Which Future?
This Great Idea has been ruminating for a long time and has been offered in other Great Ideas in other forms. Here’s today’s iteration:
Read Rev. Dr. Cameron Trimble’s What If…? post.
Indulge the world and God’s prophetic voice with a sermon, study, and intergenerational discussion series that engenders openness to possibilities, free-flow of creative visioning, and encouragement of individual and communal transformation (can we all say, “Easter???”)
Share some stories from biblical prophets, especially those who use phrases such as, “You have heard… But I tell you…”:
- 2 Kings 19
- Isaiah 48:6ff
- especially Matthew 5:21ff
Invite adults and young adults (older teens?) to discover Melvin Bray’s Better: Waking Up to Who We Could Be (Chalice) while children read Old Turtle and the Broken Truth (Douglas Wood; Scholastic). And/or do the intergenerational thing inviting children to explore Cory and the Seventh Story and tweens on up to read The Seventh Story (both Brian McLaren & Gareth Higgins).
Consider some of Lewis Center for Church Leadership’s Right Questions (Lovett H. Weems, Jr.), or encourage participants to generate their own new questions (reference Trimble’s What If…? as necessary).
Watch for The Ministry Lab’s Arts & Stories: Re-imagining Community seminar series, launching later this year. Invite folks to imagine a new future: Where do you see God calling your congregation and your community and how can you take steps toward that future?
