The Sunday Tree – part 2
Yesterday's post – a change proposal about cancelling the Sunday service – had interesting comments. I think, though, that to understand the piece, you have to note the opening line of the piece – "Say your church is dying…"
If your Sunday service is vibrant and life-giving, you don't need that particular change proposal. But if Sunday services are simply draining energy, and the only visible shoots of life are elsewhere in the life of the community, then Steve Taylor's change proposal is well worth thinking about. There's no point trying to revive branches that have already died; you chop off the dead bits of plants so that the life can recover elsewhere, just like Steve says. Hey, wait – didn't another Big Man draw an analogy between spiritual life and pruning trees?
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Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
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The other fact that it took me a while to tumble to is that in most congregations many people’s biological mothers are actually dead… Like everything I suppose, there are ways of handling this, but they have to try and be real.
It was unpopular??? I liked it – sent it to a friend who was preaching Sunday and who perked up when I told her about it. We do mother’s day in the spring (May? I always forget but Hallmark reminds me) but my parish is pretty good about keeping away from some of the most sentimental elements of the day. The sunday school makes little gifts for all the women in church (and the same on father’s day) and generally turn it into a celebration of the church family. I enjoyed Kathryn’s post too. Thanks to both of you!
Thanks for kind words…I had my first miscarriage the Friday before Mothering Sunday, which has been a helpful corrective in the years since
During a Catholic Mass I attended on Sunday, we prayed for mothers during the Prayers of the Faithful and sang “O Mother Blest, Whom God Bestows”.
Since the Catholic Church is hardly known for its populism, I find these liturgical choices somewhat ironic in the light of your post!