Open to us a door

‘. . . that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ . . . ’ (Colossians 4:3)

20 May 2020|Feature Articles|Volume 24 Issue 11

When Hymnal: A Worship Book came out in 1992, “What is This Place” was chosen to be the lead hymn in the collection. The first line describes the church building as “Only a house, the earth its floor, walls and a roof . . . , windows for light, an open door.” But when the people enter, “. . . it becomes a body that lives when we are gathered here . . . .”

The closing of church doors across the country in mid-March due to COVID-19 restrictions has scattered this body, causing a mad scramble as congregations across Mennonite Church Canada adapted their worship services to an online format:

Some offered live-streams.
Others produced pre-recorded worship services, with leaders standing at a distance from each other in empty sanctuaries.
Still others used virtual-meeting platforms, like Zoom, to connect congregants for sharing and prayer.

While these efforts certainly do not replace face-to-face greetings from friendly ushers, the spirit-lifting sounds of joyful singing on all sides, or the collective sense of God’s Spirit in the room, they make it possible for congregants to stay connected.

Yet I feel the need to reflect on this moment. I think it is significant. While this scramble to offer digital worship services is understandable, I believe COVID-19 has revealed how “worship-focused” western churches are at the expense of being missional communities. I knew this, but I had not seen it as starkly as I do now.

Most churches offer education, community and service within their body, but worship, by far, is the defining activity for most congregations. When people describe their church, they often talk about how they gather with others on a Sunday morning to sing, pray, read scripture and hear a good sermon. Given our rapid pace of life and the involvements congregants have, Sunday worship is one of the only times that congregations gather, which means only three to four days a month.

Now, with social isolation, how do we maintain our identity as the church when the door has closed on the main activity we do together? Will online worship soon start to feel like Skip the Dishes—the same food but not the same table experience? What does this moment reveal to us about how we practise community?

From Sunday-morning worship to missional community

The prison doors are closed on Paul while he writes his letter to the Colossians. In prison, he prays “that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ . . . so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should” (Colossians 4:3-4).

He was probably praying that the prison door in front of him would open, but, more so, he was praying for a new opportunity for the mystery of Christ to be revealed beyond the already gathered bodies of believers.

In late 1999 and early 2000, Robert J. (Jack) Suderman, executive secretary of Mennonite Church Canada’s Ministries Commission, wrote a series of six articles for Canadian Mennonite that encouraged a new understanding of mission for the Mennonite church. The “Re-imagine mission” series revealed how little we had been thinking about mission in Canada, that it was not our reflex to pray for a door to open for us to declare the mystery of Christ with neighbours and strangers.

I believe we have yet to fully embrace this understanding as core to who we are. I say this as one who pastored for 27 years. If still in congregational ministry during this pandemic, I would have been the first to rush to prepare online worship for Sunday morning before leaving a note in the mailbox of the elderly widow three doors down to ask if she needed groceries or prescriptions; or contacting single parents at the end of the block who are now apartment-bound with their children, to ask if they have the devices and internet necessary for the kids to do online school work; or simply calling up others whom I know in the community to ask how they are doing.

I wonder today if our forced social isolation is the door I have been praying for. With no Sunday gatherings, the neighbours and strangers around us become our community. For many of us, this may be uncomfortable and frightening, but I believe reaching out to those in need around us can be a door for deeper conversations around meaning, purpose and belonging.

God did not cause the COVID-19 crisis, but God is able to transform even the most terrible circumstances into redemptive ones. Perhaps God is opening a door for us to reach people in ways that might previously have felt intrusive.

Throughout history, the Christian church flourished during times of epidemics and restrictions. Early Christians created community by ministering to their immediate neighbours. These communities worshipped together, but the hallmarks of their identity were acts of love and charity to the lonely, vulnerable and suffering. Likewise, in the 20th century the church grew rapidly when church doors were closed in both Ethiopia and China.

Jeanette Hanson, director of International Witness for MC Canada, writes, “When the church buildings in China were completely closed in the early 1950s, Christians continued to care for one another, welcome new believers, and share their faith in their homes and communities. Bibles hidden in walls and gardens were carefully brought out with people that were trusted to understand the gift of the Scriptures. As churches began to reopen in the early 1980s, there was evidence of exponential growth, as believers came together to celebrate being able to worship openly again.”

If this pandemic is a “door for the word,” do we have the courage to walk through it? If we cross the threshold, it might change us in ways we don’t anticipate. It might be so altering that it changes our very idea of “congregation.”

Congregation to parish

“Congregation” is used in both the Old and New testaments, but it was understood differently than we understand it now. In those times, “congregation” implied a gathering of people living together in one area. When people congregated, there was no commuting, no concept of choosing where to associate or with whom.

Today, particularly in urban settings, we drive past several churches to find a congregation that fits our desires, that has the people we want to meet with. The idea of being missional has not become a lived reality for many of our Eurocentric congregations. As long as we uphold our right to associate wherever and with whomever we want, seeing the local congregation as a mission outpost is nearly impossible, because most congregants live somewhere else. Could this time of restriction force us to rethink our modern understanding of congregation by association, and the congregation’s worship-focused identity?

