Sermon Library
“There’s a Hole in the Church”
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
August 24, 2008
Service Theme: Pentecost XV - 2008
Pentecost XV-2008 August 24, 2008
There’s a Hole in the Church
By Gregg Anderson
A Parable
Our friend Thomas Troeger, now at Yale Divinity School, opens his book entitled Preaching While the Church is Under Reconstruction with this parable. It is a parable about a church building, but applies to the status of the church in general. The parable about the physical building seems so real, that one can easily forget that it is a metaphor toward a larger issue of the church. At least this is true for me. Tom received the idea from another source and has expanded on it. Here is the parable.
“Some said there had been too much rain and the roof long cracked after years of stress gave way from water seeping in. Others said what fell from the heavens had nothing to do with it, that the earth had shifted and the church walls had pushed out toward the city market so that the massive mosaic of the Almighty Father had fallen in and left a hole, a silhouette of the icon that used to command the whole church from high above the nave. Services now were held under the God-shaped hole: prayers said, hymns sung, choirs performed, art appreciated, infants baptized, sermons preached, offerings made, communion celebrated, couples wed, the dead remembered. Meanwhile reconstruction began, but it turned out harder than planned. Some folks had taken home bits of the original mosaic as a piece of devotion or historical curiosity, and when it was discovered there was not enough left to restore the original ancient grandeur debates erupted if they should even try to recreate what was lost. Some said they should begin and finish the project as quickly as possible because people were not coming as they used to since the icon had collapsed. Others pointed out new people were entering the church curious about the place in a way they never were before. And these newcomers joined with those who had always been scared by the icon’s fierce eyes to suggest they replace the old image with a new one. The differences about what to do broke into conflict so that for now the construction was nearly halted, though some workers tried to assemble the roof in bits and pieces. But without an overall plan nothing would stay put. Even the stars that surrounded the hole began to fall from the ceiling so that another party arose suggesting they take down the entire edifice and start all over anew – except that the most devout could not bear to lose this or that altar where they had prayed so long and the stones were worn smooth by the knees of many generations. So for the time being all that was done was to rope off the area beneath the God-shaped hole to make sure no one was hit by a piece of mosaic that would fall from time to time from a cracked angel or star and to pray that people would keep coming while the church continued to be, as the sign alerting those who entered said: Under Reconstruction.”
Response to the Parable
Dr. Troeger reports that he receives a wide variety of responses to this parable, from fear and anger to appreciation and alleluias. He states “that preaching nowadays takes place in an edifice of thought and belief which is marked by an unmistakable incompleteness. There are still standing walls and definable space, but there has been a loss of commanding certitude so that preachers are challenged to work toward a new imagining. How do we preach in a church under reconstruction, a church in which many Christians are rebuilding their understanding of belief, worship, and ministry?”
“We need to be institutional realists, coming to terms with new paradigms of the church, the rise of the mega-churches, and the non-denominational movement. This response takes seriously that ‘the church has been in a process of relocation for some time now and we are just coming to admit it. The church is socially dwarfed by other institutions; it is no longer deferred to. Its marginality cuts into the desire of those who want to be a part of majority culture. To be honest, we have to admit that on any given Sunday most members of mainline churches are just a few centimeters away from not attending. The tradition of regular, weekly attendance is no longer automatic.”
Reinvention and Reconstruction
Then Troeger quotes Loren Mead in his book Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier, “The forms and structures, the roles and relationship of the churches we have inherited were formed by paradigms that no longer work for us. We live in the memory of great ways of understanding how to be church and to be in mission. Those memories surround us like ruins of an ancient civilization. Our educational institutions and our structures of leadership and service are likewise conflicted and at war with themselves. How do we build religious institutions within which we can live out our calling to serve the world? How do we form ourselves for missions to the emerging age?”
Personally, I am very familiar with Loren Mead, this book and others by Mead. Mead believes that “our task is no less than the reinvention of the church. It may take several generations. We will not see the end of it, but we must begin now.” Troeger likes both images for the church, reinvention and reconstruction. He leans toward “reconstruction” because it implies that a church is not completely tearing everything down, but utilizing important and sacred traditions while reconstructing parts that have completely fallen down within parts of the church which have been sustained for centuries. We heard Thomas Troeger state in this chapel just last summer the need for both tradition and imagination. Leaders of a church need to have their feet firmly planted, but also visionary. He says, “The public function of such leaders is to give witness to God with an imaginative power that vitalizes the faith and ministry of the congregation.” Many churches are in atrophy and there is a necessary need to present a new compelling sense of the reality of God within the very theology and spirituality of the church.
The Aspen Chapel
I believe the Aspen Chapel was invented to reinvent, reconstruct, re-examine and re-imagine. In the spring of 1968 the founders of this Chapel took a shovel to the ground of this mound at the forefront of Aspen and recited, “Take a setting provided by nature, offering the essence of spirituality in environment. Erect here architecture to evoke the functioning of the concept of engaging religious faith in conversation with the world. To this place gather, in lively encounter, leaders of religious thought to redefine spiritual values, to question, to seek relevant answers in a troubled world. Here create a national-global ecumenical center for seminars and dialogues on theological concerns of contemporary society. It is a testament to remind people in Aspen that there is foremost a spiritual dimension to our existence. It is a center for retreats, for meditation, for special worship services open to all, for musical presentation, for exhibits of art and literature and any other effort to seek paths leading to brotherhood and peace. This is the Aspen Chapel.” I think the Aspen Chapel was slightly ahead of its time. I hope we have been, so far, faithful to this vision.
