The Christian Project

I enjoy these stories of the brand-new baby Church. Christianity has become such an institution, and I like being reminded that it began as a holy and human enterprise – full of uncertainty and discernment and experimentation.

In Acts of the Apostles, we see how the disciples are trying to navigate the religious authorities and share the message of the Gospel – like Jesus did. They have a mission, and they’re driven by it. They might still be figuring out how to how to do it, but they can’t not talk about it.

The same dynamic is at play in the Gospel from John. Some of the disciples, unsure about what to do with themselves post-Resurrection, decide to go fishing, a nice, familiar activity. They have an unsuccessful night, but when a random guy shows up on the beach and offers them fishing advice, they take it. Why not? Of course, we the readers are in on the secret that it’s really Jesus advising them, and so we’re not surprised, like they are, when their nets overflow.

As I reflect on the experimental nature of the first disciples in mission, I’m reminded of my community’s founder and our beginning. Blessed Jean Martin Moye was a French priest in the mid-1700s who cared for people struggling with economic and spiritual poverty. He believed education could alleviate poverty, but there were very few educational opportunities for women. He taught several women to read and then sent them out to educate others and to offer the works of mercy, which are so central to our faith. In that way, he equipped women to overcome their own poverty and to uplift each other, and our congregation was born.

I’m proud to belong to a legacy of women dedicated to elevating each other and others, but when I look back at our beginning, I’m surprised anything came of it. It seems more like a whim than a well-discerned endeavor. My French sisters tend to refer to the work of our founder and first members as a “project.” I’ve always thought it was funny to call it that, but maybe that’s what it was – a project. Moye had a thought about what might work and sent a handful of women to give it a go. It was somewhat discerned, but mostly it was like throwing stuff at a wall to see what would stick – or, like tossing a net over the side of a boat to see what could be caught.

Who knows? Maybe Christian mission still looks more like an experiment than a planned venture. That’s how it tends to look for me, anyway. When this God Space ministry first started, we didn’t even know what to call it. For lack of a better name, my leadership and I called it the Charism Project. It’s grown a lot since then. We have a real name and a website and people. It grows by the grace of God. But it’s still pretty much a project. I’m not certain what it will turn into in the future, or even if it will have one, but it’s still here. Becoming something.

Understanding mission as a project actually feels kind of helpful. Being assigned a project is far less daunting than being sent on a mission. Mission inspires me, but it also overwhelms me. A project is doable, one step at a time. When you're not sure how to fulfill a mission from God, you can reframe it as a project and just do the thing in front of you. If you’re on the right track, you’ll haul in a huge catch of fish. If you’re like Peter, you’ll respond by throwing on some clothes and jumping in a lake. If not, I hope you celebrate in your own way.

So, the Church began as a project, or, really, it began as a relationship with Jesus and then transformed into the living Body of Christ. It was, and, really, still is, a holy and human enterprise – full of uncertainty and discernment and experimentation. These days, the Church as an institution can look so big and solid. It can and does change, but that happens so gradually that it can seem like a clunky, slow-moving ship. That’s real. But that’s not all it is. The Church may be a slow-moving vessel, but let’s not forget that Christ called us, with Peter, to be fishers of people, so we need to be sure that we’re still casting our nets off the side of that big boat. In fact, I’m not sure the invitation is to float along and keep our hands and arms inside the ride at all times. I think our call is to go out. There are lots of people jumping ship from the institutional Church these days; maybe the project of the Christian community is to go in after them, not to drag them back onto the boat but to meet them in the deep where they are.

Who knows? What I see is that the Spirit of the living God moved through the beginnings of the project that became Christianity, and it moved through the launch of my community, and it still moves. What a hopeful sign that Christ is alive and lives in us! What project is the Spirit calling you to take up now? And how will you respond?

For Reflection:

What about you? How has a call from God manifested in your life?

What project does God have you working on right now?

When you think about the mission of the Christian Church, what is it? What’s God’s invitation to us now?

Would you like to listen to this reflection? Check out the podcast version!

By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, meaningful conversations, and dancing.