To be contemplative is to adopt a posture of openness to the Presence and Action of God in all things and at all times. As we expectantly await our own future as a parish and an archdiocese, the welcoming posture of contemplation can be brought to bear. Brian McLaren reflects on a contemplative relationship to the future:

There are some people who would find it dangerous that we are even asking this question [of our future], because to raise the question of the future of Christianity suggests that the future might be different than the past or the present. . . . If we were to look at some positive trends and say, “Oh, the future of Christianity is bright! . . .,” there’s a certain way that that kind of positive and even wishful thinking could then give us . . . permission to say, “Everything’s going to be fine. I can return to my previously scheduled apathy and complacency.”

There’s another way of answering the question that says, “The future of Christianity is [bleak] and terrible and hopeless.” And we could succumb to a kind of despair or a cynicism that would allow us to say, “Nothing I can do about it. It will be what it will be. . . .” And that would allow us to return to our previously scheduled apathy and complacency.

But there’s another way of asking this question and engaging it with an open heart, an open imagination, an open mind. And that’s a way that leads to a sense of empowerment for us to be open to the ways that the future of Christianity could be influenced . . .

Christianity’s actual history is a story of change and adaptation. We Christians have repeatedly adapted our message, methods, and mission to the contours of our time. What might happen if we understand the core Christian ethos as creative, constructive, and forward-leaning?