Across the Pastor’s Desk by Rev. Todd Walsh

Todd Walsh is a pastor at Thorne Crest Senior Living Community.

Community is a remarkable gift.  Christians believe the church community is a gift from God. And like any gift, this one deserves and requires our care and nurture.

The Bible narrates the birth of a Christian community in the account of the crucifixion of Jesus. John 19 records the remarkable event characterized by simple but profound words. 

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother; his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas; and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”

Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

This community is born out of certain defeat, the death of Jesus. But the words of Jesus bring life. The words of Jesus create community. And the followers of Jesus bring his word to life in their lives. The words of Jesus create new relationships given to our care. 

We have in this passage from John a formula for community that is still valid for churches today. Churches are centered on the word of God. Churches are populated by people who seek to live the word of God.

I read a great story about the founding of the Swedish Lutheran church in Red Wing in 1855. The little congregation needed a place to gather, and the Presbyterians were one of the few churches in town to have a building. So the Lutheran pastor went to his Presbyterian colleague and asked if the Swedes could use the building Sunday evenings. The Presbyterian agreed, provided the message contained only “sound doctrine.” How would the Presbyterian know if the sermon was “sound doctrine?” It was in Swedish; he spoke English. 

Many of the church communities around us formed based on the language of those who founded the churches. We have churches that were, for example, originally Norwegian Lutheran, German Catholic or Swedish Baptist. The list goes on. They changed their names once they switched to English in their worship services. Some of those first churches are gone now, but many remain. How do these churches create a distinctive community when language is no longer the definer and unifier of community?

For that matter, how do we create community today?

We have remarkable technology today to communicate. Smart phones are incredible tools for relationships and community. We can reach out to many different people in seconds, and even reach people around the world, but we tend to communicate with a smaller group of people than a generation ago. We use our technology to shrink our community.

We also use our remarkable technology to hear what we want to hear. We like to find the news channel that fits our views, and we tend to switch off a channel that goes against our grain. We can miss out on the growth of hearing different perspectives and being challenged.

Consider also how we build houses today. New homes used to have a front porch where people sat to cool off and see and visit with people walking down the street. The front porch helped us with community. Today, the front porch has moved to the back. We call it a deck and it is meant for privacy, and visitors get there only by invitation.

Retail made the similar shift. The old store fronts downtown are glass to show off product and draw people inside. Minnesota pioneered the shopping mall with its fortress walls and tiny doors to let people in and keep the cold out. Mind you, the stores inside the mall have the traditional store front to draw you inside for a buy.

So, back to my question. How do we form community today?

One of the best communities I have ever been part of was a volunteer fire department. I noticed a couple things.

First, we knew our purpose. That was obvious. Second, we were not a uniform group. We were pretty diverse for a small town. There were a couple pastors, a banker, a county official, mechanics, teachers, and factory and office workers. We didn’t always see eye to eye, but we took our differences and set them to our purpose to protect lives and property.

Let me go back to the Bible passage that started these rambling words. The words of Jesus formed a community in that passage, and those who made that community were a group with differences. But the words of the one who brought them together kept them together and formed them into a community. Those who call on the name of Jesus today are the modern expression of that community.

We have many churches in this community. I dare say the purpose of each of them is to serve the one named Jesus. I would also dare say there is room in each of them to grow.

Growth means numbers. It also means the attitude that says new voices and hands are a gift to better serve our purpose and make community.

Each of our church communities have what they need to thrive: the words of our lord Jesus Christ. Each of our communities become whole when you are part of its life.