I believe this is an opportunity for the church to rethink our use of the word “congregation.” In Practices for the Refounding of God’s People: The Missional Challenge of the West, the authors suggest that we need to abandon ideas of congregating by association and return to the word “parish.” Parish, a place where people dwell, means that we practise being God’s people together among the people in our neighbourhood and community. It means tapping in to what God is already doing in each and every one of our neighbourhoods, in the lives and circumstances of the people who are both thriving and struggling in this time.

Realizing that my family and I would not be able to gather with our congregation for a sunrise service this past Easter, we held an Easter vigil in our backyard. Just before midnight, we began with the reading of John 20:1-18, lit a fire in our firepit and then read the Easter homily by St. John Chrysostom—an Easter sermon that resonates deeply with me.

When I posted pictures on social media the next day, several in the area commented or texted me, wanting to join us if we do it again next year. I wonder if there are others in the neighbourhood who have no experience of belonging to a faith community who would want to come. I wonder if God opens doors for us to be as present in our neighborhoods as we are when we congregate in our buildings for worship.

There are times when I am so overwhelmed by God’s presence, mystery and goodness, that I can’t find words to describe it. I know the gospel as good news. I want that for the neighbours and strangers who live around me as well.

In this time of social isolation, let us share our joys and struggles with our neighbours as much as we share them with our church communities across the city/countryside over Zoom. God opens the door, and God is already at work on the other side of the door, waiting for us to walk through it and join in declaring the mystery of Christ.

Maybe the door for the word that needs to be opened is the front door of my own house.

Doug Klassen is executive minister of Mennonite Church Canada.

Jane Grunau sees doors not only as choices, but as ongoing stories as well, through the past and into the future, out of the place we are, through to the potential God envisions for us. She attends Langley (B.C.) Mennonite Fellowship.

For discussion

1. What programs or activities, other than Sunday morning worship, has your church put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are there any that might not re-open when the crisis is over? What has your church been able to do for the local community in this time of isolation?

2. Doug Klassen says that “worship, by far, is the defining activity for most congregations,” and “Sunday worship is one of the only times that congregations gather.” Do you agree? How closely is our identity tied to weekly worship? How effective is online worship in holding us together?

3. Klassen suggests that this pandemic could be a door to change. Do you think our society could change in ways that would make sharing the message of Christ more instinctive? Is practical assistance to our nearby neighbours the best way to begin this conversation?

4. How geographically scattered is your congregation? What are the benefits and drawbacks of living in the vicinity of the church building? What are some ways your church could be a blessing to the local community?

5. How can we do a better job of nurturing a sense of community in our local neighbourhoods?

—By Barb Draper

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Tags:

congregational life, COVID-19, Doug Klassen, neighbourhood outreach, Witness

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8 Responses to “Open to us a door”

