In mid-February, a diverse group of Houstonians gathered for the third installment of Comment’s local forum series. Building on previous gatherings that focused first on social change and then on gender, this time, participants explored Comment’s winter question, “Church, where are you?” as applied to Houston’s ecclesial mosaic. The group of thirty included pastors, non-profit leaders, retirees, and business professionals, who were united by a desire to “ask important questions, wonder together, and stoke imaginations,” as one participant described his experience.
Anne Snyder provides opening remarks as Houstonians gather to discuss Comment's winter issue, “Church, Where Are You?”
Over the course of the evening, as people dined with different others around tables of six and one unique prompt, an open and honest conversation unfurled: about the beauty of faith communities at their healthiest, about the church’s unique role in this democratic moment, and about the challenges “the church” faces both inside Houston and well beyond. By the time dessert arrived and we had reconvened as a room to share insights table to table, we found that despite the presence of different ideologies, cognitions, experiences of the church, and cultural and theological backgrounds, we could now better articulate the shape of our longings for the bride of Christ.
These experimental Houston forums are one of many ways in which Comment is actively seeking to weave common good actors together in unlikely bands of people on mission. By cultivating an atmosphere of intellectual hospitality, these forums invite a rare sense of psychological safety and courage to hammer out together how exactly a Christian humanist vision might translate into practice, influencing both individual choices and broader place-based strategies.
Are you interested in sparking this kind civic friendship in your city? If so, please get in touch with me and I’ll look forward to helping tease out the local possibility with you.
