(Note: the blue horizontal menu bar directly above lists the subsections of "Your Congregation's Inner Life." Be sure to read each of these subsections before moving on to the next primary section, "Your Congregation's Public Profile.")

Your Congregation's Inner Life: Exploring Other Routes

Before pursuing these various routes further, it is important that we identify each one. The church building and all of its artwork and furnishings provide an architectural route into the congregation's life. The worship book, high altar and freestanding communion table, processional cross, and vestments are signposts along the liturgical route. Faith's address, its location in a particular neighborhood, the dress, demeanor, and resources of members open up a route into the particular ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds of the church. The various meetings and classes announced provide points of entry into Faith's educational and organizational life.

The information about offerings and attendance, along with the observation about the landlocked status of the congregation, points to institutional dimensions of the congregation's history. The individuals named in the announcements (including the medical missionary) and the reference to the food pantry are indicators that this congregation has an ethic of care and compassion that sustains church and community members, as well as people around the world. Those named individuals along with Pastor Schmidt are representatives of the personal and familial stories that run through Faith's life. The name "Lutheran"—on the church's cornerstone, its bulletin, and its worship books—is a reminder of the theological/denominational dimension of Faith's life.

You must explore each of these routes if the congregation's distinctive character is to come into full view. As participant-observer, you will not stop at the threshold of worship, for example, but will want to examine the full range of practices that make up Faith's liturgical life. This means going more deeply into the formal and informal worship events of the congregation.

You will need to determine the place of Baptism, Eucharist, and preaching—both in the congregation's present life and in its longer past. Has Baptism always been a part of Sunday morning worship, or did it have more of a private family ceremony character in early years? Was the font always located at the entrance to the church? How has preaching changed in style and substance? How has eucharistic practice changed over time? Is the sacrament celebrated more or less frequently than in the past? Is the celebration somber or festive? Why the freestanding communion table when there is such a beautiful high altar just a few feet away? And why have all these things changed or stayed the same? Has the pastor always worn this kind of vestment? Does she always sit in an ornate clergy seat, or are there times when she sits with the people?

Fully exploring the liturgical route will mean attending to the special services—funerals, weddings, ecumenical worship, holiday services—that have been a part of Faith's life. It will also mean exploring the worship life of the congregation's members. What kinds of family and personal devotions have they practiced? What extra congregational worship experiences do they seek?