Dear friends in Christ,

A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with a friend from one of the larger Episcopal congregations, and she told me they’d recently had a zoom class to welcome 48 (!) new members. I was astounded. And then I started hearing lots of reports from all across the country of new members joining churches, even though their encounter with the church has been through online worship only.

As I thought about it, I realized it makes sense. This time of year is one that often brings seekers and, potentially, new members to churches. Why should it be different just because most churches are not meeting in person? People are still hungry for connection with God and with their neighbors.

A Pew Research Center survey found that about a quarter of Americans had experienced a stronger faith during the pandemic. My own anecdotal experience suggests that there is a growing hunger for encounter with scripture during this time. In other words, perhaps this time of upheaval is pushing people to examine what’s important. Maybe this is a natural time for people to seek participation in a church community. Might the sacrifices of this time of pandemic invite connections to the costly discipleship to which our Lord Jesus invites us?

Outdoor Sunday service at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, RI

I mention all this because I think some church leaders have concluded that the pandemic must be a time of retrenchment, not growth. That’s probably the right posture in some congregations. But in many others, this could be be a fruitful time of numerical and spiritual growth.

Now, before I suggest some ways to nurture growth, I want to acknowledge that the pandemic is exhausting for many leaders. There are good physiological reasons for this. If you are a leader who cannot imagine anything beyond survival, please know that getting through this time is more than sufficient. Also know that others can help you and support you.

That said, if you and your church have the capacity for some new things, this could be a time of growth.

• This is a good time to start or expand or rethink online education and formation offerings, especially Bible studies.
• With more engagement online, have a look at your website. Is your information updated for current practices—and does it also give a sense of what practices were like before the pandemic (that is, what folks might expect in the future)?
• Instead of greeters in the back of the church, maybe you need to commission online greeters who can notice new faces in online worship and in classes, and make connections to invite your guests to know more about your church.
• Do you have a way to incorporate new members now?
• Can you equip your current members to invite others to join your church? In some ways, it’s easier to invite someone to “come to church” now, because seekers can explore your church from the comfort of their couch.

Of course, I don’t know the context of your local church, and I don’t know how you and your church’s lay leaders and clergy are doing. Getting through this pandemic might be plenty. But if you’re up for growth, every sign I’m seeing says it’s possible now.

Our world sometimes seems like it’s spinning out of control. Now more than ever, people need what the church has to offer: the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a community of disciples who follow a way of justice, hope, love, compassion, mercy, and grace.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Subscribe to receive Forward Today in your inbox.

Tune in!

Listen to today’s Forward Day by Day reflection on the Forward Day by Day podcast. Find morning prayer on the Morning at the Office podcast and end your day with the Evening at Prayer podcast. Available anywhere you listen!

In case you missed it…

A Season of Prayer: For an Election | The Episcopal Public Policy Network & Forward Movement

Free Forward Day by Day Email | Forward Movement

The Verdant Greening of Joy | Grow Christians

Now available: Come & See | Forward Movement

Dear friends in Christ,

There’s a lot going on these days, and the burden of it all can be daunting. We face political rancor, a fearsome pandemic, terrible fires, powerful storms, and the resulting economic uncertainty. 2020 is turning out to be an annus horribilis like none other.

People are suffering in large and small ways, and it’s not always visible. That person who always puts on a smile might be filled with dread. The cheery colleague might secretly be overwhelmed by fear and anxiety. We build personal walls to conceal our pain. It is the way of our culture.

Masks don’t just protect others and us from a virus. We use masks—literal and metaphorical—to protect us from the vulnerability of admitting our struggles.

It’s no different in church.

I hope we can all check in with one another. Offer tangible help if it’s needed, and ask for help if you can find the strength to do the very difficult thing of admitting not everything is under control. Within our churches, people may have needs that run the gamut from monetary support to emotional pain, from loneliness to anxiety. We often do a great job of caring for one another, and this might be the time to make sure we’re doing our best.