walter bergen
25 May 2020
open to us a door
Doug Klassen, our executive secretary has opened an interesting conversation. His observation that we have been worship focused and not missionally focused bears reflection.
Mennonites have been on a long journey of alternately accommodating to and rejecting culture. Here in NA the journey of Mennonites that are not Amish or hutterian in background has been one of careful cultural accommodation. That created certain stresses as Mennonites succeeded in business, but largely kept the training of ministers and young people ‘in house.’ (Bible school movement, early CMBC).
with alignment of theological education with universities the open door became a bridge where ideas flowed in both directions. Mennonites naively assumed they could continue to teach a unique ethic and ignore the philosophical presuppositions of the academy. This is the fundamental flaw of Yoderian theology. Ethic does not exist in a vacuum, and requires plausible belief systems to reproduce itself. Yoder assumes self-reproduction in rural, Mennonite congregations. This has proven false.
that is the crux of the problem for Mennonite Church Canada. Having tacitly accepted the philosophical assumptions of the dominant culture, it has no alternate good news to offer the spiritual barrenness of this age, this culture. It repeats the cultural aspects of Mennonite religion without the faith, and philosophical foundations. Creeds matter. sound Scriptural creeds are essential.
This ethic-faith, without creedal conviction, ends up not being plausible to its own children, much less persons who might be convicted to faith.
Repentance will precede missional endeavor, if we are to be missional at all.
Reply
Elaine Fehr
27 May 2020
Easter homily
Not having heard of St. John Chrysostom prior to reading this article, I did some research and found some thought-provoking items regarding him. St. Chrysostom was known as a “golden-mouthed” orator and one of his astounding quotes is this: “It is impossible to be saved without the help of the Most Blessed Virgin, because those who are not saved by the justice of God are saved by the intercession of Mary.” Several of St. Chrysostom’s relics have been stolen, but the church has managed to retain his skull, which has been attributed to miraculous cures after the veneration of it by the Catholic faithful.
It is interesting that now, 484 years after Menno Simons rejected the Catholic Church and priesthood, a Mennonite minister would choose to celebrate Easter with a homily by a Catholic “saint”.
Reply
1. Doug Klassen
  30 May 2020
  reply to Elaine Fehr
  Thank you for your interest in this article, Elaine. Mennonites tend to leap from the New Testament to the early 1500’s, which disconnects us from most of the Church’s history. The saints who taught, preached and evangelized up until the time of Menno Simons are also part of our history, whether we agree with everything they wrote or not. Chrysostom’s Easter homily is based on a parable of Jesus. Over a thousand years later, the Anabaptists made preaching on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus a standard. Blessings to you.
  Reply
Peter Reimer
28 May 2020
Open to us a door
From the indulgence of hubris
In his recent CM article (May 20/20) entitled “Open to us a door,” Doug Klassen, minister for Mennonite Church Canada comments on the effect of Covid19 on MC Canada churches, revealing and lamenting how “worship focused western churches are at the expense of being missional churches.”
Mr. Klassen has come to see our Covid19 experience as an opportunity to open our doors to our neighbours, to be a part of a community in ways we had not anticipated before, to function much like a parish might function, as opposed to continuing the current model of parachute churches whereby congregants drop-in from far and wide.
Mr. Klassen sees Covid19 as a missional opportunity, identifying the euphoria of being “overwhelmed by God’s presence, mystery and goodness,” and wanting that same thing for the “neighbours and strangers who live around me as well.”
Mr. Klassen neglects to speculate on what these neighbours and strangers might have to offer him. The goodness is strictly a one-way street. Perhaps his neighbour is of Muslim belief, or Hindu, or Buddhist, or (heaven forbid) American Indian, then what? Perhaps all would choose to coexist without the blatant proselytizing evident in Mr. Klassen’s discourse. That would be refreshing indeed.
Missional objectives and intentions seem to be an arrogantly intrusive strategy for furthering the goodness of humanity in our lived experience. Western Christianity has sought to promulgate and propagate its religion in North America since 1492 A.D., at the expense of being followers of Christ as opposed to religious adherents.
Seems to me, that Jesus was “fully human,” and that he set an example of what that might entail at its best. I think it would be better placed if we (MC Canada) would focus on what it might mean to be better human beings (in the Jesus “life well lived” sense), and less focused on conversion therapies and opportunities for an afterlife with the Gods.
Being human is a gift, a tremendous gift that should not be squandered by misdirected religious spiritual efforts. We are not gods, we are gifted with humanity. The time we have now, Covid19 or not, is a marvellous opportunity to become as fully human as possible. Seems probable that this is what Jesus might do.
Reply
1. Doug Klassen
  31 May 2020
  reply to Peter Reimer
  Peter, thank you for your interest in this article. In reading your response, I feel as though my words have been amplified to mean something that I did not intend. As one who has spoken at two Muslim/Christian dialogues, and was the organizer of an ongoing Indigenous/Settler book study group, I assure you that I have received as much as I have given. I have engaged in these activities with precisely the understanding of human flourishing that you suggest. Conversion therapies or escape-to-the-afterlife offers are not part of who I am, nor the gospel that I embrace. It would be good to meet you sometime to discuss further. Blessings to you.
  Reply
2. Elaine Fehr
  10 June 2020
  Blatant hostility towards the Great Commission
  It’s a sad commentary on the Mennonite Church when one of their own reduces the Great Commission of Jesus Christ (Matt 28:18-20) to “conversion therapies and opportunities for an afterlife with the Gods.” How many churches have lost the drive to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ that gives abundant life not only now, but for all of eternity? Walter Bergen is right in saying, “Repentance will precede missional endeavor, if we are to be missional at all.”
  On my way out of a special event at a church that I didn’t normally attend, I saw this over the exit door: “You are about the enter the mission field.” Those few words spoke to me loud and clear.
  Reply
Kathy Shantz
6 June 2020
I agree With Doug Klassen
I agree With Doug Klassen that far too many resources are invested in the weekly worship service. And in many cases worship services have become performance. But the solution in my view is not to become more missional. Peter Reimer is right. No matter how you dress it up, a missional church is just the old arrogant colonizing church. Here’s my COVID-19 reimagining for christians . Jettison the centuries of creeds, theologies and Catholic/Protestant/Sectarian divisions. Divest all assets and return that wealth to the disenfranchised, especially First Nations. Jettison Paul and focus on Jesus the teacher and healer. Make the sermon on the mount the central teaching. Just a modest proposal for a post COVID christianity.
Reply
walter bergen
8 June 2020
response to kathy shantz
be careful what you wish for. burning down the ‘christian barn’ may leave you, and those entrusted to your care exposed to every wind of doctrine, every chaos, pestilence and wayward storm cloud. Every charlatan, ne’er do well, and thug. and when you cry out in despair, will not God say, “i gave you a good barn to shelter you, for you to use wisely, for you and those who seek shelter with you. Why did you burn it down?” be careful what you wish for.
Reply