Becoming a Blessed Church: The Author: About the Author

The Rev. N. Graham Standish, Ph.D., M.S.W., M.Div., M.A.

Biographical Sketch

Other Books by Standish

Q & A with Graham Standish

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Biographical Sketch

N. Graham Standish is currently pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, where he is part of an effort to form a church that is more intentionally open to God’s guidance and grace through prayer and spirituality. His church is presently one of several churches nation-wide being studied as part of a Lily Endowment study on churches interested in spirituality and spiritual practices (for more information on this study, see www.practicingcongregations.org).

He is the author of Becoming the Blessed Church (2005) by The Alban Institute, Discovering the Narrow Path (2002) and Paradoxes for Living (2001), both by Westminster John Knox Press, and Forming Faith in a Hurricane (1998), by Upper Room Books; a contributor to Let Us Pray: Reformed Prayers for Christian Worship (Geneva Press, 2003) and The Dictionary of Christian Spiritual Formation (Upper Room Books, 2003); as well as numerous articles in spirituality and spiritual direction. He is an adjunct professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Doctor of Ministry program and Certificate in Spiritual Formation Program, focusing in the areas of spirituality and congregational leadership; a teacher in Pittsburgh Presbytery’s Commissioned Lay Pastor’s Training Program; and has served on the editorial board of Presence, the journal of Spiritual Directors International. He is a teacher, retreat leader, spiritual director, and has a background in individual, marital, and family therapy. He has a Ph.D. in formative spirituality from Duquesne University, a Master of Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master of Divinity from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. In addition, he is president of the Vineyard Guild, an organization committed to supporting, nurturing, and training spiritual leaderships and the growth of more spiritually vibrant congregations: www.vineyardguild.org. Finally, and most important, he is husband of Diane, and the father of twin girls, Erin and Shea.

You can reach Graham at ngstandish@zoominternet.net or 724-452-7560.

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Other Books by Standish

• Discovering the Narrow Path: A Guide for Spiritual Balance. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002
This book explores how to move beyond today’s simplistic responses to the struggles of faith, and guides people on how to walk the unclear path of faith that requires trust and commitment to God. It explores themes such as the mystical approach to faith; the role of healing; living in balance; forming a Trinitarian faith and spirituality; serving Christ in a balanced way; integrating theology, religion, and spirituality; and understanding the different approaches to faith in modern Christianity.

• Paradoxes for Living: Cultivating Faith in Confusing Times. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001
This book explores the importance of paradoxes in the process of forming faith and growing spiritually. It looks at scriptural paradoxes such as: to be strong we have to be weak; to live we have to die; to be mature we have to be like children; to save ourselves we have to lose ourselves; to receive we have to give; and to know God we have to know ourselves. By exploring these paradoxes, the book reveals a new way of living our our faith in a way that opens us spiritually and enables us to sense God's guidance and direction more clearly, while also showing us how to live the Christian life more fully.

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Q & A with Graham Standish

What does it mean to be a “Blessed Church?”
To be a blessed church means to be a church that is doing the best it can to be open to God’s blessings already in its midst. I believe that God wants our churches to do well. Let me rephrase that. I know that God not only wants our church to do well, but that God is actively blessing our churches so that they can do well. The problem is that not all of us are ready for these blessings, and you can see this in the way we operate our churches. We do all the things churches are supposed to do, but we do them because that’s what we think we’re supposed to do. We never ask the question, “Is this really what God wants for us?” Nor do we really ask “What does God want for us?” We operate our churches like secular organizations where we seek mainly what we want rather than what God wants. And this closes the door to Christ. I draw inspiration from Revelation 3:20, “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” This passage tells us both that Jesus wants to enter our churches and show us how to grow in God’s blessings, and that Jesus won’t enter our churches uninvited. If we won’t let Jesus in, then we operate our churches on our own. Many of our modern mainline churches operate in a way that closes the door to Jesus by making their decisions based purely on financial practicalities, rational argument, and/or who has the strongest voice and will. In those cases, Jesus is content to stand outside, waiting for the day that the church will open the door and ask, “Lord, what are you calling us to do?” A blessed church asks this question, and because it does it is filled with Christ’s presence, it experiences the power of the Holy Spirit, and it follows the purpose set for it by God the Creator.

