Dispersed Church Thinking

"I just returned from a diocesan meeting that reviews the work of mission congregations (mission is an unfortunate term we use to indicate those who receive financial assistance.)

They request a report framed by several "church gathered" questions. I decided to answer them using a two column chart. Once column is titled "Church Gathered" while the other is "Church Dispersed." I then used the two church forms as lens to focus the questions. For example, the first question asks "since the last report, how has the spirit/life of the congregation changed?" I answered the question under the "Gathered" side which produced stock answers with churchy language. When I moved the question to the "Church Dispersed," I first noticed that I needed to radically reinterpret the data.
To illustrate, under the Gathered column I noted that we had three leaders facing significant medical diagnostic tests. That prompted comments about pastoral concerns and support.
When I took that data and view it through the Dispersed lens, I awakened to the fact that three committed Christians were frequenting medical facilities. While I do not yet have ways of knowing much about their experiences, the Dispersed Lens brought better questions into focus: "how does our liturgy help people "be" the church as a patient undergoing tests? How to they encounter Christ in such circumstance? What would help them be a point of God's presence, even in their illnesses? Perhaps other questions will arise.
For now, I realized that merely using the Church Dispersed frame brought a fresh standpoint from which to view the situation.

I know that much of the reporting required in the Episcopal Church USA assumes little beyond the Church Gathered model. I want to push for expanded reporting that includes both church forms. I suspect the change would help new thinking emerge that in turn would suggest fresh ways for the Church Gathered to support the Church when Dispersed."

Rick Brewer