As we face crises of public health, racial inequality, and economic turmoil, Church Anew sought to help pastors, church leaders, and congregation members harness resiliency to respond to the immediacy of these issues.

We asked ourselves, “How can we set the table for mutual learning in this moment?”

We found an answer in our first virtual event, Being Church Today, presented online on Monday, August 17 and now available through on-demand access. The event gathered a diverse set of nationally-recognized thought leaders that gave personal, action-inspiring seven-minute presentations from their own homes on the most pressing issues of our time. Over 1,500 clergy, church staff, and volunteers registered for this event, looking for guidance, dialogue, and community in a digital environment.

Award-winning author and speaker Diana Butler Bass opened her presentation with a question:

“What do we do? How do we lead? What is that authentic place of leadership? I've wondered about this in my own life. And I've thought a lot about different verses that have framed my understanding of who I am as a Christian, and they have served as powerful guides when I have felt lost or needed something to lean into as a leader.”

Dr. Butler Bass cites Galatians 3:28 as her verse of guidance: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” 

This creed and statement of faith was about the struggle of the church against bigotry, slavery, and sexism. It affirmed the identity of the Christian community as people who stood against barriers of class division, ethnicity, and gender.

Likewise, Dr. Joy Moore, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Academic Dean of Luther Seminary, referenced this passage in her talk as well:

“Paul begins to dismantle the very systems of the ancient culture, the caste system, the class system, slave and free, ... the only thing that matters is this lasting mandate that humanity is created to bear the image of God.”

Being Church Today also featured speakers such as Rev. Emmy Kegler of Grace Lutheran Church in Northeast Minneapolis who spoke about complacency in the church, particularly in leadership:

When we are unwilling to be uncomfortable, we perpetuate violence against those on the margins. We teach girls to be quiet about their abuse. We refuse to be the one person who can make a 29 percent difference in trans youth suicidal ideation. We raise and confirm Dylann Roof.

And with that recognition came a challenge:

“So for a moment, I want you to reflect: how are you willing to be uncomfortable? Then I want you to hear, don't do that. Because we have been following our wills and where we are willing to be uncomfortable for far too long. Instead, the question I want to commission you with is: where does God's world need you to be uncomfortable?”

Church Anew hopes to help congregations thrive today and in the years to come by investing in sustained involvement in the communities they serve.

By being a voice for justice both in the church and out in the streets, pastors, staff, and volunteers can lead with their actions and actively encourage understanding and inclusion in their congregation members, engaging new people along the way. 

Nationally-renowned author and friend of Church Anew, Brian McLaren, called on us to be more inclusive, to push boundaries, and care for our earth:

To be church today means to rediscover the revolutionary message of Jesus for people in a catastrophic situation. Not an evacuation plan about leaving earth or heaven when you die. But a transformation plan about loving God, yourself, your neighbor, and this precious Earth. 

Referencing the late John Lewis, McLaren encouraged attendees to make “Good Trouble” and included people on the margins. 

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church sought to answer the question: What is the specific contribution of the church in this moment?

“What can churches do in such a time as this? Churches can bear witness to the fate they hold in the way of Jesus of Nazareth, his way of love, unselfish, sacrificial love, as the way to the very heart of God, into each other's hearts as the way to life.” 

Paraphrasing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bishop Curry cautioned us:

“We will either learn to live together as brothers and sisters, or we will perish together as fools. The choice is ours: chaos or community.” 

Maybe you are inspired by the words of these speakers, but wonder how to sustain momentum. Tyler Sit, church planter of New City Church in Minneapolis, reminded us there is resilience in nurturing the energy necessary to bring about positive change in your community:

“What we wanted to prevent was this bump of reactive energy that fizzled out and then everyone just went back to normal … Christians are particularly positioned as people of resurrection to have a hope that on the other side of discomfort, there's a new world that God is making for us.”

Another six distinguished speakers as well as local Minneapolis artists and leaders spoke to the challenges we face and the actions we can take in this moment. The event also featured a live chatbox where attendees connected and shared the communities they came from, how the presentations challenged them, and what they will bring back to their own congregations. 

Church Anew is drawing upon the wisdom and mutual learning from our communities to forge resiliency and the courage to take action.

By equipping leaders and community members with tangible ways to address grief, division, and uncertainty, we can move closer toward God’s beloved community. 

This only scratches the surface of the practical and thought-provoking content offered in this event. On-demand access to the recording is still available for $49. Keep an eye out for upcoming virtual conferences as well as the Church Anew Blog to strengthen our relationships with each other, ourselves, and God.