Shift of Focus and What it Means to Belong

A return to vocational ministry has definitely opened a new chapter in the journey for me. Ever since I felt a calling to ministry, I'd been engaged primarily in worship leading while also being involved in the overall scope of the life of the church I was serving to one degree or another.

A shift of focus to that of small groups and community life has been a refreshing one. It's accomplishing a few things for me. First, it's giving me a fresh focus where most of what I'm doing is new again. Yes, I have some experiences to draw on, but it's all still new enough to me that it will be awhile before I develop the ruts that I will inevitably have to break out of.

The other major thing that it's doing for me is that it's slowly rebuilding my confidence in my calling to serve in the local body. I've stated before that my last position, as much as I loved the people and the task of worship leading, was probably not a good fit for either the church or me. My confidence was torn down brick by painful brick as I wrestled with self doubt and the lack of confidence that others had in me to carry out the ministry. While I was disappointed that things didn't work out, I do believe that God used that in preparing me for a change in focus. I probably needed to be shaken loose from my identity as a worship leader in order to be ready to embrace a new calling.

Another thing that I am finding is that I'm wanting to revisit certain resources knowing that my perspective when interacting with them will probably be a bit different given the implications for a new ministry area. One of the books that I am rereading is The Search to Belong by Joseph R. Meyers. I had picked the book up for the church I was serving in Indiana six years or so ago as a resource for our adult ministries person, but had to read it myself as well. I remember it being thought provoking and having really challenging things to say about the narrow approach to relational ministries that most churches employ.

I'm sure I'll be writing a lot about this as I wrestle through the ideas contained in the book, but a few initial questions have already started to mill about in my head. What does it mean to "belong" (in the sense of community)? Do we as a church communicate that there is a set criteria for what it means to belong ("If you do a, b & c, then you're really a part of the church")? How are we at facilitating multiple, meaningful levels of community for people to connect with?

Trying to ask faithful questions to help us be a richer community is one of the things that I enjoy most. It will be interesting to see where this process leads.