ABOVE: July 2017 composite photo of the 8:00 and 10:30am worshipers.
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A reflection by Danny N. Schweers for January 21, 2024.
Who are we? Recently, I have found myself wondering that about my church. One seemingly simple answer is that the church is its people.
While I was still a child, my father played a game with me. He would interlace his fingers together in a ball with the fingers pointed down and say, “Here is the church.” Then he would raise his two index fingers so the tips touched and say, “And here is the steeple.” Then he would twist his hands inside-out and wiggle all the fingers, saying “Look inside and see all the people.”
My church — the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew in downtown Wilmington, Delaware — just finished its yearly pledge campaign. We did not ask for money; we just asked people to be counted, to make a pledge in any amount. We set 121 as our goal, a modest goal, the same number who had pledged the year before. This week we met that goal, thanks in part to seven youth who pledged for the first time. Others also pledged for the first time.
That got me thinking. If twelve pledged for the first time this year, that means twelve who pledged last year did not: a 10% change. Do a little math. If 10% change every year, in 8 years, half of this year’s people will be gone, replaced by new people. In 15 years, three-quarters of this year’s people will be gone, replaced by others.
How is it then that my church or any organization retains its identity over the years if its members change?
Twenty-four years ago, my wife and I left St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas. Last spring, on Palm Sunday, we visited again. I only recognized six people worshiping there. I had served on the vestry and later on staff, so I had known nearly everyone. Visiting last spring, I still knew my way around, but the church was full of strangers.
You know what it is like. Someone leaves or dies and the place just does not feel the same. New people arrive: they are ciphers! Enigmas! The challenge for us who stay is welcoming them — otherwise, we do not belong. We are as absent as those who have left.
If a church, or any organization, does not get its identity from its people, how does it stay the same over time? Something is going on I do not understand. Nothing unusual there. There is much I do not understand!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Danny chairs SsAM’s Communication Committee. He is an active photographer and writer. Click here to visit his website and make a comment.
See all of Danny’s reflections on this website.
