By: Dr. Dama Anita
I was baptized and grew up in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. By the time I was seven years old; my mother joined the Baptist church. When I turned 10 years old, I joined our little Baptist church on my own and I was baptized.
Although I had been exposed to all kinds of sacred music in the AME tradition, I can clearly remember the pastor and deacons “lining a hymn” in our little church. The hymn that I remember most was A Charge to Keep I Have. This was the ultimate hymn. It was sung with fervor, passion, and power! The call and response flow of this hymn always intrigued me. I would hear the deacon leading the song reciting the words in an oratorical fashion saying; “To serve this present age, my calling to fulfill.” And the congregation would respond back with this same line singing; “Too woo ooo, seeeerrve, thiiiiiiiiiiiiis, preeeeeeseeeent, aaaaaaaage, myyyyyyyyy, caaaaaaliiiiiiiiiing, toooooooo, fuuuuuuuuu fiiiiiillll.”
Those were the days…
As a little girl, during the congregation’s portion of the song; I had no idea what they were singing and I never knew that it was the exact same thing the deacons were singing; until I was a bit older.
As a child the words always made me wonder. What does it mean to serve this present age? What is this present age?
The age of “if you build it, they will come” has come and gone. Many pastors/leaders have built sprawling campuses and are being left to foot the bill; as conventional churchgoers are running out of the church building looking for a more meaningful connection. We are living in a time where people are not looking for buildings but they are looking to be “built up” in their life’s work. So the task of the pastor/leader is to create space and opportunity for this to happen. How does one create space and
opportunity? How do we get back to the original purpose that we as a body of believers were called out for in the first place?
I have a few thoughts about how this could be done.
First, we should focus on creating an ethos that is not religious but always biblical and spiritual. Too much religiosity stifles organic velocity! Things move quickly when they are not forced or coerced by people or things.
Second, we must understand the natural pattern or make-up of the people we serve. People know fluff and they honestly don’t like it. If people feel that leaders are not being genuine with them AND that their leaders’ aren’t wholeheartedly concerned about what concerns them; THEY WILL SHUT DOWN and LEAVE!
Lastly, we should do whatever we do according to the pattern we’ve been shown. Not the pattern of others around us but the pattern that exists within our own communal space. Just as Moses was instructed to make certain that everything in the
tabernacle was constructed according to the established pattern of heaven; we should be so careful to create space and opportunity for our congregants in this same manner. (See Exodus 25:40, Hebrews 8:5)
The late Peter Drucker who was a brilliant Management Consultant offered some very wise advice for business organizations, he once said; “Before you start a new endeavor, predict the future and look at it one year later.” If this statement is true for the business world, I believe that it is more than apropos for the church universal.
The church universal should be like the Sons of Issachar “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” (I Chronicles 12:32 NKJV) They were able to discern what was happening and what their response should be to what was happening.
So the question is pastor/leader, in your space right now; are you able to discern what time it is? Can you articulate the time?
Only YOU can answer and execute. Selah…
