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| The windmills of Lewis County, NY |
Isaiah's image of a stump is seriously relevant here on the edge of the Adirondacks, a vast semi-wilderness that has seen periods of extensive, destructive logging in days past. Areas heavily logged in the 19th century have since grown back to such an extent that they are once again virtually virgin forest, which regenerated themselves from the seas of stumps left behind by the loggers. Re-growth, renewal, and resurrection are thus natural subjects for a declining mainline church in Lewis County, NY.
It's not like todays congregation at FPC, Lowville, is a stump even metaphorically. Like many (most?) churches in the early-middle stages of its decline, it still exhibits a good deal of healthy life. It can still meet challenges. Worship has its moments of meaning, and the members continue to show care for each other. But, the image of the stump and shoots of new growth is still relevant because it holds the promise of something different that an inevitable decline. There is another church tucked away in the body of the 1950s institutional church, a church that seeks to be reborn as a 21st century church—a resurrection church, if you will. Whether or not it ever emerges into full view remains to be seen, and if it does it will bear some of the marks of its past as it should.
The marks of this 21st century church, if it should emerge, will be a livelier worship life built not on the whims and wishes of its pastor but by the work of the congregation itself. It will inspire a deeper understanding of the Christian life and how that life actually works out in practice. It will be more biblically literate and take pleasure in exploring the rich historical Christian literature that inspires deeper reflection. It will continue to be a church that values openness, acceptance, and diversity, qualities it exhibits today. I suspect that the resurrection church, should we ever see it, will be smaller than now but able to win deeper involvement from more people than it does now because of the quality of its life. More than anything else, this resurrection church will seek to understand the ways in which the Spirit moves in its life and care deeply for living in the Spirit as best it can.
Will it eventually start growing in numbers? I don't know. That's not the issue. The issue is discovering where the shoots are growing and nurturing those shoots, leaving to the Spirit how they grow and trusting that they will grow spiritually.
