Spiritual and Connected

 

Everyone loves the mokumentary sitcom, The Office, right? I have to admit I haven’t watched it. But I was intrigued when Rainn Wilson who played Dwight, wrote a book called Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution.

In his book, Wilson leads the reader on a journey of why he believes that the healing from the chaos and pain of the world is found on a spiritual path that all of us must be on together.  Within four weeks of finishing the book, while I’m sitting at a Cubs vs. Brewers game, the people behind me started having a conversation about the state of our country and the need for people to get back to church. They had no idea that I was intently listening to what they had to say.  Putting details of both the book and the conversation aside, the point I’m trying to make is people are thinking and talking about Faith.

As a pastor I am concerned about the decline in church attendance in the United States. Though it weighs heavy on my heart that the largest percentage of the religious “nones” identifies as spiritual but not religious, I can only self reflect. The Church has often lost its way. In fact, I myself could identify with the term spiritual but not religious. The word religious has somehow developed into a negative word. When I hear the word religious, I often think of judgmental people who like to shame others for not following church rules. I would replace the word religious with the word connected. Our goal as progressive Christians should be to connect with the Divine, ourselves and others. If we replace the saying to spiritual but not connected, well then, that is certainly not me.

It is understandable, though, why spiritual people are not connected. Many of our Churches are not regularly incorporating the spiritual practices we need to feel a connection with the Divine. We miss the moments when the Spirit is moving and God is speaking because we are too busy talking ourselves. And sometimes we forget we are doing Christ’s work, not our work.

The wellbeing of the members of my congregation as well as the community in which I serve is a priority for me. I feel called to care for the body, mind and spirit for those I am pastoring. In general, the Church has moved away from tending to the body and the spirit, and instead has focused on expanding the mind. We offer Bible studies, book studies, Sunday school and our worship often centers on words. None of those things are bad, but are minds being changed when we worship on Sunday mornings?  I do hope that hearts are growing, shame is being released, and we love God, ourselves and our neighbors.

I challenge myself and my denomination, the United Church of Christ, to expand our thoughts around extravagant welcome and reimagine our worship and program offerings. Our churches can be more spiritual when we gather together. Spiritual practices do not need to be done alone. My prayer and meditation is for a new movement of people post pandemic that defines themselves as Spiritual AND Connected.