How Far Is Too Far? OR You Can't Do That In Church!

How far is too far?

I have been asked this question twice in the past week. 

Both times it came in reply to a statement that I made about doing church differently. 

I am fascinated by efforts to plant incarnational ministries in third places as a means of connecting with un or de-churched folks in innovative ways. We planted a church in a coffeehouse two years ago which doesn't push the ecclesial envelope too far. 

But inevitably I get to talking about my friend Jerry who planted Afterhours in Denver.

The AfterHours community gathers in bars throughout the city. Congregants might have a beer or a cocktail with their nachos while engaging in a lively discussion about Jesus. 

Here is what this ministry says about themselves:

We have felt that there is a void in the God business. People that have good energy and that want to be a part of something bigger. People that have finely tuned B.S. antenna. People that want to wrestle with the questions and that don’t need easy answers. People that are not ok with the status quo when it comes to connecting to God.  Simply put, a more relaxed way to “do God”. We hope we are, in some way an answer for some people. We aren’t big into dogma and creeds. We are intentionally low-tech. We’re trying our best to figure out how to connect to God in an urban context. If we had a mission statement it would be, “Love God/Love People.” We believe in doing good & God, different. We are church for people that don’t do church.

Is that going too far? 

Is a bar not one of the most likely places Jesus would hang out if he were around today (Matt. 11.19)?

Do you know what else this group of mostly self-proclaimed un-churched folk do every week?

They make Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. 

For homeless folk. 

Every time we get together, we make over 75 PB&J lunches that we give away to the homeless the very next day (Service in the service). Feeding people is our Call to Worship. Since we started this ministry, we have helped feed thousands of people this way. We are now our own faith community and doing things in our own unique way.We will never claim to have it all figured out. But we are having a blast so far. We are doing God and church different and so far we hand out 500-600 lunches every week. That doesn’t suck. Church needs to go beyond the walls of the building and AfterHours Denver is proving that is exactly what church can do!

People who may have little or no church background.

People who have no understanding of the God who loves them.

People who are searching for meaning in life but would never enter a conventional church building for a worship service.

People who are hearing the good news and being good news every week. 

That doesn't suck.

But is it going too far?

In the spirit of Jesus, allow me to ask a question in response to this question:

Are we more concerned about the guy drinking a beer or about the fact that the guy is encountering Jesus and acting like him?

Jesus was pretty clear when he was here. He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19.10).

Lost people are in bars.

Lost people are in coffeehouses.

Lost people are in bookstores and gaming rooms and movie theaters and cigar shops. 

A few lost people might find their way in to our church buildings on Sunday morning, but not many. The statistics show us this over and over again (conservative estimates say 60% of any given community will not attend church this Sunday. Some current reports are suggesting it's more like 80%)

Shouldn't we be doing all we can to reach that 60-80% of our community with the good news? 

All we can.

How far is too far?

I'm not altogether certain.

But I have a feeling that as long as the poor are hearing good news, the prisoners are being released, the blind are receiving their sight, the oppressed are being set free, and God's grace is being proclaimed (Luke 4.18-19; Isaiah 61.1-2), we have a ways to go.

E

I Deny The Resurrection

I heard Peter Rollins say this a few years ago and I modified it for the opening of my Easter message yesterday. It is a powerful statement about the need to "Practice Resurrection" as Wendell Berry would say. The Resurrection is not simply an event in history, it is a lifestyle that we are called to live out daily in our own lives and in the lives of others.

I deny the resurrection. Every time I allow fear and anxiety to control my emotions, every time I let despair and discouragement rob me of my peace, every time I trade in my joy for sorrow and my beauty for ashes, I deny the resurrection. Yes, I deny the resurrection. Every time I see injustice and refuse to act, every time I hurt others in order to get what I want, every time I take instead of give, I deny the resurrection. I deny the resurrection every time I convince myself that death has the final word, every time I am persuaded that there is no hope, every time I decide that no one is more important than me and nothing is more important than what I want. Every time I act this way. Every time I think this way. I deny the resurrection.

Don't Know What to do for Lent? Let Me Try and Help.

Tomorrow we will celebrate Ash Wednesday and begin the Season of Lent, a 40 Day journey (excluding Sundays) leading us to the traditional remembrance of Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday and ultimately to the celebration of Easter. For centuries, Christians have observed a “holy Lent” by fasting. Fasting is the spiritual discipline of abstaining from something for a period of time.

About this time, I hear lots of Christians asking each other the same question: “What are you giving up for Lent?”

Many of us struggle with this. We want to participate. But we don’t know what to do.

I’d like to offer a plan. Please take this and use it as you will. Modify it. Change it. Do whatever you want to with it. But use it.

I find that when I get stuck trying to figure out what to do before Lent, I often don’t do anything. This plan will, if nothing more, give us something to do every day.

A couple of things before I outline the plan: First, I want to give credit and thanks to Nadia Bolz Weber. Her blog post and list inspired me to create one of my own. Second, you will notice that Sundays are left blank. That is because Sundays are considered mini-Easters during Lent; they are days of Celebration in preparation for Resurrection Sunday. Traditionally, all fasts were broken on Sunday and resumed on Monday. If you would prefer, you can add something to your plan for Sunday, but just know that you don’t have to. Lastly, some days you will be asked to “do” something as opposed to refrain from something; this is intentional. I think that part of the experience of Lent is not that we simply “stop” doing certain things, but that we “start” doing things that can potentially become practices that we carry with us once Lent is over.

