Two ideas that have stirred me this week…

We come to receive the Eucharist not just to receive but knowing that we are to take back to our communities what Christ has given us and shown us in meeting him in the Eucharist.

and…

When one of us is poor we all suffer; when one of us is rich we are all blessed. This is the interconnected community of Christ. A community that takes on the pain of those in its midst who are hurting and shares what it has to help those who are in need.

The first moved me because this is a sentiment that I have read and often expressed in leading groups through the Eucharist…but have seldom heard elsewhere. The Eucharist (or communion, Lord’s supper, etc.) it seems to me in most evangelical churches has simply come to be about me recognizing what was done for me. I am the focus. I am the center – not Christ and this is missing the point.

The second moved me because it is an idea that I have read. It is an idea that I believe the scriptures teach, but until Monday night I had never heard another pastor express. It moved me to tears. Blessed to be a blessing…that’s what we are and we each bare the burdons of those in our communities as we likewise revel in their joy. We are attached to each other but our fear, greed or other delusions help us to build protective walls. We convince ourselves that we aren’t attached but in reality we are. Every decision affecting those around us in ways we are often unwilling to see but the effects are there. Much like Dr. King’s picture of people being bound in an interconnected inextricable garment of destiny. We are attached and need each other. We must honor our connectedness to really be the communities of peace, hope and redemption that Christ calls us to be.

This week I’m praying to live these ideas out – not just talk about them.

Peace ~

Three or four days ago I came across this article

http://goo.gl/0Xxl9 from David Fitch.

This line captured my attention:

“mega churches continuing to grow, consolidating what is left of the Christendom populations, providing a traditional church services to the shrinking masses of already existing Christians and lapsed Christians coming back into the fold,”

Consolidating what is left of the Christendom populations…and it was like the light went on; I had a Eureka! moment; it all became clear; I had an epiphany; the door was opened. However you would like to define it, Fitch put words to what I have been trying to understand, maybe for a couple of years now.

Mega-Churches and I would argue satellite and video venues as well continue to consolidate people…

1) Don’t see yet that something’s wrong in the way we are “being” the church as compared to what Jesus did and what the first Christians did.

2) See that’s something is wrong but the risk to change is to great

3) Who can’t see church any other way or have a clue that it can be different (this is all they know)

4) Who are simply consumers and don’t understand they were called to be so much more.

I have struggled with this; I mean really beat my head against the wall on this one.  Why oh why would people that I know…intelligent, sincere people hang in and participate in systems that are so far from Jesus?

My friend Dan pointed out one day that he knows so many people, as do I who…”Are just tired of the way we do church. It’s just not like the early church. We need to do what Jesus & them did and quite wasting our time on all the buildings, events & stuff…YADA, YADA, YADA.” And I would say that maybe 1 in 10 ever does anything about it. Most just switch churches. We have seen this over & over in our community. At least 10 different couples have come in, been a  part for a short while & left to go back to a consumer friendly church (usually a new one). The committment and risks that it takes to birth a new kind of church are just too hard. It’s much easier to walk in, get the matching name tag/arm band combo, leave the kid there, get your coffe, but that book you’ve wanted and slide into your stadium seat for the sing-a-long concert that’s really a worship experience…not a concert.

There is a lot of talk about change but very few people who step out & do it. It’s just really really hard to do.

Fitch then points out that smaller churches of less than 200 are dying as well. Statistically we know that mid-sized and mainline churches are getting squeezed as well so in reality what we see is growth at the mega church end (included here are the child churches that they birth) and in the fresh expressions of the church that are popping up everywhere. Like…

*house churches (not that this is new…but they are on the rise and are becoming much more common. I know of two in my neighborhood)

*hybrid communities like ours (weekend worship still happens but it is not the main thing. In our community we have more people gather for meals than we do for our weekend worship gathering.)

*true/different/fresh expressions of the church.

So…

1) Does the 1st point (Fitch’s quote) seem true or false to you?

2) What do you see happening around you? What “new” kinds of churches/communities are out there?

3) Do you know people or maybe you have been there…you know that something isn’t right; it needs to change; but once they or you tried a new community that was really trying to dislocate from the institutional ideas of church, it just didn’t “meet enough needs?”

The kingdom is advancing; the church is changing; will we be willing to change our expectations and “wants” to allow communities of Jesus followers to be what God intended for them to be.

Well, the cats kinda out of the bag!

The Church @ Spring Hill has leased out what used to be Utopia Coffee (5302 Main Street) in Spring HIll. We are renaming it The Space and we hope to be open in early October. The building will serve our community in a couple of major areas: student and young adult activities and bringing hospitality to our city.

Students…

*We want to disciple students and young adults in our community. Our town is blessed with some amazing young adults and we hope to see them passionately pursuing what God has put in them and before them. The building will be open for various student activities weekly and our aim is to have it be not only a space where students can be taught, hang out, bring friends but also be a place where they can get help with school or other needs. They can get training from local adults who are willing to tutor or mentor them in some specific art, craft or skill.

Hospitality…

*It’s simple. The building will be used daily to bring our brand of hospitality to the city. The Space will be open daily with free wi-fi, free coffee & drinks and probably some snacks of some kind. We are pursuing the idea of a weekly free meal on Wednesdays. Spring Hill also has a shortage of meeting space so we are making one room available to groups who need to use it. The room will have whiteboard space and a projector/screen so it is perfect for meetings. Our idea is to provide this all on a donation basis. We hope that it will be received as a gift by those who cannot afford to give and those who can, will help us continue this dream.

Okay, Okay. Here’s How You Can Help…

*We are still in need of the following items. So if you have them or know someone who does or are willing to pay for them…message me please. The response so far has been tremendous. We haven’t had to purchase hardly anything. Thank You God!

> Couch(s)
> Refrigerator
> Paint (we’ll take your left over interior paints…especially white)
> Coffee Mugs
> Macbook or iMac
> Dishes
> Waffle Irons
> Popcorn Machine
> Printer with Wireless Printing Capabilities
> Printer Paper, Pencils, Notebooks

OR/AND

We are looking for adults who are willing to:
> Tutor
> Give time to teach lessons of some kind
> Just come hang out with us. If you’ve got the time and see The Space open, just drop in.

Thanks so much in advance!
Message me if you have questions (williamguice@gmail.com)