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Preparation of Seeing, Listening, and Paying Attention

Reaching for a deeper understanding of congregations is simply a more deliberate practice of an art in which people called to ministry are already gifted to one degree or another.  It is an art of seeing, listening, paying attention, and spinning webs of connection with experiences, memories, traditions, and ideas that have gone before. Thomas Frank, The Soul of the Congregation, 13.

Once the connection is made, inspiration flows, and from that comes the vision.  It is the ability to look at that which is and to see to what it can become.  The starting point, of course, is to look at that which is.  This means getting to know a congregation.   It means seeing the people as they are, which might not necessarily mean what the pastor wants them to be.  Somehow, this bunch of sinners has bumbled their way to this point in life.  Something (or Someone) has brought them to this point, for better or for worse.  And something (or Someone) has brought the pastor here as well.

If a pastor wants to know about his or her parishioners, perhaps the best way to find out is to ask.  People like to share their stories (provided they don't feel threatened or exposed).   I believe that if a pastor is willing to spend the time to listen to the individual lives of parishioners, the mark of God will begin to be evident.  And the pastor should not discount other people's investigations as well (aside from the juicy gossip of course).  Mothers and brothers and neighbors have had a lot more contact with family members and many more opportunities to see God at work in their family's life than the resident pastor.  With a little patience, a listening pastor can allow parishioners to do much of the legwork in gathering the messages that the Spirit speaks in their lives.

A Lutheran pastor once relayed the story of his congregations Advent candelabra.  The candelabra had four arms, each with four arms of their own.  When he asked some of the parishioners about it, they told him about its symbolism.  The four original arms represented the four weeks of Advent, and the other four represented…well, something similar (I can't recall).  Fascinated by the story and the candelabra, the pastor mentioned it while visiting the shut-ins in the nursing home.  Excitedly, he told what he had learned about the church to an older man.  "Oh, no," the man replied.  "We saw that at a garage sale and picked it up because it looked good.  I know, because I'm the one who picked it up."

But I believe that God wants pastors to tune in to the Spirit's work in the community in a special way.  Pastors are called to absorb the bigger picture, to try to discern the corporate work of the Spirit.  I recall speaking to a young pastor (age 28).  Every Sunday, he and his brother with a couple of friends would break out the guitars and skins to jam with their congregation who sang songs projected on the wall.   Yes, their style was vastly different from a stereotypical Presbyterian service, but his congregational makeup was vastly different too.  As we spoke about different worship styles, he told me that he believed that God had gifted the church with different worship styles because God had gifted the church with different types of peoples.  I believe that there is a lot to that.  Human beings are not all cut out of the same mold, and neither are the communities that they inhabit.  I believe that God works in unique ways in different communities.  Paying attention involves discerning the uniqueness of God's action in the community's here and now.  What are the traditions?  What aren't the traditions?  Why and why not?  But in it all of this, seeing, listening, and paying attention are only the beginning.  They are the preparatory act of familiarizing one's self with the artist's medium and purpose.  Once that has reached a certain level, then it is time to begin unleashing the power of creativity.

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