Being Family
Over the past couple of weeks we have opened up a conversation about why ‘Family’ is one of our core values.
Our personal definitions of ‘family’ have been shaped by:
our own experiences, cultural narratives
church teaching
other things we may have read
The word family can often carry with it hurts, joys, anxieties and losses but God has chosen to use family as a picture for His church and so we need to look at what He says about it and start a conversation about what this means for our church.
We all join this conversation with our own unconscious bias’ about what family is and how family should look, which is based on our own experiences and the narratives we’ve accepted . It is important to help each other to see what family means and looks like from different perspective, which involves being honest, vulnerable and gracious as we continue out conversations.
Some resources which may help you as you think about this are:
7 Myths about Singleness - Sam Allberry
Created for Connection - talk by Rachel Hughes
Blogs and talks by Danielle Treweek
We all have a story to tell and it is important that we create space and time to hear from each other - our hope is that these 2 talks on the topic family, and your own research using some of the resources above, are a vehicle of starting those conversations.
Here are some questions to think about as you process this through yourself and talk with others:
The Bible redefines what family is, as Sam Allberry puts it: “It is our spiritual orientation rather than our physical birth that now becomes ultimately defining.” What is your response to this?
What are some of the unconscious bias’ that you come into this conversation about family with? Where have they come from?
How does this redefinition of family affect how we view ‘family time’?
In Mark 10: 28-30 Jesus promises homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and lands – whatever it has cost you in order to follow Jesus will be replaced…multiple times over…in this present age. This promise is meant to be fulfilled through us, through the church. What might this look like? Do you have any testimony of when you have experienced this promise of family?
What are some thoughts and ideas that you have in what ‘being Family’ might look like for you as an individual and for us as a church? What will you do with these ideas?
Let’s keep the conversation going as to how St Mungo’s can model family across both locations as we move into the summer; looking at what we’re doing anyway and seeing if others might like to join in.
The summer is also a great time to start thinking about how you might use Social Sundays, starting on 4th September as we continue to live out being church family.