A Calculated Risk Pays Off
In the last month, three events have occurred which have prompted pastors in my Conference and Association (the United Church of Christ is divided geographically into Associations, which band together to form a larger geographic entity known as a Conference: I have judicatory responsibilities for the former primarily, but for the latter to some extent as well). Each event prompted responses from local church pastors, and raised for them a question about the role, the purpose, and the intentions of those responsible. The first event came through the offices of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. All of the pastors in my judicatory area were sent, at the expense of the IRD, a copy of a book entitled "Islamic Imperialism." On the title page is a very simple statement that reads: "This copy provided to you compliments of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, Washington D.C." They had no idea why the IRD would go to the great expense of sending them a copy of THIS book, and quite honestly, neither do I. But that is not the point. The point is within a week, no fewer than a dozen of my pastors called to inform me about this latest gambit of the IRD, and asking about their intentions. Shortly thereafter, I received similar questions and messages from pastors in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Oregon, California, Washington, New York and other places addressing the same questions. A week later, one of the emerging renewal movements within the United Church of Christ - Faithful and Welcoming - sent a brochure out to churches across the denomination inviting everyone to a series of `Healthy Church' workshops they are holding across the country. Again, within a week more than a dozen pastors were on the phone with me asking about the event, and making sure that their judicatory office was formulating a response to these invitations. And finally, a pastor from a church in a far region of the Conference called me last week to share with me concerns about a member who had shown up from another church in the Conference. Something in his demeanor set alarm bells off for her, and she called to ask questions about `activists' - suspecting he might be one. It turns out he is coming to her from a church that voted to leave the denomination - and she has reasons to be suspicious. While he may be completely innocent of any nefarious intentions, she is wise to approach with some healthy caution. All of this is to say that things have changed a lot in our neck of the woods. The calculated risk we took three years ago to address this problem directly, and to safeguard our churches from those with less than honorable intentions is paying off. Three years ago no one knew who the IRD was; no one knew what a church activist was; no one was ready to believe that their church could be targeted for attack; no one had any idea what to do if in fact their church was embroiled in the aftermath of a sustained attack. Today, much of that has changed. Through concerted efforts and training, through articles, events, and even now a book soon to be released, our pastors not only know what to look for, they know whom to call about it. They are empowered to act, trained to interpret, and equipped to defend their church from inappropriate outside influence and nefarious attack. And these are only the first fruits of what we hope will be a paradigm shift in understanding what is going on and what can be done about it. After concerted efforts and countless personal attempts, I am happy to report that not one single church in the entire Conference in which I reside has signed on to be a part of the Faithful and Welcoming movement. I am happy to report that every church they called in my Association to host their `Healthy Church' workshops refused to give them access to their space. The strategies, deemed very risky just three years ago, are paying huge dividends. It is high time judicatory officers rethink the way we have dealt with our attackers and deploy new and more effective strategies for thwarting attempts to do us in.
A Calculated Risk Pays Off | 35 comments (35 topical, 0 hidden)
A Calculated Risk Pays Off | 35 comments (35 topical, 0 hidden)
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