Peace Presbyterian Embraces God’s Movement for Congregational Vitality

Written by: Amy Cerniglia

With 52 live participants and one on ZOOM, the first Adult Education class on the Seven Marks of Congregational Vitality at Peace Presbyterian Church began on a high note. People filled “Trinity Square” (our largest adult education classroom) to learn more about practicing, growing, and sharing our faith as a vital congregation. After Elder Peter Miller of our Adult Education ministry team opened with prayer and a brief overview of the seven marks, we broke into smaller groups for guided discussion.

Alongside the class, Pastor Elizabeth and the Rev. Mary Beth McSwain offered sermons that centered one of the seven marks in our worship services. This kept the topics fresh in our minds and integrated with God’s Word.

Our first session included the sharing of a powerful testimony from a talented musician that had recently begun attending Peace. When opening up about his identity as a gay man resulted in rejection from his previous church, he discovered Peace in a search for churches that affirmed sexual and gender minorities. He told the congregation how the church’s quick embrace of him and his family revitalized him during a difficult time.

Although work had called him away to a new city, he felt so moved by Peace that he wanted to share this experience and continue engaging in the lifelong discipleship of Peace from a distance. Most recently, that included writing and dedicating a beautiful song to our congregation, an excerpt of which you can read below:

“Bring me your lost and your hurting,
Bring me the weight of your sin.
Forgiveness is found in this story.
Through Jesus come enter in….”

In the weeks to follow, his testimony shaped our sessions. Hearing a witness to the congregation’s vitality so openly and so early in our study encouraged people to share with fewer reservations or fears of judgment. It also drove home the importance and relevance of the seven marks, each of which played a role in his experience at Peace. At all ages and stages of life, whether near or far, lifelong discipleship continues to revitalize the family of God.

The next class, dealing with the baggage the word “evangelism” can hold for some, revealed another important lesson: “People don’t care what you know until they know you care.” Later, asked about fears that hold us back from an outward incarnational focus, several members voiced hesitations due to their older age and lack of experience with some issues.

As a young person equally concerned about my youth and lack of experience in areas where older members are much more informed, I loved how this exercise revealed our commonalities.

A growing edge emerged in the following week, when we realized that many of our younger members and families don’t necessarily know as much about our ministry teams as longtime members might assume. With that in mind, worship each week after our classes on the Seven Marks has included a brief shoutout to an individual ministry team, empowering the congregation with knowledge that we pray will inspire new servant leaders.

Ministry teams within our congregation are also reviewing responses to discussion questions that will guide future decisions, including potential schedule adjustments for team meetings that might better accommodate families with young children.

Thanks to Peace River Presbytery’s blessing grant, the Peaceful Path’s musical garden has drawn even more visitors, especially families with kids exploring music in the beauty of God’s created world. Throughout our classes on the Seven Marks, people mentioned the Peaceful Path as one of our most important new outreaches displaying our vitality in the community. The gifts of individuals, presbyteries, Session leaders, founding members, and all God’s children play a role in the lively body of Christ.

In just a couple of weeks, the musician who testified at our first class has an opportunity to visit and sing in worship the hymn he wrote as a gift to our congregation, excerpted again below:

“The table is set for His children.
He’s calling to you and me.
The strong and the weak are the same here,
bringing the Lord our needs….”

Studying the Seven Marks reminded us that despite fears and insecurities about our perceived weaknesses, God fills each of us with strength. While we may fine tune meeting schedules or beautify our Peaceful Path, our congregation’s life begins in Christ alone.

Whether manifesting in servant leadership, caring relationships, or any other of the seven marks, we know God’s love is the source and foundation of congregational vitality.