The first decade of the Chapel, unfortunately, met with marginal fruition. There were a few unfortunate and unforeseen situations which delayed initial expectations. When I arrived in the late Spring of 1978, yes 30 years ago, and the former caretaker slash director moved away, there was not one other soul in Aspen connected in any way to the Aspen Chapel. One might say, there was a pretty big hole. Personally, I saw it as a clean slate and incredible opportunity. All I knew is that a different model of being a church in Aspen needed to be tried. I was told by Professor Harvey Potthoff that a church is as successful as it meets the needs of the people that surround the church. The chapel needed to take the time to discover those needs.
The mission and purpose statement of the Chapel was clearly in place and it always intended to discover the contemporary needs and be open to experimentation. No matter what day to day challenges face any organization, it is the vision, mission and purpose statements which drive it forward. The purpose needs to be repeated and re-repeated like a morning mantra for each and every day. With this unwavering vision, the chapel persevered. Eventually, things began to happen. It is all an interesting process of human dynamics and a physical building. What does it mean to stand proudly and preeminently at the entrance to Aspen? How does the Chapel become part of the very fabric of Aspen?
Always Under Reconstruction
Troeger briefly discusses many changes and fluctuations in the church over the centuries and a significant moral to the parable is that the church is essentially always under reconstruction. In fact it is when the church is challenged, even crumbling, that it creatively discovers new ways of being and existence. Many historians claim that the early Christian church was strengthened by persevering the persecutions. There has always been a hole in the church somewhere during different times of its history. And the goal may not be to just patch up the hole right away, but to be open to the new directions in which a church may see through the hole. Holes are opportunities.
Sit Underneath the Hole and Wait
Troeger recalls one important response to his parable from a Roman Catholic nun. Sister Mary Ann Wiesemann-Mills said to do nothing immediately. We sit underneath the hole and wait. She welcomed the unbounded possibilities that were opened by the God-shaped hole. She believed it was essential that we not rush too quickly through the impasse of conflicting images, but that we live with them as a way of moving more deeply into the mystery of God who holds us in her womb. The solution to the fragmentation lies in something more than busyness. Techniques of growth and vitalization must be rooted in prayer, in a willingness to wait upon the Spirit. Troeger concurred and added that “we need to have a willingness to live with the God-shaped hole rather than rushing to fill it up with the inadequate projections of our nervous hearts.”
Church at a Crossroad in the Twenty-First Century
The mainstream church is at a crossroad at the beginning of this twenty first century. The Christian mega church and conservative religion seen today will not be an answer for all people. It is good that it has become an answer for some if not many. The majority of people in this country who check-off Christian on any form are not involved in any church or anything like a church. What are their needs today? This happens to be particularly true in Aspen. I can say, however, that this little Chapel has connected with the majority of people who live in Aspen in the past 39 years in one way or another even if it was just one time. We have also added a small, but very significant church to this Chapel and are privileged to have an incredible group of loving and caring people who give of themselves weekly and even daily to being a vital congregation among themselves and for the broader community as well. Today, I would be hard pressed to count all the people who are connected to this little Chapel with a vision that is much larger than its building. I could not be more grateful. Thank you all.
The Chapel’s New Hole
This winter we had a record snowfall. It was great for skiers, but not so good for the Chapel. A section of our roof on the west side of the office collapsed from the load of snow. It sat there collapsed through the winter. When spring came and we waited for the snow to melt, Jeannie and I had an idea. Let’s leave it off and put in a window in the wall instead. With that long eve of that roof off, a fantastic view of the mountains was exposed. We literally created a new hole in the Chapel and it is an improvement. Now everyone who comes into the office comments about the great view and all the bright sun light that it admits into a once relatively dark office. This would never have happened without the collapse of that portion of the roof. Yep, I think it’s another parable.
Tomorrow morning, the Administrative and Trustee boards are going to talk about some other holes in the Chapel and the opportunities they present in the immediate future. Meanwhile, like churches through out history, let us always be under reconstruction. And let’s not forget, it was Jesus who really reconstructed the temple and the church. The church has had its ups and downs, but Jesus has always remained the center of the church. And, Jesus continues to be more and more popular with each century. It is still our purpose as the Christian community of the Chapel to follow this Jesus more clearly, more nearly and more dearly. Maybe we should put up a permanent sign outside. “Aspen Chapel under reconstruction – services are now held under the God-shaped hole: prayers said, hymns sung, choirs performed, art appreciated, infants baptized, sermons preached, offerings made, communion celebrated, couples wed, the dead remembered.”
Amen.
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
Aspen Chapel
0077 Meadowood Dr.
Aspen, Colorado 81611
http://www.aspenchapel.org