Bring Everyone Along: Possibility

by Lisa Allgood, Executive Presbyter

“With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”                             – Matthew 19:26

At a recent Council meeting, we asked each Council member what word they wanted us to hear/apply this year as we seek, together, to do the will of the Lord on behalf of the Presbytery.

One word was “possibility”. A great word. And I’ll claim this one – because anyone who knows me knows possibility is my love language.

I don’t believe “no” is an ending or “can’t” is a brick wall. I’m one of those perpetually annoying “the glass is always bubbling over, isn’t it?” kind of person – half full isn’t full enough, and half empty is simply not a truth.  Exploration of ideas, approaches – yes, possibility – is how we move forward.  And good ideas can be found in the most unlikely of places (and oftentimes those are the most fun).

For the record, neither am I arrogant nor naïve enough to believe that I have all the answers or that others are always willing to go along with possibility – mine or anyone else’s.

But I do believe that when we position ourselves to receive and work with what God has already prepared – when we are open to the promptings of the Spirit and stand ready to do the hard work it takes – when we open ourselves up to stretch to see the God-sized horizon before us – that God honors that.  I believe the churches in this Presbytery want to grow, want to be relevant, want to be vibrant. And I believe there is possibility for each one of them when they are willing to lean in to different possibilities than they perhaps have ever considered before.

Psalm 37 speaks to this. Not the verses about the wicked, but the verses about how we as His children are to be: Trust in the Lord and do good. Take delight in the Lord. Commit your way to the Lord. Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him.

There is possibility in every one of those lines – supernatural possibility.  And it is a dance between God and man to bring those supernatural possibilities to life.

That is the heart of why we created the Living Churches Initiative and PresbyLab from the Lilly Endowment grant.  It’s why we still do workshops and trainings at Gatherings, and why we bring in speakers and resources. It’s why I invest as much time as I can with each church in transition or in discernment. I deeply believe that although we are clearly at a place where the way church “was always done” is changing, we MUST change with it, or the inevitable decline happens. 

Those changes – those possibilities – are contextual.  No one approach meets all needs of all churches.  No one person is the answer either – it takes all of us.  Which is, after all, how God intends His people to come together in community and harmony.

With prayerful intentionality, I invite you into the dance of possibility. I have never seen the Spirit not show up.