What Kind of Ship is the Church?
A number of people have used nautical images for the Church. The starting point is usually that the Church is not a cruise ship, meaning it is not designed for the comfort of its passengers. The contrast is either with a battleship or a rescue ship, with the focus on action and making a difference.
What if there was another option? My wife has shared stories with me of when her family owned their own boat. Many memories were made both on the open water and the dock. All that mattered was that you were part of the family.
Could the Church be a family vessel? A place where family felt welcome and safe. The question would be, who was part of this family? What about people with disabilities?
When the Church is at its best, it is a place where the family includes people of all abilities. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. There are too many examples of families that are asked to leave a church because their child has a disability.
Are there certain qualifications to be a part of the crew? Going back to the battleship image, not everyone is welcome to join the crew. Crew members have to meet a certain standard and some are outright rejected.
But if the Church is a family vessel, the only requirement is belonging to the family. There are different roles for different people, but everyone belongs.
Some churches operate according to the battleship image. The crew is only useful if they can work towards the effectiveness and efficiency of the mission. These are churches that exalt “excellence” above all else and reject those who do not contribute to that goal.
Churches have the opportunity to be a vessel that welcomes all aboard. Whether the person has developmental disabilities, physical disabilities or mental illness, they all belong.
These churches do exist. We have two children with autism. Our son tends to make loud noises. I recall him making noise once, during the sermon, and the pastor stopped preaching, not to shame us, but to remind the congregation that all are welcome.
This family-focus does not mean that people have no roles. It simply means that we widen our understanding of the gifts people have. A leader at one church where I pastored, told me that our children had done more to heal some of the broken relationships in the church, than any pastor could.
The danger with seeing the Church as a family vessel is that family can be limited to those who are already aboard. The family is meant to expand and the crew to grow constantly.
The difference between this and the rescue ship analogy used by some churches is that the people who are brought aboard are not just victims in need of rescuing. They are welcomed as family and are included in the activity of the ship.
The Church has not always lived up to its calling. Some churches have rejected people with disabilities, while others have seen them as projects. The Church at its best is a family vessel, where everyone is welcome and safe and working together.
