I've been thinking about...

...Identity Month.

We have dedicated May 2009 as “Church Identity Month” at the Encanto Community Church.

As a helpful word of background, here is a nice excerpt from Temporary Shepherds (the handbook for interim times). In describing the importance of talking about church identity in the Interim Time, contributor Linda Lea Snyder, describes the work like this:

When we talk about identity, what are we talking about? First, it is the way we understand ourselves. This includes how we think of ourselves and how we describe ourselves to others. Reflect on all the ways we characterize our congregations. We say, for example, that we are friendly or are concerned about mission. We often identity ourselves by our programs or ministries or staff or gifts. We might know who we are by how we spend our money or time, by how big we are, or by how we worship together. Even the things we hope for shape our identities. We ask small children what they want to be when they grow up because those visions tell us something about who that child is today. So our hopes for the future, our experience from the past, and our present realities all combine to form our identity.

Today is the second of a four-part sermon series based on this church's mission statement – Caring Christians Joined in Faith. We'll dedicate a worship service a week to each one of those words and today we'll talk about “Christians”, in the hope that that word continues to define the character and quality (the identity) of this gathered community.

Yours in the journey, Rev. Brian