Relationship & Reflection
This has been a big weekend of kickoffs at Easter. We had an Art Block, a Ministry Fair, the first week of JAM, and all our Faith Formation Ministries are now underway for a new season. One of the highlights of these kickoff events was our Small Group Leader Launch. Each year we gather all of our Small Group Leaders from all Faith Formation Ministries—Kid’s Ministry/JAM, Confirmation, High School, and Adult Life Groups and Leadership Teams—for the purpose of vision, unity, and equipping.
I have the privilege to speak to this group each year and cast vision for what it means to grow in faith at Easter. I’d like to share part of that presentation with you, dear reader.
What does Faith Formation look like? Quite simply, there are two key components to faith formation: relationship and reflection.
Relationship
God is the relationship of the three persons of the Trinity and is the ground of being from which all things spring forth in interdependent relationships. Theologians call this relationality. It is the quality of being formed by and in relationships (relational + quality = relationality).
In other words, having relationships is not an option. It is life itself. It is not a question of if you have a relationship with yourself, others, nature, and God. It is a question of the quality of those relationships that we must ask.
A primary task for the leader of spiritual formation in the local congregation is to cultivate spaces in which the Holy Spirit can deepen the roots of God’s love and grow the fruit of the Spirit in everyone’s relationships with him or herself, his or her friends and family, the environment, and with God. The continual question we must ask is: How are people getting connected to each other for the purpose of mutual encouragement in faith formation? The primary task of a small group leader is to cultivate a space in which people can feel and know that they are loved.
Reflection
While relationships are vital to faith formation, as mentioned above, they do not automatically promote spiritual health and growth. Some relationships often hinder spiritual growth as much as foster it. Therefore, faith formation requires individuals to stop the frenetic pace of life and think critically—to reflect—about the actions, attitudes, and relationships that define their lives.
Therefore, the 7 Habits of Spiritual Formation—Worship, Prayer, Bible Study, Service, Giving, Vital Relationships, Sharing My Faith—are essential to spiritual growth. The habits are disciplines—or practices—that equip us to reflect and notice what God is doing in and with the world. Reflective action is not easy or natural for most people. It will often meet resistance from the typical church-attender. Yet, like a healthy diet and exercise is essential to the body, reflective action through the spiritual habits is essential to faith formation.
My prayer for our community at Easter is that we can, through our amazing small group leaders, cultivate spaces in which each person in our community can form quality relationship and learn to be reflective disciples of Jesus.