From journey to pivot: motion and change in congregational life
By Henriette Thompson, October 15, 2020
We Christians are used to “journey” language. Our ancestors in the faith journeyed through the wilderness for 40 years; Jesus journeyed in the desert for 40 days. We are “people of the Way” (the road).
But these days, adjusting to rapid social change requires the ability for churches to pivot on their faith journey. COVID-19, the climate crisis, increased food insecurity, the urgency for racial justice – all are calling us to pivot from our journeys of the past to a new, outward focus.
We don’t do “pivot” (very well). We belong to churches that are institutions and well, you know what they say about institutions: they can be slow to change! To pivot, however, is to rotate, to swivel, to spin or oscillate – it’s not linear movement, it is a movement that is propelled when the end of a shaft rests and turns in a bearing.
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