Pilgrim Place

I was down by the Potomac a while back and saw an interesting sight: a pair of boats racing up the river. These weren’t powerboats, they were sculls.

A scull is a light racing boat powered by rowers. The ones I saw were “8 man sculls” — each had eight oarsmen and a coxswain on board. For more information, this interesting glossary of rowing provides some basic concepts to the sport.

The coxswain that two main jobs: he keeps the boat in the right lane and helps the rowers to row together through the end of the race.

What would happen to the scull if the rowers rowed in different directions or at their own rate? What would happen it some chose not to row at all? The boat wouldn’t run smoothly through the water to the finish. It might stop. Their strokes would work against each other.

Sometimes churches are like that. Without a clear vision and mission the church members are like rowers rowing their own direction.

I saw a girl walking five dogs recently. I was stopped at the light so I was able to watch for a bit. Each of the dogs had a different idea of which way they wanted to go. And none of them seemed to want to go the way the girl tried to lead them. In fact, her feet were getting tangled up in the leashes.

Sometimes churches are like that, too. Without a clear mission and vision churches can be like that, too. Vision functions as a cohesive factor. It helps hold the church together. It gets everyone pulling or going in the same direction.

Regards, in Christ,
PJKreft