I had reached a point when I believed that I was either invincible or that contracting COVID was inevitable. I carpooled home from Clergy Conference with someone who tested positive for COVID the next week. I cared for my child who had COVID for five days. Not to mention many other exposures unknown to me. And yet, I did not get COVID. Until I did. And it proved to be something very much worth the efforts to avoid.
Grateful now for an almost complete recovery, I have been reflecting on what it is like to hold the feeling of being invincible alongside the feeling of something being inevitable. Being in conversation with many of our congregations across the Diocese, I think this is not a foreign feeling. There are places that have a heart for mission with a building and budget that cannot maintain it. There are places that want to maintain, but without making changes will find that it can’t continue. And there are clergy and lay leaders wringing their hands for answers while wondering, "Are we invincible or is this inevitable?"
I did not pursue a job as the Missioner for Thriving Congregations thinking either. I stepped into this role believing that we are neither invincible nor that decline is inevitable. In my interactions and explorations with our congregations, we find our way toward hope. It is a hope that requires that we recognize that we are not invincible. It is a hope that requires that we push against inevitability with courage and change. I am eager to accompany our communities of faith in these conversations and am available to come to you with hope in action.
The Rev. Christopher Craun
Missioner for Thriving Congregations
