Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations
Since I grew up in the city, my family didn’t have a garden. So, the first time I tried to grow anything was after I was married to Brian and living in a little house on Johnson Street.
We didn’t have much of a yard, but we wanted to try our hand at growing some vegetables. I was a little hesitant because my track record with plants up to that time had not been very favorable (if you want a plant to die, just let me take care of it).
A friend told us we needed to get the “good dirt,” so we borrowed a truck and hauled in a truckload of rich-looking, sweet-smelling black dirt. After we shoveled it off the truck and evened it out, we went to Lowes to pick up some plants.
I had dreams of huge. Juicy, red tomatoes for my favorite BLT sandwiches. However, I was new to this plant buying thing and somehow missed that instead of big tomatoes, I had bought a cherry tomato plant. When I realized my mistake, I was disappointed, but I thought “Oh well, I’ll plant it anyway.” I’m glad I did. I put it in the ground and the most amazing thing happened. It GREW!
It started growing so tall that we put a cage around it to support it. Then it grew out of the top of the cage so we put a six-foot stake beside it. It grew up the stake and back down the other side, to the ground again and back up. That plant when it was done was over 12 feet tall! And the tomatoes! It had so many amazing cherry tomatoes! What a feast! And I was so excited because finally I had grown something that, instead of dying, produced much fruit.
We all want to be in situations of abundance like that cherry tomato plant. We all want to be the type of people and the type of community that produces fruit – people who are welcomed into God’s community, and lives that are enriched and transformed because of their interaction with us.
This month we will be talking about five practices that help us bear more fruit. These practices are set out by Bishop Robert Schnase and they help us look at how we are following Jesus. What are we doing to tend God’s love in our lives so that God’s love bears much fruit in us and through us?
The practices are risk-taking mission and service, radical hospitality, intentional faith development, extravagant generosity and passionate worship.
Each week we will look at what these practices mean for us. We will also ask what are our next steps in our own growth towards fruitful practices for God’s kingdom.
I look forward to hearing your own stories of fruit in the weeks to come!
Blessings and Peace,
Katherine