Dear Friends,
Every church has its idiosyncrasies, its uniqueness, its own language. First Church is no different. We have a history which defines us, which we continue to learn from, and which continues to move us forward.
One of the uniquenesses of us recently is some of the job titles we have given to people on the staff. We have a Tikkun. We have a Weaver of Generations. We have a Director of Worship Arts. We have two Illuminators and an Animador. (We have others too, but I just wanted to draw attention to THESE titles for a moment.)
We live in a disconnected, lonely age, by all statistics. People report feeling lonelier than ever before, and yet allegedly we are the most “connected” generation ever on the planet (all around the globe and well beyond any boundaries).
Our job titles reflect our intention to work against this trend. The Tikkun works to connect people in varieties of ways. McKenzie talks with members and staff every week, looking for opportunities to bring people into connection with each other. She thinks about how we use our real time presence as well as our online presence to bring people into actual connection with one another. The Weaver of Generations clearly is working to make real connections and recognize real connections between people across generations. This is healthy and good for everyone, and Lexi is discovering new and imaginative ways for this to happen.
The Director of Worship Arts is continually working with staff and congregants to use worship as a connecting force (and Charlotte leads us in intentional discussions of this as we work on planning worship every week). Charlotte uses music to draw us together on Sunday mornings, and she creates community by inviting us to spend time together playing drums, making pottery, and more. The Illuminators and Animador work diligently to make connections not only in the church, but also between people outside of the church and inside of the church who share similar gifts and loves and concern. The Return on Community (as opposed to Return on Investment) for all of these has been extraordinary and life-giving.
We are still working on imaginative and new and old ways to enliven the work, our life. In these days, in this nation, any instrument we can use to draw people together and build connections will make us a stronger, wiser, more diverse country. And this is why we do this as well. We believe in love and community. We believe in connection. And we believe the church (and the Church) can be such an instrument.
Keep tellin’ the Story,
Mike
Enjoy this unique little song about community and mutual aid…it’s two groups – Lake Street Dive (who recently performed at the Boulder Theater) and Lawrence – ”Help is on the Way.”
This week’s takeaway: We work intentionally (not only in Lent) on the holy work of connection. It is important for community, health, wisdom and joy.
Cover photo by Lynnette Li.