Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

The way the Church has historically done outreach ministry is embodied in the familiar adage: Give a person a fish and he or she eats for a day; teach a person to fish and he or she eats for a lifetime. Through the Middle Ages the Church was in the business of handing out proverbial – and sometimes literal – fish. In many pre-Modern places the Church still functions this way, giving out bread or other staples. The rise of Modernity saw the Church shift to the model of teaching people to fish: creating or staffing agencies to help people help themselves.

I don't want to downplay this important work, as these models have served countless people, but they are prone to the danger of thinking that the Church has a monopoly on fish or on the knowledge of fishing. The Church after Modernity might just have to be in the business of fishing with people.

Fishing with people is necessarily contextual, in many ways relying upon the hospitality of those we are called to serve. It engages us with those in our communities, opening our eyes to the work of the Holy Spirit that is already happening there. Fishing together fosters relationship, which changes all who participate. There is no longer a one-way exchange of stuff “we” have and “they” need.

Thrust into these crashing waves we realize that there are ways to fish of which the Church has not yet dreamed. Moreover, some areas of the Church hunger for the fish that only can be provided by the men and women already fishing outside the Church's walls. Even fishing experts (read: Church professionals) can learn something from getting out there and being open to the experience of others. Jesus taught the fishermen Peter, James, and John something about fishing even though that was not Jesus' vocation.

The Church needs these new ways to fish. Some parishes might simply need the fish. Have I stretched the metaphor too far? You bet, but there is some urgency as the Holy Spirit is out there, at work in the world. It is time to get on board. To stretch the metaphor just a little more, perhaps it is time to disembark, to get off our boats (our naves) to wade in the water, and cast our nets with those who are already neck-deep, trying to catch fish any way they can.