.

What is your church doing, or thinking about doing these days? How are you being here in your particular place? Just reply to this email to let me know what's happening. ​
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The podcast Small Church Big Impact is a set of conversations with small church pastors and leaders about how church can impact their local community. This episode is about community organizing in churches that are less 35 members or less. They make a big impact by joining with others to take action.

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Sometimes we set our place by hanging up a sign or a flag. Here is a blog I wrote some years ago about why hanging a rainbow, trans, or other queer-welcoming flag matters.

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