Dear Friends in Christ:
Election seasons can be hard for churches, especially for “purple” congregations such as FPCA. While we always have different experiences, different perspectives, and different ideas, in election seasons, those differences can loom much larger. We find it harder to navigate those differences when political consultants are doing their best to elevate our anxiety and anger, knowing those are powerful motivating forces for getting votes. And when anxiety and anger enter the picture, we are far from our best.
Writing in “Faith and Leadership,“ a publication of Duke Divinity School, Andy Stanton-Henry of the Earlham School of Religion has good counsel for us all. The key, he writes, for congregations and their pastors “is not to ignore politics completely or feign some kind of fuzzy centrism. The call is not to preach a religious left, right or center but to stay centered. By ‘centered’ I mean spiritually centered, as in calm, nonanxious and grounded…But I also mean theologically centered, as in focused on what’s central in our faith — like the gospel, the kingdom, the body of Christ.” Stanton-Henry also advises that as the body of Christ in this difficult season, we need to make a special point of investing in what he calls “relationship capital.” “To stay human in this inhuman age, we can turn off the television and turn to one another. We can invest in the relational capital that will sustain both our sanity and our ministry.”
There is no better way to stay centered and invest in relationship capital than to worship and pray together, and to share time, ministry, food, fun, joys, and sorrows together. Even if we disagree politically, we can make a special effort to pray for and take care of each other. And, we can center ourselves by focusing on “Fruits of the Spirit,” the theme of this Fall’s preaching series. We begin this week with the virtue, or quality of the Christian life, which C.S. Lewis once called the key to all of the other virtues: “courage.”
Grace and peace,
P.S. Another way you can invest in relationship capital is to join us for one of the four Adult Faith Formation options offered each Sunday at 9:50 a.m. (more details below).
