Many in the Indie movement are converts – indeed there are few of us who have had a “genetic” link to it if you will from previous generations in our family. I have on previous occasions talked about how difficult it can be for people to make the transition from a large “powerful” and well financed “church” to a tiny, dirt poor, anonymous Indie community. It is hard – for many it is very hard indeed. Your heart says “This is where I belong.”; but your conditioning says “This is just not quite right.”

I think that the place to start addressing this is not on an “institutional” level – but on a personal level, on a relational level within the life of the fellowship of believers – and the way to do this is to change our story.

Take for example a few simple very simple visuals. Your community does a benediction of the sacrament – why? Your bishop is never seen without a red sash, zucchetto and episcopal ring – why? You say the rosary, or have icons in the house – why? Your priest wears a collar, or riasa – why? When you receive communion in your community it comes as a disc shaped bone white wafer – why? These are only a few of a hundred different simple, everyday things that when we go to mass or liturgy, or when we do something devotional of an individual nature we take for granted, we “assume” them – why? More importantly what about the not so simple “ideas” and more substantive praxis that again we “assume” or take for granted – why? The question is not a challenge, it is, but not in the sense of challenging your choice. The question is a challenge to reflect on the very important story behind the activity.

Why?

I have heard it many times from people within the Indie community when you ask what attracted them to the OC/IC movement. You can boil most answers (even the angry reactionary ones) down to a simple idea. I wanted a fresh start.

So, here is my question – and this one is a challenge – if you come seeking a fresh start, why is it that you still do all the things you used to do? One possible answer is that it is what “catholics” do – also known as “this is what we have always done”. But if you came into the Indie movement seeking a fresh start then would it not be a really helpful exercise to sit down and walk through your personal religious story and ask some questions about “what I do as a “catholic”” and compare that to – what I can do as a “new” Sacramental Christian – an indie believer?

Here’s the reality though – and this too is borne out by many years of observation. It is very hard to change the story. It is very hard to challenge the story. Why? Largely because of conditioning. We are conditioned to understand and perceive that the “catholic” story functions this way, or that way, it includes these symbols, but not those symbols. And here’s where it becomes very personal – aware of our conditioning, we find that while it is certainly true that we really want to take advantage of the opportunity to have a fresh start – we often don’t because “catholics don’t do it that way”.

We are approaching the end of Lent looking forward to Pascha – the death and resurrection of the Incarnate Logos. Christ’s life and teaching is an example of radically changing the story, of asking questions about “the way we’ve always done it”, and coming up with very different answers. Through his death and resurrection we are liberated from the old story, and given an opportunity to reflect, and reshape our story – as individuals of faith, and as communities of faith.

So, now, what can we do to change the story?

While making my rounds yesterday I fell into this essay “What Do Converts Want?” – written from a conservative Eastern Orthodox position. Reading the essay got me thinking – and asking the question (again) what is it that attracts folks to our OC/IC tradition – that is to say: what do OUR converts want?

Today while making my rounds I found this rather interesting graphic from the Pew Forum detailing the reasons American Christians noted for either changing, or disaffiliating from their denomonation. The listed reasons are interesting – and in some ways surprisingly unexpected. The graphic directly speaks to the question – what do converts want.

It seems to me that if we are to see improved stability and longevity in our communities we ought to be aware of these questions – and some of their answers. What is more, I’m guessing that some of our outreach efforts would benefit from an awareness of, and a sensitivity to the nuances of, some of the reasons for people seeking a new faith community.

I think it is also worth considering these topics because it allows those of us already “in” the community to ask, and reflect on why we are here, what are our core vision and values, and how far are we willing to bend, adjust, or compromise on them in order to accomodate new people in the community.

I’ve learned from hard experience over the years that it is better for everyone if we  bluntly, and unashamedly say, “this is us – this is who we are”, rather than to adapt our language and customs to our faulty perceptions of what the other seeks. When we don’t do this – those committed members in the community feel slighted, or puzzled, and the newcomer is left thinking we are without a spine – and therefore has no respect for the mission and life of the community as a whole.

We cannot be all things to all people – but we can be faithful.

There has been a small flood of articles on “conversion” in today’s religious news round-up. The two that caught my eye are a BBC report (here) on the Church of England’s consideration of a motion re-emphasising its explicit aim of converting people to Christianity; and Andrew Brown’s post (here on Guardian CIFBelief) reflecting on “evangelisation” in relation to the CofE motion. In his post Brown makes a rather thought-provoking observation:

In practice, though, conversion is hardly ever about intellectual conviction, whether it is to or away from Christianity, though it does seem to be more often intellectual when it is to atheism. But it is overwhelmingly about joining a tribe or a people and about shifting affections and allegiances rather than ideas. Conversion to Christianity or to Islam results when people find a tribe or a family they want to belong to; and it is worth noticing that the kinds of religions that concentrate most on conversion also simplify their doctrines as much as possible.

I love this quote, from an Imam interviewed for the BBC piece: “Any religion that believes it’s going to bring tangible benefits – peace, satisfaction and understanding in this life and the next – would like to share that.” Yes absolutely.

What I find curious though is that in our OC/IC context you don’t often see a discussion of outreach outside of the internal conversation of the local community – why? Could it be that all pervasive sense of isolation many congregations and projects feel? Maybe it is grounded in the thick layers of mistrust that have accumulated within the movement over the past few decades? Perhaps it is because so many of our “members” are ashamed or embarrassed about their links to the movement – “let’s just keep this quiet, amongst ourselves shall we”?

Let me throw open the door here and ask – what does your local community do to introduce people to the idea of OC/IC community? What challenges have you encountered? What did you do to overcome them (or better – which ones would you like some ideas on)?