Quest for Spiritual Community, by Angela H. Reed

A few years ago our local group of clergy met to discuss the level of spiritual maturity in our congregations. What put us onto the topic was research from Willow Creek Community Church that found no correlation between high involvement in the normal activities of congregational life and growth toward spiritual maturity.

The researchers discovered that al­though congregations generally fostered growth in the early to middle range of spiritual maturity, they were not doing much to further continuing growth in their most spiritually mature members. Indeed, some of those members were leaving congregations in a quest for avenues of spiritual growth that were only available elsewhere.

In my clergy group these findings came like a slap in the face. But we agreed that they described what we sensed to be true in our congregations, which were generally not doing much to foster spiritual growth, especially in more mature people. Around the table that day, we lamented how much energy we pour into bazaars and spaghetti suppers while the more important work of spiritual growth languishes. Our desire is for congregations to become flourishing greenhouses, but few of us had any idea what nutrients might lead to the kind of growth we are hoping for.