Your clergy bear a particular burden. Your priest has the task of caring for your congregation, and the burdens of that work can be considerable. Priests and deacons are often ordained with a strong pastoral sense, a desire to care for others. And that is harder to do when we are dispersed outside our churches. The peculiar challenges of this time may also push more people into emotionally fraught places. Priests with oversight of churches may keenly feel the weight of this moment.

Pray for one another, but especially pray for your clergy. They are certainly praying for you! Perhaps you will reach out to your clergy and offer reassurance and support. Don’t delay!

I say all this not because clergy are needier or holier or more special than others, but simply because caregivers themselves may need a bit of care. Of course, the same is true for doctors, nurses, first responders, and others. Thank them, pray for them, and offer tangible support—a meal, a kindness, a hand-written note.

You might read all this and worry about me. I’m fine, really. It’s a blessing to work with supportive colleagues at Forward Movement, and I’ve just come back from a vacation (which I highly recommend!). Sometimes after Forward Today goes out, I receive kind notes from readers, and I am always grateful. But today, please send your kind notes to someone else, someone who might be struggling.

We’ll get through this time, by the grace of God and because we are all in it together.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Subscribe to receive Forward Today in your inbox.

Photo: Pixabay

Tune in!

Listen to today’s Forward Day by Day reflection on the Forward Day by Day podcast. Find morning prayer on the Morning at the Office podcast and end your day with the Evening at Prayer podcast. Available anywhere you listen!

In case you missed it…

A Season of Prayer: For an Election | The Episcopal Public Policy Network & Forward Movement

Free Forward Day by Day Email | Forward Movement

Enough Love to Go Around | ECF Vital Practices

This is NOT Sunday School | Forward Movement, ChurchNext, Forma

Dear friends in Christ,

What is the church? There are a lot of answers to this question. A building. An institutional structure. A gathered group of Christians. Over the years and centuries, the church in all its forms has looked different in varied times and places.

During this time of pandemic, the church looks different. I take comfort in knowing that the church has always been on a bit of a journey. So it need not shock us that things look different now.

Of course, this doesn’t take away our grief at missing things that we cannot now have. I dearly miss receiving Holy Communion. And I yearn for the day when I can belt out a hymn with a full congregation. Still, we know that Jesus Christ is present in the church, even when the church looks different from what we are used to or what we prefer. Thanks be to God.

I’ve been thinking about all this. How can we carry on the essential aspects of church life even when we can’t gather—or when we can only gather in very limited ways?

Worship is surely a more satisfying experience in a full church, but we can worship in our homes. We can tune into a webcast, but we can also just grab our prayer book and offer our prayers and praises individually or with others in our household.

We can offer our daily prayers and we can read scripture on our own, or with an online group. We can support mission outreach and social justice work with our financial gifts or in other ways, even if we can’t get together with our usual team at church.

In other words, the church can thrive now. Many congregations have discovered this, and they have adapted to our present reality. It’s possible that we won’t ever go back to the way things were in 2019. Maybe online daily prayers are here to stay. Maybe online bible studies are going to stick around. Time will tell.

But we also have to be mindful of all the ways we are leaving people out. Are we supporting people in worship who do not have internet access? Are we using online tools to support worship and learning in life-giving ways? We at Forward Movement have been looking for gaps—places where local churches might need help. We think we found one, and we have an answer.

A new offering called “This is NOT Sunday School” will launch in mid-September. Hosted by ChurchNext and taught by our friends at Forma, this is a new online, weekly, free, and intergenerational way to learn together. Your family—whatever your ages—can gather and learn some of the great stories of the Bible together. Learn more and sign up at the ChurchNext website.

This is one example of a creative solution to how we need to grow into this new time. I wonder what other needs you see? Are there ways in which the church can thrive in ways it has never grown?

We’re watching, listening, and praying here at Forward Movement. We want to inspire disciples and empower evangelists now as ever.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Subscribe to receive Forward Today in your inbox.

Photo: Christ Church Charlotte

Tune in!

Listen to today’s Forward Day by Day reflection on the Forward Day by Day podcast. Find morning prayer on the Morning at the Office podcast and end your day with the Evening at Prayer podcast. Available anywhere you listen!

