A Menno Minute
with Ryan Dueck
Pastor, Lethbridge Mennonite Church
Small Community - Large World
The man who lives in a small community lives
in a much larger world…. The reason is obvious. In a large community we can
choose our companions. In a small community our companions are chosen for us.
— G.
K. Chesterton, Heretics
A few months ago, I followed a rabbit trail from
a blog that I occasionally read to the website of the church where the blogger
was a pastor. It had been a while since I had visited the website of an
American evangelical mega-church, and after a few minutes of browsing I was
beginning to experience a bit of sensory overload. There was a page for every
conceivable ministry under the sun—addictions, young moms, men, young adults,
sports enthusiasts. On and on the list went.
Everything about the megachurch’s website
and staff bios was polished, well-produced, and professional looking. There was
a whole section of the website that narrated what a typical “Weekend
Experience” might look like. There were slick videos and creative graphics and
a whole host of other media crammed full of imagination and inspiration.
I thought about how I might describe a “weekend
experience” in our little community. Well, we straggle together around 9:45
for Sunday School… Sometimes musicians are rehearsing… Nearly always the pastor
is engaged with full-on hostilities with the printer as he tries to get the
sermon he finished late last night out the door… Sometimes the kids make snacks
downstairs… The service starts around 11:00… We sing, we smile, we pray, we
listen to one another. Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes there are
outbursts in the service, whether from kids or from L’Arche members who
regularly worship with us… As far as “weekend experiences” go, I suppose
you might say it’s “mixed.”
It's easy to feel small when held up beside the
mega-church and all it can offer. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. I’m
not anti-megachurch. I have dear friends who are part of churches far larger
than my own, and I love and respect them greatly. But even though I admire some
of what the big churches are able to do, I’m a small church kind of guy.
I like it that I know people’s names, that I know
a bit of their stories. I like it that the kids just call me “Ryan” with no
“pastor” prefixed to it. I like it that we can bring food to church and share
it with one another after the service. I like it that we have a volunteer
lawn-mowing sign-up sheet. I like it that we have people who are miles apart
theologically and politically, yet we can still come to same table, the same
Lord.
And, in my better moments, I’m glad that my
companions are given to me rather than being the ones I might naturally choose,
whether in the local church, in our MCA community, or beyond. I thank God for
my small community and for the large world they invite me to live in.