Southern Province Intersynodal Conference - CONGREGATIONS MOVING IN MISSION

When the Rt. Rev. Wayne Burkette mentioned that “every child needs personal cheerleaders and that Moravians underestimate their own giftedness,” one could sense the listening intensity rise in the sanctuary. He was preaching a sermon during the opening worship service of the recent Southern Province event “Congregations Moving in Mission.” Over three hundred representatives from 49 churches and 17 agencies/groups gathered for this Intersynodal Conference, held at New Philadelphia Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on April 10-12, 2008.

Bishop Burkette based his sermon on a booklet, printed in 1957 by Bishop Clarence Shawe of the British Province, for the 500th anniversary of the Moravian Church, Shawe identified five characteristics of the Moravians of which Burkette believes we need to be reminded: simplicity, joy/happiness, unintrusiveness (or respect for differences), fellowship, and mission. These characteristics define us as people and as a denomination and are worth remembering.

This sermon was a perfect segue into the tactical workings of the conference, led by the professional facilitator, Luther K. Snow, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mr. Snow’s success with a program known as Asset Mapping, was continued and profoundly demonstrated in all of the group exercises that he led at New Philadelphia. Our Moravian characteristics, described by Bishop Shawe, can be viewed as assets.

Remember the old adage about wondering if the glass is half-full or half empty? Snow’s thinking about asset-mapping begins with a positive approach: think of the resources/assets that we have as congregations, not those that we do not have. For example, instead of a small congregation bemoaning about all the things they cannot do because of their size, think of their small size as an asset. Because they are small, they know and trust each other well; they have nimbleness and ability to act quickly; and, they have history and connections in the community.

Through a number of different group exercises (groups were organized by congregations) we were able to visualize “assets,” make connections between assets and needs, and focus on an “open-sum game” as opposed to a “closed-sum game.” When the Rev. Steve Craver, in a later worship meditation, reminded us that the loaves and fishes that fed the 5,000 were assets (Matthew 14:13-21), and that Jesus was focusing on an open sum game in meeting the needs of those assembled, light bulbs in our brains began to beam and excitement grew.

Asset mapping can be described as a dynamic sharing of community. “Our faith is not a fixed-sum game. My gain is your gain is our gain. The way we think leads to the way we act and the way we act leads to the way we think” – these words were only some of the exciting concepts Snow shared with us.

By the end of our time together, the large room at New Philadelphia was plastered with large sheets of paper outlining new mission projects resulting from our asset mapping. What will happen with pipe organs and steel drums, or after school programs and senior friends, or chicken pies and Sunnyside missions? Time will tell.

The Rev. Betsy Miller, in the April issue of The Moravian, wrote: “When, by faith, we are able to relinquish our focus on maintaining the institution of the church, then we are free to be the people of God, the Body of Christ in the world.” By mapping the assets of our churches and sharing, blending, and re-purposing them, God can use them through us to amazing missions!

There seems to be a fresh wind blowing through the churches, a desire to return to the emphasis of our early history – reaching the world with the messages of Christ – congregations moving in mission.