Cluster Service
What is a cluster service? In our area, 5 congregations have formed a cluster, working together to be the United Church in our corner of the city. As former minister of one of those congregations, I always enjoyed the Cluster Service. It gave us the opportunity to meet and experience the strengths of other communities of faith. Every year, however, one comment always arose: "So nice for you to have a Sunday off..."!
To be honest, these services are not easy. Yes, we might not be preaching, but chances are we are doing something. In a different worship space, with a different congregation that is not really a community. And praying that everyone will show up.
"Why don't we do more together?" That's a good question, and I think there are a variety of factors.
Ministers: I love my colleagues in ministry and I love working with them. However the reality is that most of us, unless we are diaconal ministers, are not trained to work together. Trust has to be established, as well as respect for other styles of ministry, and letting go of the need to control the outcome. If we worked together on worship more often, we would probably be better at it. But it is a lot more work.
Congregational Culture: It's hard to explain - we are of the same denomination, we sing from the same hymn book, we have so much in common. But congregations that have amalgamated can tell you how hard it is to lose your own congregational culture in order to build something new. Everyone feels awkward doing it, and awkward is usually not why people come to church. Belonging, tradition, comfort, community - all have to be regenerated over time.
Buildings: When people say "Why don't we just all join together?" my first question is whether they are willing to give up THEIR building. The cluster service was held in a beautiful historic building on Sunday, but would they give it up to move to one with better parking or accessibility and no stained glass? Would someone else give up a church in walking distance, or giving up community partners who are also using that space?
To be clear, I am in favour of working more together and, at some point, moving in together to create something new. I am just prepared for it to involve a lot of attitude shifts, awkwardness and bumpy patches. If there is one thing these ecumenical explorations have taught me, it's that our differences are beautiful and we should not sweep them away without considerable reflection.
Comments
Post a Comment