By Dawn Taloyo, Director of Pastoral and Congregational Health, PacNWC
In December, Pastor Becca Worl of Cedarcreek Covenant Church in Maple Valley, WA introduced DELVE to church leaders and pastors who participated in the Church Chair exChange webinar series. DELVE is the creation of Pastor Worl and two lay leaders in response to a desire to find a way to have open, safe, and focused conversations around some of the challenging topics we face in our world today.
Through much discussion as well as tapping into the wisdom of others, Pastor Worl and her team created the framework for running such a group and brought the proposal to the church leadership team. With both constructive feedback and support, they launched DELVE in early 2019.
In brief, the 15-20 Cedarcreekers who signed up meet one Friday a month for 3 hours to discuss pre-determined topics. Examples discussed thus far have included racial righteousness, immigration, incarceration, and guns. Pre-meeting preparation, a facilitator and an agreed upon “covenanted behavioral code of conduct” help guide and provide structure to the conversation.
And, it is a conversation. All voices and opinions are welcome. The intent, as Pastor Worl states, is to delve deeper into these topics with humility and a willingness to listen and learn, and in so doing, “be a stronger witness to the world as we display unity in the midst of disagreement.”
And, there is disagreement. The intent of DELVE is not to provide answers or draw unified conclusions on issues. Rather, it is about discipleship: growing in our understanding of God’s Word as it relates to these different topics, and how the Spirit of God is working in and forming all of us, despite differing perspectives.
Leaders from four other PacNWC Covenant Churches participated in the webinar, two of which are specifically looking to adapt and implement DELVE in their communities. If you would like to learn more, you can access the webinar video and the PowerPoint presentation at http://pacnwc.org/church-chair-exchange/
