A quote form the new pope: "We need to come out of ourselves and head for the periphery." I found it at http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/03/14/pope-francis-in-his-own-words/ after it was brought to my attention by the leader of the children's and youth ministry at my church and the pastoral life director at my church (in two different settings).
In any case, it is a cool reminder that we can't just continue to serve the people already in the pews and act within our comfort zones. The evangelical mission is about outreach to those whom we don't normally see, those from whom we don't normally hear, and those whose lives we don't normally touch. It is a turning outward rather than turning inward. Not to say, of course, that the Catholic church couldn't stand to do some cleaning up by turning inward but to note that it will not survive if it does not turn outward and bring more people in.
After a very long email to a friend about the music ministry group that I am a part of, I think of how this would apply (or not) to the music ministry. Do we operate too much within a comfort zone too much of the time? What would moving out of our comfort zone mean for a music ministry? And how would a must ministry reach the periphery? Not easy questions but ones that might, just might, take the music ministry to a higher level some day if people were willing to struggle with the issues raised and come away with a better sense of what our ministry does mean and could mean than we have now.
In any case, it is a cool reminder that we can't just continue to serve the people already in the pews and act within our comfort zones. The evangelical mission is about outreach to those whom we don't normally see, those from whom we don't normally hear, and those whose lives we don't normally touch. It is a turning outward rather than turning inward. Not to say, of course, that the Catholic church couldn't stand to do some cleaning up by turning inward but to note that it will not survive if it does not turn outward and bring more people in.
After a very long email to a friend about the music ministry group that I am a part of, I think of how this would apply (or not) to the music ministry. Do we operate too much within a comfort zone too much of the time? What would moving out of our comfort zone mean for a music ministry? And how would a must ministry reach the periphery? Not easy questions but ones that might, just might, take the music ministry to a higher level some day if people were willing to struggle with the issues raised and come away with a better sense of what our ministry does mean and could mean than we have now.
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