(Cross posted by permission from my personal blog at Credo ↔ Oratio.)
Every year, as Synod approaches, I talk to the congregation I pastor about what's on the docket and what kinds of things the delegates are going to be talking about, celebrating, learning, etc. Some congregations roll their eyes at the idea of General Synod, but over the past nine years, I think Dunningville has come to understand that Synod plays an important role in the local church as well as the denomination.
Yesterday, shortly before our morning service when I gathered with our Elders to pray, we were talking about Synod and how it can be both extremely fun and extremely frustrating. It's true. If you've never been to a Synod, there are few gatherings of the church that are more fun. Hundreds of people from across the US (and a handful of overseas missionaries flown in to spice things up) are gathered in a single place to pray, worship, deliberate, etc. Good conversations happen over coffee times, meal-times, and - in some cases - late into the night. Good discernment and work is done during advisory committee meetings, plenary sessions and other formal gatherings. All of this can be exceedingly fun.. yes... fun.
Synod, however, can also be frustrating - intensely frustrating! Sometimes it boggles my mind to watch people talk past each other and to see people stand up to speak on things that really have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Sometimes people are so busy crafting their arguments that they don't even notice that the conversation has moved on, or even more humorously, that someone has already made their point (sometimes even more effectively than they did). The other frustrating thing about Synod is that although you are almost always guaranteed to go home after it's all done and be very happy with some of the decisions, you are also - regardless of your theological, doctrinal or social positions - often equally as unhappy with others.
That's where the conversation before church yesterday really caught my attention. Just before we bowed our heads, one of our elders turned to me and said something to the effect of: Synod is good because it reminds people that they don't always get their way.
Bingo!
Of all the wonderful things that happen at Synod, perhaps the most important is that people are given a bigger view of the church - that they're invited (forced?) to recognize that their preferences, their way of doing things, their experience of the faith, and their likes and dislikes aren't what it's all about. Synod reminds people that we're about something bigger than merely remaking the Church (denominational and even universal) in our own image.
Just one more reason that, in the nine years I've been at Dunningville, I can honestly say every Consistory I've worked with has been a blessing. I hope others of you are as fortunate!
Grace and peace,
`tim