How to Be a Congregation

Last time we talked about the job of the pastor, so this time we're discussing the job of the congregation, which is a bit like the old Atari video game Pitfall—look out for those alligators, especially if you're one of Jesus' sheep. But most of the time it's just the sheep learning to bear with one another, and bear one another's burdens: a whole zooful of grace, evidently. Also, what to think about the roof, and how to navigate the inevitable requirement these days of being a church shopper.

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Notes:

1. Hari, Lost Connections

2. For background on this episode, have a (re-)listen to One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church: The Worst Thing in the Best Words.

3. Dad has been talking about beloved community for a long time now: see Luther and the Beloved Community and plain ol' Beloved Community

4. Luther, without a trace of irony, calls the church "a little holy group and congregation of pure saints, under one head, even Christ, called together by the Holy Ghost in one faith, one mind, and understanding, with manifold gifts, yet agreeing in love, without sects or schisms" in the Large Catechism.

5. H. R. Niebuhr, The Social Sources of Denominationalism

6. Not discussed here but relevant: The Church Has Left the Building; Rebuilt; Christianity Rediscovered

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