Jesus welcomed everyone, so why do His followers have such a hard time doing it? Episcopal priest Stephanie Spellers of an emergent congregation called ‘The Crossing’ in Boston says the key is listening.
Steph’s ministry first caught my eye when everyone around me began raving about her book Radical Welcome. In our interview Rev. Spellers says listening to people and the God’s ever-present Spirit’s beckoning to openness, is the key to congregational growth.
Watch the Full Program:
Prefer to listen? Click here for the Mp3.
The Synopsis
5 years ago Stephanie Spellers and a handful of congregants at Boston’s Episcopal Cathedral began dreaming about what their perfect congregation might look like. They deeply listened to one another and decided it would be a place where gatherers would look for Jesus in everyone – turning away no one. It’s led to a pretty cool congregation. Here are my notes from the interview:
It’s All About Listening
Sure we all listen to each other, but too often we have an agenda. How open are we to truly opening ourselves up to the voices of others, especially the marginalized (as Jesus did)? Allowing these voices to shape our congregations can open us up to an unprecedented move of the Spirit.
Expect Transformation
The reason most congregations are stagnant is because many of them do not cultivate an atmosphere of transformation. Rev. Spellers says when a congregation is open to the transforming presence of the Spirit in worship, growth is likely.
The Institution as an Incubator
What starts out as a movement always turns into an institution. So we need to use our denominational frameworks not to impede but to create and leverage. How are we using the best of our heritage to birth something new?
About Stephanie Spellers
The Rev. Stephanie Spellers is the lead organizer of The Crossing, an emergent community based at the Episcopal Cathedral in Boston.
Books Rev. Spellers Recommends:
Other – Kester Brewin
Going Global with God - Titus Pressler
The Flame of Sacred Love – Brother Ramon
Sponsors I Mentioned:
Church Post – If you are looking to improve your church’s communications you’ve got to check out this great email platform. I’ve found it easy-to-use, reliable, and John, Debra and Kim are great to work with.
Wistia – If you’re still hosting your videos at YouTube or another ‘free’ video sharing site you know the drawbacks. Wistia helps me put out great looking videos and see who’s watching for how long. The Wistia staff is easy to work with and very professional.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] First, the rundown: One of the earliest and most solid attempts to describe or define the emerging conversation is provided by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger. Grounded by qualitative research that involves a significant number of emerging church communities and extensive interviews and document analysis, Gibbs and Bolger identified three core commitments and six resulting practices in these churches. At their core, these churches 1) identify with the life of Jesus (as opposed to creeds or denominations) 2) transform secular space (don’t hold to a sacred/secular dualism), and 3) are committed to community as a way of life (the church as ‘a people’ or family, not an institution). The practices that follow include, welcoming the stranger, serving with generosity, participating as producers, creating as created beings, leading as a body, and taking part in spiritual activities. And that is just one summary of the characteristics of emerging churches, but others capture similar patterns and practices. [...]
[...] round table discussion between Brian McLaren, Lauren Winner, Rev Nadia Bolz-Webber, and Rev Stephanie Spellars (see photo [...]