The Core Foundation

One of the hardest things for most of us to do is to think creatively.  There was a time when those who envisioned the church of tomorrow would tell us to think out of the box.  Perhaps, they still do.  It has been some times since I have been around anyone talking about visioning work.  The problem with the clergy doing it is that no one taught us how to do it.  Back when I was  sitting in seminary classrooms, no one was talking to us about thinking creatively.  And while I cannot speak for today's seminary classrooms, I suspect it is much the same.    

What happens when we begin to think creatively about the church of tomorrow is that we end up with a vision of the church which is too much like the church of the day.  Getting out of the box is a monumental task for most of us.  And if we do manage to get out, we are so bewildered we end up fashioning something using the structures of today's church.    How we get from where we are to there is not as easy as getting a popular church growth expert to speak, or reading the latest trendy book.  What we have learned through experience is that what works in one place is not necessarily something which will work elsewhere.   

I often think the key to thinking creatively about the church is sitting and seeking emptiness.  Or, maybe it is found in the process of letting go of those things which seem to be essential to the life of the church.  If we began with ten and started getting rid of one after another until there was only one, would we end up with a core from which a new vision of the church might be birthed?  I am not sure, but it seems that in the turning loose there might come an awareness of what must be the necessary foundation.