On September 9, we will have Rally Sunday at First Christian Church. I stretched my brain to come up with a better name than Rally Sunday, but all the names I came up with were too long. Summer’s-Over-So-Get-Your-Rear-End-Back-To-Church-Sunday just doesn’t have the same kind of ring to it. Rally Sunday sounds old-fashioned to me and reminds me of pep rallies in my high school gym, but, as I said, it was the best I could come up with, so there you go.After thinking about it, however, I’m coming around to thinking that Rally Sunday may be an okay name after all. Sure, it is a means of getting people to come back after their summer vacations and get into the routine of coming to church; yet, it may also be appropriate for what we are trying to do at First Christian. As a church, we are rallying back from several decades of declining numbers in attendance and membership. That decline has occurred most dramatically over the last 10-15 years. During that same time, First Christian went from being a church in the heart of St. Joseph’s commercial and business district to being a church in a declining and abandoned downtown. As St. Joseph‘s eyes turned eastward, the focus shifted away from downtown churches like ours. Furthermore, First Christian’s slow decline in numbers coincides exactly with the decline nationally in mainline congregations, so the challenge has cultural as well as local dimensions. Given these factors, it is appropriate to speak of us rallying together as a church to face the challenges of our present and future.
It may be time for rallying, but despite the challenges we face as a church, there is much about First Christian to be excited about and proud of. We have a long and vibrant history stretching over 160 years; a history that includes actions of the church that not only impacted our community but also helped to shape our entire denomination. We remain an open-minded community of believers that values diversity of belief, individual freedom and people from varied backgrounds. We also have a tradition of social justice that believes sharing the love of Christ must take concrete forms to meet the physical as well as spiritual needs of people. All of these attributes make First Christian a unique voice of faith in our community, but there are many people in St. Joseph that do not even know a church like ours exists. Our future as a church depends upon whether or not we can connect with such people..
In an effort to “rally” our church to face the challenges of the present and future, the Administrative Board took an important step at its August meeting. The board created a new ministry and marketing committee that will be charged with developing a comprehensive long-term plan for getting the word out about First Christian. Its goal will be—to borrow an analogy from the business world—to “brand” First Christian in the community, or in other words, raise awareness in the community that a church with our unique mixture of open-minded progressive thinking, rich history and warm welcome exists. More specifically, they will help to guide us as a church to reach out to people in our community who have only experienced churches as close-minded and judgmental social clubs. We will have to learn as a community of faith how to welcome and care for people who have been hurt by forms of Christianity that were intolerant and exclusive. I am very excited about the work this new committee will be doing to make the most of traditional and new forms of media in order to share the unique and compassionate community of faith that is First Christian Church.
Together, let’s rally and face the challenges of this new century at First Christian Church, just as our spiritual ancestors rose to the challenge of the last one.
Grace and Peace,
Chase
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