In “Becoming a Blessed Church” you make the case that many churches tend toward rational functionalism, a mode that emphasizes logic over emotion, and form and function over spiritual vibrancy. What are some barriers to overcoming rational functionalism?
The main barrier to overcoming rational functionalism is the fact that our churches are like lava, not water. What I mean by this is that like lava, when they face an obstacle to growth, they push against the obstacle. Making no headway they become petrified and stuck. So, for example, when the musical preferences of a generation change, they can’t change with it, and so they become stuck doing what they’ve always done. When a new population moves into town, they can’t reach out to them. They are stuck reaching out only to people like them, which is a diminishing pool. When the old ways of doing things no longer work, they can’t find alternatives. By becoming like lava they lack the fluidity to seek and find the new paths that Christ is calling them to take. When churches become like water, they face the same obstacles, but by seeking Christ’s will they are able to move around these obstacles and find new channels for growth. Even if they hit an obstacle that acts like a dam holding them back, eventually they rise above the obstacle and find a new way of being a congregation. Too many of our churches, and to a large extent our mainline denominations, have become like lava, facing the obstacles of our times, and responding by doing the same things over and over again until we become petrified, immobile, and lifeless. The key to becoming like water is to become prayerful as a community, always seeking God’s way over our own.

How can becoming more intentionally Trinitarian help a church become more grounded in God’s purpose, alive in God’s presence, and open to God as Power?
A: I believe that the Trinitarian understanding of God is one of the greatest gifts of Christianity, but the rationally functional modern church has robbed it of its life. We treat the Trinity as a theological concept explaining a truth about God that is ultimately too lofty for us to figure out on our own. From a theological perspective we are told to simply accept that God is one and three. That’s a failure of the modern church. And the failure is that it ignores the spiritual power of the Trinity. The Trinity is a concept rooted in an experience of God. The original Christians didn’t just think of God as Father. They experienced God as Father who is our source and created us for a purpose. They didn’t just think of Christ as God. They experienced Christ as the incarnated presence of God, and they experienced Christ in the church as the body of Christ. They didn’t just think of God as the Holy Spirit. They experienced God in the Holy Spirit, in the active power of God working wonders and miracles, big and small, throughout all of life. When we are intentionally Trinitarian in our churches, it frees us to be a fuller community. For instance, we become much more intentional about seeking our purpose as a church, and as individuals within a church. This is the aspect of God that I think Rick Warren shares through his books, The Purpose-Driven Church and The Purpose-Driven Life. But churches and people are more than places and beings of purpose. When we are intentional about becoming open to Christ’s presence, we incarnate Christ in our ministry, our mission, our worship, our leadership, our relationships, and so much more. When we are intentionally Trinitarian, we consider our congregations to be places that incarnate Christ and that prepare us to incarnate Christ in our daily lives. Finally, by being intentionally Trinitarian, we seek the way of prayer—the way that tries to be open to the Spirit’s guidance and power. This guidance and power is experienced as we grow spiritually together, as we experience amazing coincidences and providences in our midst, and ultimately as we experience God’s blessings throughout the life of the church. Too many mainline churches are operationally Unitarian. We act as though the only person of God who matters is the Father, and so we restrict the life of the church to the pursuit of doing God’s purpose. We never consider the possibility that we can also be places that incarnate Christ’s presence and that vibrate with the power of the Holy Spirit.

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You have described how prayer has been an important element of Calvin Presbyterian Church’s renewal. Do you have suggestions on how a congregation might begin to incorporate prayer into more facets of its life?
I believe in a three-pronged approach: education, leadership, opportunity. I think the first place to start is offering classes, workshops, and retreats on prayer. The second is to create an expectation among the leaders that they will be people of prayer. This means making prayer and discernment part of meetings, asking leaders to pray for each other and the church, and training leaders to pray. The final place is to create prayer opportunities such as prayer groups, periodic prayer vigils, spaces for prayer, and other creative ventures that encourage people to pray.

What are some characteristics of a “culture of discernment?”
If churches want to be serious about following God’s will, they need to create a culture of discernment in which discerning God’s will is valued and expected not only in leadership, but in life. We do this by emphasizing and teaching discernment in sermons, classes, training, leadership, and more. The point is to create a communal belief that God not only can be heard, but is heard.

For congregational leaders who may feel frustrated by the pace of change in their churches, what’s the first step toward becoming a blessed church?
The first step is always to pray for the church, and to pray for the transformation of the church. This also may require patience. Reading scripture, especially the gospels and Acts, it is clear that prayer was fundamental to Jesus, the apostles, and all of Jesus’ followers. Sadly, many traditional mainline church leaders and members are dubious about prayer and spirituality, thinking that it is a competitor to good theology—that it somehow hijacks faith and leads people down a wishy-washy path. So they resist a more prayerful approach. When faced with leaders who resist prayer and are skeptical of Christian spirituality, the answer always is found in prayer and patience. Just creating a prayer group in this context— a group devoted to praying for the pastor, leaders, and church—is a great start, as long as the prayer group also is clear that it cannot be a schismatic group. The purpose has to be to pray for transformation, not force change. The Holy Spirit has to be the source of change. If your church is open to a more spiritual approach, certainly encouraging the leaders to assess the church spiritually, and to use a book like Becoming a Blessed Church, can help the process. But the thing to always keep in mind is that transformation is a very slow process. Forcing change at our own pace can be counter-productive by causing people to feel that they have to defend tradition. It is always better to seek God’s will together, and then to move forward in small steps.