Whose transformation?
I once had occasion to meet with a potential confirmation student at a Subway restaurant. He was 6 feet tall, dressed like a punk and played in a rock band. I fed him a sandwich and tried to explain why he should invest two years of Sunday afternoons studying the art of Christian discipleship. I suddenly realized, sitting across from him, that after 15 years in ministry, I still didn’t know how to witness to someone about my faith.
Around that same time, I was encouraged by my Presbytery to learn about church transformation: how churches can be revitalized for regrowth. I went to a lot of workshops on this topic. They covered spiritual practices and the importance of becoming more missional. There were workshops on how to connect with the neighborhood and turning committees into Task Forces, Teams or Ministries. But more than any of that, I was discerning that transformation is not just about what happens in a church. It’s also about what happens in a person.
The church I served during those years was not “transformed” for growth. In fact, it died. But I think I was transformed through experiences like the one with the teenage boy. I am slowly learning to be transformed by my faith, and learning how to transmit my enthusiasm about discipleship to others.
