Clergy Blog: "On Change and the Church" by the Rev. Nurya L. Parish

Contrary to popular wisdom, the proper first response to a changing world is not to ask, ‘How should we change?’ but rather to ask, ‘What do we stand for and why do we exist?’ This should never change. And then feel free to change everything else.

- Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras

It has become commonplace to suggest that the twenty-first century is a time of unprecedented change both for the church and for the world. But over the two millennia of our existence, the church has seen countless changes.

The Roman Empire rose and fell. The Great Schism led to two separated churches, East and West. Through the development of the printing press, texts became accessible to the masses. Literacy, once the privilege of the few, became the right of the many. The Reformation reorganized the church again. And now, the rise of the Internet is reshaping civilization as we know it. 

“What’s past is prologue; what’s to come, in yours and my discharge,” wrote Shakespeare. In response to today’s changing world, this summer at General Convention the church unanimously decided to appoint a task force to recommend restructure at the national level. 

More recently, our neighbors in the Diocese of Indianapolis passed a similar resolution focusing on the diocesan level. Most likely, your church also is wondering how best to change to meet the times.

Collins and Porras advise that the future of the church rests in rediscovering our core purpose and principles, and reshaping our forms and structures to express them appropriately today. The first question to ask in any change initiative is “Why are we here?” Our catechism responds: “the mission of the church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ” (BCP, 855).

This stated purpose claims two universal truths: first, that we live in a world where people are no longer at unity with God and one another; second, that the restoration of this broken world is found in Christ. As the church, we accept these truths, pay attention to them, and proclaim them to the world.

“The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord,” sings the hymn. As we change to meet the times, this cannot change. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). In fact, it is He who leads us ever forward, that generations to come might also know his name and participate in the restoration of the world which he both began and continues until the end of time.

The Rev. Nurya L. Parish, is the associate priest at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids. She can be emailed by clicking here. Her blog is called Plainsong Farm.