Caring for Orchids and Relational Ministry
I love orchids. On my kitchen window sills rest six different orchid plants of various sizes. Most are at least three or four years old and bloom twice a year. One smaller plant has looked healthy since my sister gave it to me after the blooms fell off two and a half years ago. It has yet to flower again despite its healthy leaves and stems. No matter what I do, no flowers have emerged, nothing has changed. One of the larger plants was knocked over a few months ago, snapping off a stem with flowering buds. A new stem emerged a few days later and has already produced one single flower. I can’t figure out why they grow differently.
My process for caring for the orchids is simple. About once a week, I pull the plants out of their pots and run lukewarm water over their roots and dampen the soil. Sometimes I miss a week. Once in a while I will have to clip off a dead stem. The process is teaching me patience, the need for regular but not overwhelming commitment, and that the life of the plants is much more resilient than I would have expected.
Relational seems to be a new (maybe re-emerging) way of describing ministry. It certainly seems to resonate with Jesus’s ministry of spending time with those on the margins, of knowing people’s names, and of being present. There seems to be a push for churches to move from providing goods and services to being in a relationship with others. On popular reference in these circles, Broadway United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, canned every outreach program in order to focus on building relationships with their neighbors. They trained roving listeners and developed skills in Asset Based Community Development. One of the sessions we use out of the Holy Currencies Curriculum for our congregational training in the diocese that seems to most successful in help churches make a shift in their approach is called “From Task to Relationship.” One of the key shifts we are trying to make as a diocese is to move from need-based to relationship-based ministry.
One month ago, at our annual diocesan convention, when prompted with a question about the needs of the neighbors in our local communities, a congregational leader answered, “We don’t know their needs. Things seem just fine. We have made lots of assumptions, but we don’t know how to really get to know our neighbors.”
I think there is some risk in thinking there is a magic formula that will enable us to know every detail about the people who live in our community. We become lured into the belief that if we just change this one thing about the way we function or program, everything will be fixed and we will live in perfect relationship and harmony with our neighbors.
But I wonder instead, if relationships in ministry, especially with those who are not a part of our faith communities, are a lot like caring for orchids. We say hello every week or so. Sometimes we miss a week or two. We ask questions about our local barista’s mother, or we shop locally and make a point of getting to know who lives next door. Maybe we leave our smartphones in the car when we shop or dine, or make the conscious decision to cut back from our Amazon.com purchases. And maybe, we have to see this as a necessary component of our faith, the need to be a part of a local neighborhood economy. But this does not mean that as a faith community we will see instant results or radical changes right away. That is what we can't be lured into believing. I am however confident that from time to time, we will be absolutely amazed at the beauty that emerges. And this beauty will be well worth the gift.
Next Diocesan Holy Currencies Workshop scheduled for January 23rd at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral. Email John Burruss for more information.
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