C. Christopher Smith

In conversation we are sustained by the wisdom of those who have gone before us. We are also empowered to discern how we will face the challenges of both the present and the future. Reading is essential to this conversational way of life, as we often cannot literally converse with our forbears or with those who are following similar vocations in other places. We read as a way of listening to the wisdom of others. The conversation continues as we reply to this wisdom both internally and externally. Internally, we reply as we grapple to make sense of this wisdom in our own context. Externally, we reply to our reading as we discuss it with our church or work community.

Open-handed generosity and caring for the poor and marginalized as if we were caring for Jesus himself are extensions of our worship.

In addition to the transience of their members, churches themselves face a crisis of hypermobility. Many churches have put down only shallow roots in their neighborhood, or no roots at all. We__e all heard the question, __f our church suddenly moved to a new location fifteen miles away, would anyone in our neighborhood notice we were gone?_ But what if we asked ourselves this question: __f our church was magically lifted off the ground and moved to a location fifteen miles away, would we notice the difference?_ Western churches have become so disentangled from their own places that this question could be a cold, hard look in the mirror for many faith communities.