When is a move more than a move? When it is a pilgrimage? The address changes, but so much more changes along with it.
In the past weeks CBF has experienced a big move[i]. Of course, it took the vision of Pat Anderson as interim coordinator, months of preparation and the extraordinary dedication of a terrific relocation team (CBF superheroes Chris Boltin, Ron Fairley, Ruth Perkins Lee and Victoria Whatley) who encouraged us to purge and prepare!
You know you have had a 21st century move when: you don’t need to move 70 percent of your filing cabinets; there are no cardboard boxes, but reusable plastic containers; the wiring for wireless is essential to business (go figure); your furniture is arranged by CAD before you ever push a chair in place; and your Kindle library rivals the bookshelves in your office. We are no strangers to moving.
The Gospels paint a picture of Jesus on the move, and then, beginning in Acts, the church is on the move in a steady pilgrimage of faith. Just like in the Gospels, movement is afoot in the image of new wineskins in our Fellowship – look closely at the Facebook postings each week that share the ordination, first Sunday or new positions of people throughout the Fellowship. The moves are full of tender goodbyes and hearty, welcoming greetings.
Pilgrimage is belief in action. We move for a purpose and with a hopeful response to a call. Religion scholar Huston Smith says that pilgrimage requires: singleness of purpose, freedom from distraction, ordeal or penance and offerings[ii].
Why did we move offices? First, we had a purpose to comply with our 2012 Task Force Report’s priority of identity. Like all homes, CBF needs to reflect the identity of our family, the Fellowship, in a convenient, well-equipped place. Our new location is an extension of the value of hospitality lived out by the Fellowship.
What does that look like?
Over the next four weeks, CBF will host more than 140 Fellowship-ers and CBF partners for 11 important mission and ministries meetings in our new space. If we keep this pace up, 1,600 of you will visit by the end of the year!
Welcome. The door is open. Jump off MARTA and come by.
Second, if our move is more pilgrimage than real estate, we will seek to be free of distractions and focus on how best to be the presence of Christ and to equip churches, individuals and partners to live out each call. Bringing the CBF office together, literally, in one space with a large gathering area for sharing, working in teams and cultivating conversations will help us keep the focus on the important staff role to support the greater Fellowship in its pilgrimage to the future.
Smith reminds us that pilgrimage travels with ordeal and penance. This is not just the inconvenience of a hampered phone line, but a realization that anything worth doing will have its troubles and trials, because we will be charting a new course. We will meet up with unexpected newness on a pilgrimage. We are in the middle of a sea of change of spirituality and churches. The physical moving is just one element of change, and perseverance will be needed, and most likely accommodation and apology will be required when things go awry.
Finally, pilgrimage requires an offering from the pilgrim. We are moving out in a pilgrimage of service because nothing great happens without some serious self-giving. Moving can be an act of rediscovering devotion. We are acquainted with rededication, and in that sense let’s move as a Fellowship by giving the offering of ourselves in devotion to the great adventure of God’s response to the world of being the presence of Christ. There is a renewing spirit among us – let it in. It’s an open house.
Suzii Paynter has served as the executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship since March 2013.