Vital Congregations initiative participants learn how to better articulate faith in Jesus Christ
January 9, 2020
The Rev. Julie Walkup Bird, pastor of McGregor Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C., invited church members to discuss their faith journey during worship this summer. (Contributed photo)
As the new year begins, McGregor Presbyterian Church its pastor, the Rev. Julie Walkup Bird, are looking ahead with renewed energy and excitement as the result of a two-year program to enhance congregational vitality.
McGregor Presbyterian Church in Columbia is one of the churches in South Carolina’s Trinity Presbytery that participated in the two-year Vital Congregations initiative.
As part of the pilot program, McGregor participants studied the seven marks of a Vital Congregation:
- Lifelong discipleship
- Intentional, authentic evangelism
- Outward incarnational focus
- Empowered servant leadership
- Spirit-inspired worship
- Caring relationships
- Ecclesial heath
(Learn more about each mark in section II of the Vital Congregations Immediate Toolkit.)
According to Bird, the marks initially served as a reinforcement and framework for “how God has been leading us over the last decade.” But as church members studied the marks together, the one that proved to be more of a challenge for the congregation stood out in the U.S. Congregational Life Survey: “intentional authentic evangelism.”
“It was our lowest-scoring mark,” Bird said of the survey, which was administered to all churches participating in the pilot VC initiative.
Bird began talking with the session and with committee members about how they might help the congregation interpret what the gospel means while sharing their lives with non-Christians. Together, they began asking questions like “How do we as Presbyterians articulate our story in Jesus Christ?”
Because the evangelistic language used by other Christian groups in the Bible Belt is sometimes heard as hurtful or exclusive, Bird said there was a hesitancy at McGregor to even talk about evangelism.
“People shared how they felt judged in conversations with other Christians and didn’t want to give that same impression as they articulated their faith,” Bird said. “We wanted to claim gospel words and actions that were welcoming and inclusive to others.”
McGregor parishioners decided they wanted to reclaim intentional, authentic evangelism by empowering everyone to witness to a gospel message that was not so “in your face.” Bird created a 10-week series for summer worship titled “Words from a Witness.” As part of each worship service, she interviewed a member of the congregation about their faith journey.
During one of the first Sundays, a member shared how her role as a paramedic allowed her to embody the presence of Christ when people needed it the most. She described being a calming presence for those facing trauma as well as finding ways to remind the people she encountered that they are loved by God.
Hearing others talking about their faith, other church members began to volunteer to be the next witnesses. By the end of the summer, people of all ages, including youth, were sharing stories about their faith journey. And as they claimed the movement of God in their lives, they found new vocabulary to articulate their faith in Christ.
One woman recalled how God used a childhood experience as a foundation for her faith. As a child, she was given a poster in Sunday school with this message: “God is Love.” Through those words on a poster, which hung for years on her bedroom wall, she grew up to claim that simple affirmation of faith for herself.
Church elders celebrated when McGregor recapped where the church now stands in relationship to the Seven Marks of Vital Congregations. On the mark where they’d scored the lowest, there is now a sense of freshness and excitement as church leaders remember the laughter and tears they shared together around their faith stories.
“Vital Congregations has given us a renewed sense of energy, a new framework to build excitement about being the church of Jesus Christ,” Bird said. “As faithful witnesses to God’s grace and love, we want to joyfully proclaim and live out the gospel beyond the walls of our church.”
Paul Seebeck, Mission Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Daily Readings
Morning Psalms 46 or 47; 147:12-20
First Reading Isaiah 45:14-19
Second Reading Colossians 1:24-2:7
Gospel Reading John 8:12-19
Eve of Baptism of the Lord Reading Isaiah 61:1-9
Eve of Baptism of the Lord Reading Galatians 3:23-29; 4:4-7
Evening Psalms 27; 93 or 114
Today’s Focus: Reclaiming Evangelism
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Samantha Piccolo, Office of the General Assembly
Cristina Pitts, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Let us pray:
Holy God, help us continue to provide ways for others to share their faith journey. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
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