As a pastor, I'm grateful for the decline of the church as it exists. When the church was dominant, it acted like an empire. And all empires are abusive, exploit, kill, and destroy. And all empires fall from their own weight. I pastor a church in decline, as far as numbers of people and finances. And I'm grateful for that. Because it means that the we are losing people who were never really interested in following Jesus, but rather having a social club. I've told people before, I didn't change my entire life, go to seminary for a number of years, and take on student loan debt of significant size in order to be the customer service rep of a social club. I came to proclaim the Good News that sets people free, that is about Shalom, that opens our hearts and eyes to seeing the image of God in others, that calls us to be congruent between what we claim we believe and how we act it out. The pandemic, while difficult, has forced the church to change and consider possibilities. It has forced intentional conversation about why the church exists and what it is about. And it has been a blessing because it has spurred conversation about intentional relationships with other congregations to do ministry together, consider how God is calling us to utilize the property and facility we steward and how it might be used to build community and serve those in need. It has sparked innovation and creativity and an embrace of holy risk. It's a challenge and a blessing. And I hope other churches receive the same challenge and blessing. It gives us life and moves us forward to live into the calling. Thank you Dan for writing and sharing your experiences. I appreciate reading them. If for no other reason, I end up saying, "here's what we don't want to become - the examples that Dan writes about."