Do We Opt for Comfort Rather Than Change?

One goal of the Urban Abbey blog is sharing discoveries we run across during our daily times of meditation and prayer. Many of us use a number of different sources and devotionals, so sharing not only our discoveries, but where we found them can be a joy!

Patty (my wife) and I read from Forward Day By Day, a devotional from Forward Movement, "an agency of the Episcopal Church." Today I was struck by the line

"...we have been warned that growth brings change and that change can be scary. Unfortunately, many of us have taken that warning to heart and have opted for comfort rather than change."

St. George's IS changing, and we are not always comfortable. As part of St. George's, our Urban Abbey changes as well.

To make matters a bit more difficult, many of these changes are not things we have control over, we don't have the option of "comfort"... But we do have the comfort of God and our St. George's (and Urban Abbey) communities to hold to during the most uncomfortable of the changes...

May God be in our communities!

Seton

If you wish more information about Forward Movement, you can find it at http://forwardmovement.org/

Here is the Meditation for today (Wednesday, Jan 26, 2011):

wednesday, january 26 (timothy and titus, companions of saint paul)

Isaiah 49:1-12. …saying to the prisoners, “Come out,” to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”

Over the past thirty years, much has been written about church growth and the drop in mainline church membership. I read what pertains to the Episcopal Church, and what I read is usually accompanied by complaints about the direction being taken and some aspect of inclusivity.

When we in the church feel weak or threatened, we tend to be a selective bunch. It has been over ­thirteen years since a new presiding bishop, Edmond Lee ­Browning, issued a historic pronouncement from the pulpit of Washington National Cathedral: “There shall be no outcasts in this church.” Yet, in many parishes it is a struggle to cast our loving, accepting eyes on all those around us.

At every vestry retreat I have ever attended on the subject of church growth, we have been warned that growth brings change and that change can be scary. Unfortunately, many of us have taken that warning to heart and have opted for comfort rather than change.

It is time to reflect on today’s verse from Isaiah and our call to proclaim, “Come out…Show yourselves.” (1998)

PRAY for the Diocese of Lucknow (North India)

Ps 119:49-72 * 49, [53]; Galatians 2:11-21; Mark 6:13-29