In case you missed it…

Lifting Every Voice | Earth & Altar

Saint Bartholomew and Brokenness | Grow Christians

The Way of Love: A Practical Guide to Following Jesus | Forward Movement

Make Me an Instrument of Peace: A Guide to Civil Discourse | ChurchNext

Dear friends in Christ,

I’ve had a couple of conversations lately about church growth during this time of pandemic. At first, it seems counter-intuitive. How can we be growing when many of us can’t even gather in person for worship and learning?

Of course, there are many kinds of growth in the church. There’s spiritual growth, in which current members grow deeper in their faith. We think about that a lot in our RenewalWorks ministry. Then there is numerical growth, when we see our churches growing to include more people. I believe the church needs both kinds of growth—depth and number.

During the crises we now face—pandemic, growing awareness of racial injustice, politics—the church will rightly begin with a compassionate response to those in need. We can’t neglect our care of those who are affected by illness or the economic downturn or other forms of crisis. But we also should not lose sight of growth. After all, Jesus told us our main task is to make disciples.

I encourage you to think about what growth might look like in your own congregation. Can you use traditional methods or find new ways to encourage spiritual growth? Hold classes online. Send out materials to empower people to start new prayer practices. Encourage Bible study. These can be done well in person or online.

And then there’s numerical growth. I’m heartened by several recent stories I’ve heard about churches that are gaining new members even now. Everything that is happening in the world is pushing people to search for meaning and hope, so it’s not surprising people would be looking for churches. Are you ready to welcome them? Are you ready to invite people to join you?

I saw a Facebook post from one church holding a newcomers class online—and there were a LOT of squares on the Zoom screen. We can grow, even now.

I’ve started a video interview series in which I talk with people about discipleship and church growth. Perhaps one of these conversations will inspire you to think about discipleship and church growth at your church, even during a pandemic.

• I spoke with the Rev. Kate Wesch from West Seattle about her congregation’s remarkable numerical and spiritual growth, mostly through Bible study and learning about our faith.
• The Rev. Nurya Love Parish and I talked about her small church that has grown by embracing their core purpose and by focusing on discipleship.
• Early in the pandemic, I talked with the Rev. Jason Prati about how his church was responding to the pandemic and still growing. It was back in April, which seems an eternity ago, but there are still lessons to learn.
• Just recently, I had a chance to talk about innovation, success, failure, and growth with the Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija. Sometimes we have to fail in order to learn, and that’s OK!

Let us all keep our eye on growth. There are people all around us who need to hear a word of hope, mercy, grace, and love. In the name of Jesus Christ, tell them some Good News.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Subscribe to receive Forward Today in your inbox.

Photo: Pixabay

Tune in!

Listen to today’s Forward Day by Day reflection on the Forward Day by Day podcast. Find morning prayer on the Morning at the Office podcast and end your day with the Evening at Prayer podcast. Available anywhere you listen!

In case you missed it…

Peace, Be Still | Grow Christians

Guide us in the Way of Justice and Truth | Earth & Altar

The Way of Love: A Practical Guide to Following Jesus | Forward Movement

Make Me an Instrument of Peace: A Guide to Civil Discourse | ChurchNext

Dear friends in Christ,

It’s funny what sticks in our memory and what doesn’t. As a preacher, I sometimes wonder what anyone will remember an hour after I finish the sermon. For my part, there are a few sermons I remember years later (and some I forget seconds later). Today I’m thinking of one sermon that’s stuck with me. I heard it as a child in elementary school.

The preacher was speaking about the Gospel passage we hear this Sunday—Peter walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). The relevant part is brief:

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

In the sermon I remember, the preacher assumed Jesus was angry or disappointed. And the preacher said Peter blew it by not trusting Jesus and keeping faith.

That stuck with me, and, for a while, I agreed with that reading. Now I think it is 180 degrees wrong.

Have you ever walked on water? I haven’t! I cannot imagine having the faith that would make this possible! The point is not that Peter failed to keep walking on the water, but rather that Peter managed even a few steps. What is the relationship between Peter and Jesus in this moment? We often don’t have emotional adjectives in the Bible, so we have to be careful what we project onto the speakers.

