Beyond the church -- The lessons of processions and parades

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The late Edward Hughes Pruden, my father's close friend and mentor of years past, was the distinguished pastor of Washington's First Baptist Church for 32 years.

As pastor in the heart of our nation's government, Dr. Pruden saw the composition of the congregation change often, especially after every national election.

"I don't change churches," he once remarked, "I change congregations!"

"In Washington, D. C.," he added, "you pastor a parade."

Similarly, Joseph Fort Newton, who pastored churches in several denominations in America and London, once described his task as "preaching to a procession."

Both men seem to agree that leading a congregation is like ministering to a parade and a procession.

Their insights, however, go far beyond the pulpit.

Granted, every church is a procession. People come and people go. But more than that, the same people who come every Sunday do not remain the same week in and week out. They bring different agendas based on what is brewing in their lives at that moment in time.

Tragedies in life make them different. Accomplishments in the daily run of duty alter their priorities. Joys awaken new passions. No congregation ever gathers twice. Just as a person cannot step twice into the same place of a flowing creek, so is no group the same from one week to the next.

Yet, beyond the pastoral setting, any leader can make a mistake by assuming a group -- be it a community, business, or school -- remains forever the same. The economy shifts, technology explodes or a natural or man-made disaster occurs, and suddenly people's lives are forever altered.

Death, divorce, illness, job loss, births, weddings, and new careers -- life experiences move in us and through us. What we survive can bind us together or tear us apart. In either case, life is rarely the same. And more importantly, we are never exactly who we were.

The family unit is no exception. Just ask the college student who discovers their four years of growth on campus mirrors equally dramatic changes at home. Or note the eldest child who questions younger siblings' routine privileges that were unimaginable during his or her youth. Or talk to returning adult children who re-enter their homes to find their bedrooms are now offices, rec rooms, or gyms.

Our homes are processions, too.

And if we think about it, life in general is a procession and a parade. What worked for us at one time simply may not work now. People grow. Circumstances change. Time puts us in a different stage of life.

To stay vibrant, an organization and its leadership must constantly review its methods to meet the needs of humanity on parade and in procession. And if it meets the challenge to adapt to change, it will become a vital movement, not merely an institution.

This column was co-authored and edited by Rebecca Faye Smith Galli, daughter of the late Dr. R.F. Smith Jr., a longtime columnist for The Herald-Dispatch.