Listening To God
Core Values - 1
6/24/03
 

     We try to be responsive to the questions that come our way when we schedule our "Reflections on Transformation."  We've been asked to write about Core Values and how we go about reaching them in congregations when there may not be a consensus on what is core.  We've also been asked by some of our Advisory Council members to reiterate the centrality of prayer in The Jesus Connection process.
 
     I think that these can be addressed under the theme "Listening to God."  It is essential to suspend many of our presuppositions and simply listen to what God is saying, and discerning where God is leading.  That is why we do not invite pastors to "summits" to receive hours of training on transformational techniques, but instead ask pastors to experience Silent Prayer Retreats where they can listen to God.  That is why we ask congregations to break from the usual routine and enter times of sabbatical and discovery to discern where God is leading them in community life and corporate ministry.  We'd also like as many as possible in congregations to experience Silent Prayer Retreats.  I suspect that in silent times and sabbaticals that God will be heard in new ways, and it can be that the vision of the pastor and core values of a congregation can change significantly as God speaks and calls us into ministry.
 
     I just returned from a camp where I led a group of adults on a week long reflection on prayer ministry using the key verse, "We look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal."  The strong consensus of that group which represented many different congregations was that their churches tended to focus on what could be seen: Programs, budgets, strategic planning, staffing, building, etc.  What might happen if our congregations focused their efforts on prayer and discerning the spiritual reality that is actually more real than that which we can see?  I'd encourage each of you, and your congregation's leaders to pray, and listen, and listen, and listen a little more, until the unseen becomes as important as that which we do see.
 
     Our Core Values cannot simply be the things that the majority thinks are important.  They need to arise from those times, when in the context of listening to God, we discern where the gifts of our congregation can best meet the needs of the world.  In listening we hope that we can all be drawn beyond our presuppositions and prejudices and be agents of transformation in our congregations and the world.
 
 
Loren Olson - First United Church, Little Falls, Minnesota