Together on the Journey: A Weekly Blog from Fr. Andrew Sheldon
I have long espoused the view that the metaphor of family is not a helpful one when speaking of a church congregation. I don’t deny that Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ, or that we are all of us children of God. I just believe that to use the notion of family when speaking of a congregation is highly problematic. In the first place, for too many, the family is the source of pain, brokenness, and even abuse. Blood is thicker than water, but sometimes the blood is all over the floor! Furthermore, even the most functional and loving families are decidedly exclusive affairs. Families live in private dwellings and engage in private events. The only way into the space or the proceedings is through invitation. Many of us can attest, for instance, just how difficult it can be to get into a family. And so, the family, for better or worse, is not really the image that the church is hoping to project. After all, we certainly don’t want our church to be difficult to get into.
But another problem with the family metaphor is that most families tend to look alike. I don’t just mean physical characteristics, although that is often very much the case; I write this as I note my son’s hairline gradually receding! But families also tend to look alike in educational and socio-economic ways; in general world views; in ideological leanings. There are exceptions, of course, but in my experience, there is a certain sameness to families.
This is also often true for churches. A sameness, in status, in outlook, and yes, in physical characteristics like skin colour. But as with the family metaphor, this phenomenon is problematic. Church congregations are not meant to look alike, they are meant to look like the community that surrounds them. And the community that surrounds St George’s is an increasingly diverse one.
Skin colour, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, age and stage – the ideal is that those who make up the congregation of St George’s conforms to those who make up the community of central Etobicoke. As such, we need to be intentional about constantly looking at the community around us, looking at the people who populate our pews, and asking the question: does the latter look like the former? If not, then we have work to do.
I do celebrate the fact that St George’s does increasingly look like the community we serve. But let us be vigilant in ensuring that as our community changes and grows and becomes diverse in ways that we may not even imagine, that we keep pace. And if the metaphor of St George’s as a family continues to be attractive to you, then don’t forget that in the case of church, diversity is a family value.
Andrew +
