To change or not to change

If you are involved with a church you are probably familiar with a strategic dilemma of church life — to change or not to change. The issue plays itself out in various ways as the world changes and churches wonder about adapting to those changes or holding the line on their established way of life and belief.

There are many examples. Here are a few:

- Some churches only allow men to become ministers or priests.

- Some churches refuse to marry same sex couples.

- Some churches declare their faith using a creed that is a bit younger than Jesus but still hundreds of years older than the English language.

To change or not to change, to adapt or resist, that is the question. Many things in life force us to adapt to changing technology and changing ways of thinking. Why should the church be any different?

This is not a trivial question. Growth and change are among the ways we know that something is alive rather than dead. If a church is a living organization then growth and change are inevitable. All the churches are finding ways to change, some more reluctantly than others.

It is the nature of religion to believe in things that are bigger than human thought or imagination. We have long understood that human minds cannot grasp the fullness of the reality of God. We have taken for granted that the imagination and knowledge of God is beyond what we can possibly think or know.

The decisions of churches are choices made by human beings. We hope those decisions reflect the mind of God. But inevitably God has a bigger view of things than we do. We humans must never be arrogant enough to assume that we know the mind of God.

So I ask, how is God helping the church to change? It could be that God is choosing to work through the church's designated leaders — bishops and moderators, ministers and priests. Or it could be that God is choosing to allow the people to lead the change. Church leaders must never be so arrogant as to assume that only the Doctors of Divinity can speak for God.

I expect that God has dreams for the world and for the church that are bigger than we imagine. I expect the dreams of God will catch most of us by surprise. And I think that the churches and their leaders will be pushed into a faster pace of change than they are ready for.

Reverend Jim Hillson is minister emeritus at Fifth Avenue Memorial United Church.