As I write this I’m sitting in rehearsal for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This was Christ Church's third annual Youth Theatre production. I had the privilege of being a part of the cast this year. Another adult and I have shared the parts of Jacob and Pharaoh. I can not put into words what a joy and inspiration it has been to share this experience with the youth and adults (about 170 volunteers in all) who made this production possible.
Over the past few months I have spent a great deal of time writing and talking about the church as a “new commons.” While this has been the primary focus of my doctoral thesis (which has taken so much time I've not been posting much in my blog!), it has also been a part of Christ Church's discussions about our identity and mission as a parish community. For a fuller description of the “new commons” you can see read my annual address to the parish from the annual meeting (you will find a link online at www.christchurchexeter.org).
Participating in Joseph, I have come to realize that our youth theater ministry is a perfect example of a new commons. It exhibits what I believe are the six essential characteristics of the new commons.
- Through their work together to prepare a show the cast and crew created opportunities for conversation and connection that bind them together in transformed relationships.
- These relationships deepen trust and agency – through this deepened trust they empower each other to offer their best for the good of the whole.
- While there are well-defined boundaries, the ministry is inclusive, welcoming a wide range of people to participate in virtually infinite ways.
- Diversity is a hallmark of the youth theater community. Only a little over 25% of the cast comes from Christ Church. The youth who participate represent a variety of faith communities in the Exeter area. Some of them do not participate in any faith community at all. Yet all are welcome and valued.
- For several weeks they have worked interdependently. I have listened as the director and musical director have solicited the ideas of the cast and put them into the show. I have seen crew members find solutions to challenges in the sets and costumes. This is a community in which each person’s gifts are honored, valued, and incorporated into the whole.
- Finally, they are working for a common good, a good beyond themselves. Joseph reached out into the community in ways that are impossible to measure. People have been touched and changed. The youth themselves have been transformed in ways we cannot imagine or predict, but ways that will impact the common good of our society for years to come.
This ministry is but a microcosm of Christ Church. It represents the best of who this parish is and what it can do in the world. This ministry helps us to see what congregational mission and purpose can be, the reason God has placed the church in the world. Imagine what might happen if we applied the same creativity and energy to all of our communities. Imagine what might happen if, instead of focusing on polity and property, we focused on fostering these six characteristics in the church as a whole. How might we be transformed? What a difference might we make in the name of Jesus?
No comments:
Post a Comment