It seems to me that Jesus was offering compassion. After all, he reached out his hand for Peter. His question may have been asked in pity or in sorrow or in wonder.

Reading the passage as I suggest, it teaches us that we should not beat ourselves up when we fail to keep faith. Rather, we should rejoice for those faithful moments in our lives. And we should know that our Lord Jesus reaches out to catch us when we fail. Jesus offered grace to Peter again and again. Of all the people Jesus could have chosen to lead the church, he chose impetuous Peter, though Peter was often loudly and completely wrong.

Jesus chooses us, too. When we lose our faith, we need only to cry out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” And Jesus will catch us.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Subscribe to receive Forward Today in your inbox.

Image: Lorenzo Veneziano, Public domain

A Covid-19 Spiritual Survival Kit

Isolated, anxious, and unsure of what will happen next, our response to the virus has already taken months, and we don’t know when it will end. What can we do to take care of ourselves and others during this difficult time? How can we rely on God to help us survive—spiritually, physically, and emotionally—and to do God’s work in the world? In this course, four instructors offer suggestions to help us manage this period of anxiety and social isolation. This course is being offered for free.

Tune in!

Listen to today’s Forward Day by Day reflection on the Forward Day by Day podcast. Find morning prayer on the Morning at the Office podcast and end your day with the Evening at Prayer podcast. Available anywhere you listen!

In case you missed it…

Share it Forward Packs are now available! | Forward Movement

The Stone Will Be Rolled Away | Grow Christians

All Loving God, It is Night | Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices

Check out our new digital catalog | Forward Movement

Dear friends in Christ,

This coming Sunday’s collect seems particularly appropriate for this moment in our common life.

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In this time of pandemic, when we worry about our health, surely we want to pray that our churches might continue in safety. And praying that our church might be cleansed is especially fitting when disinfectants are selling like never before.

But of course, the collect isn’t really about the church in a time of pandemic.

Those of us who live in the United States are blessed to dwell in a land where we Christians are not persecuted for our religion. While some nations may need to pray for the church to be defended from persecution and other terrors, the threats to the church are different here. Our chief danger is complacency. We might enjoy the comforts of life and the privileges of the church so much that we fail to be convicted and transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Another collect asks God to help us make no peace with oppression. Our church must be cleansed from its timidity in the face of injustice, from its enjoyment of wealth and privilege, and from its failure to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ.

The church has truly known the goodness of the Lord, but it is also true that we have sometimes fallen short of our high calling. Let us treasure all that is good, while praying for defense from all that draws us away from Jesus. Let us seek an awareness of God’s continual mercy in our church and in our lives.

While our churches are fully or partially dispersed, I hope we will take the time to pray and to take stock of how well we have allowed Almighty God to govern our church with goodness. This uprooted time prevents us from our business as usual and invites reflection and redirection. How can we grow as disciples during this pandemic? How can we meet the increasing needs of our world, caused by disease and economic crisis?

So, yes, by all means, pray that the church be cleansed and defended from a deadly virus. And beyond that, let us all pray fervently that our church is cleansed and defended from all that holds us back from our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ, living transformed lives to change the world by God’s grace.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Subscribe to receive Forward Today in your inbox.

Image: Larry Lamb, Flickr

A Covid-19 Spiritual Survival Kit

Isolated, anxious, and unsure of what will happen next, our response to the virus has already taken months, and we don’t know when it will end. What can we do to take care of ourselves and others during this difficult time? How can we rely on God to help us survive—spiritually, physically, and emotionally—and to do God’s work in the world? In this course, four instructors offer suggestions to help us manage this period of anxiety and social isolation. This course is being offered for free.

Tune in!

Listen to today’s Forward Day by Day reflection on the Forward Day by Day podcast. Find morning prayer on the Morning at the Office podcast and end your day with the Evening at Prayer podcast. Available anywhere you listen!

In case you missed it…

Share it Forward Packs are now available! | Forward Movement

Masks as a Sign of Love | Grow Christians

Whatever you do now will prepare you for what you can do in the future
Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices

Check out our new digital catalog | Forward Movement