OK. Here is the plan.

The plan begins on Wednesday, February 13^th

Day 1: Attend an Ash Wednesday service

Day 2: Read Luke 9:51-62

Day 3: No meat

Day 4: No sugar

Sunday

Day 5: Read Luke 10

Day 6: No secular music

Day 7: Take a walk around your neighborhood

Day 8:  No complaining

Day 9: Read Luke 11-12

Day 10: Clean closets and take clothes to a Rescue Mission

Sunday

Day 11: Pray for 15 minutes

Day 12: Read Luke 13-14

Day 13: Drink only water all day

Day 14: Do one act of random kindness

Day 15: Read Luke 15-16

Day 16: No internet

Sunday

Day 17: Pray for 20 minutes

Day 18: No TV

Day 19: Text 5 people and tell them how much they mean to you

Day 20: Read Luke 17-18

Day 21: Eat only fruits and vegetables all day

Day 22: No work (housework, yardwork etc.) Play day!

Sunday

Day 23: Give $20 to a good cause

Day 24: Pray for 25 minutes (include your enemies)

Day 25: Attend a mid-week worship service or small group

Day 26: Read Luke 19-20

Day 27: No sweets

Day 28: Organize and/or participate in a service project

Sunday

Day 29: Buy several $5 gift cards and give them to random people

Day 30: Say “I love you” at least 5 times

Day 31: Read Luke 21-22

Day 32: No arguing

Day 33: No social media

Day 34: Call someone who you haven’t talked to in a while

Sunday

Day 35: Pray for 30 minutes

Day 36: No caffeine

Day 37: Watch this video and share it with a non-Christian friend

Day 38: Have a meal and communion with friends and family

Day 39: Forgive someone

Day 40: Read Luke 23

Easter Sunday!

New United Methodist Faith Communities Redefining What it Means to be the Church

I am proud to be a part of a growing movement of church planters and pastors in the United Methodist Church who are redefining what it means to be the "Church" in a post-everything world.

I have written on this blog about our "journey" thus far as The Journey, A United Methodist Community that I was appointed to plant in July 2011. After 18 months, I think we are finally beginning to understand who we are. 

We have been using "organic" terminology from the very beginning, wanting this community of faith to develop slowly and to become a healthy, vibrant movement of God in this community. We unintentionally hijacked that vision for a while by trying to be something that we were not supposed to be, but we have since returned to our original desire to be an organic faith community that focuses on mission, hospitality, community and creativity. 

We moved our Sunday gatherings from the larger, more sterile environment of the local high school auditorium in to the smaller, more intimate coffee shop that we operate downtown. This has given us the opportunity to really start becoming the kind of church that we feel God is calling us to be. 

Much of this redirection has been a result of connecting with some wonderful new friends around the US who are planting or starting some amazingly fresh and creative expressions of church in radically new ways.

My friend Beth Estock writes a blog called Sacred Dirt and has posted an entry highlighting some of these new ventures.

I think that the Church in general and the United Methodist Church in particular must begin to look at new ways of doing church in these challenging times. I am excited about these new expressions of church that are springing up around the country, and grateful to be a part of the adventure.

What I Learned About Churchplanting in 2012

As we complete our first full year as a new church, I thought I’d reflect a little on what I’ve learned as a church planter this past year.

It is not my church. I was appointed to plant the church, but as Paul wisely reminds me often, I plant, someone else waters but God provides the growth. If I am not trusting God on a daily basis, I am failing as a pastor and a leader.

     
“If you build it they will come” is not always true.  The statistics are clear: it does not matter if you have the best band in town, the most charismatic preacher, a totally awesome youth ministry or missional community groups that watch Rob Bell DVD’s while sipping Chardonnay; non-churchgoers are not going to attend your church! Not that we tried all of that, mind you, but I did buy in to the lie that if we simply started a cool contemporary worship service, people would come.

People are looking for a way to serve. More than anything, I think I’ve realized that while non-churchgoers are not looking for a church or organized religion, they are looking for a way to serve. A new church will do well to organize everything around a core value/practice of mission. We continue to see the value of gathering, singing, teaching, and the sacraments, but we are learning that in order to truly impact the lives of the un-churched/de-churched, we must offer opportunities for everyone to play. I like to call it an all-skate. When I was young a fun night on the town always included a stop at Skatetown USA. If I was not in a meaningful relationship (which was often) I couldn’t skate during the couples skate; I wasn’t fast enough to participate in the races; and I wasn’t limber enough to do limbo! So I had to wait for the announcer to say those wonderful words: “It’s an all-skate!” The floor is open to all and sundry. That’s the way church needs to be. Everyone needs to have ample opportunity to skate.
      
Leadership must be shared. We live in an open-source “wiki” world. People want to participate and collaborate like never before. Church planting is not for control freak lone rangers with self-esteem issues. Leadership  must be a community event. I have recently discovered the term “curator,” and feel like it is a good title for a church planter. A curator (from the Latin ‘to take care of”) is a sort of overseer or manager in today’s society. My primary role as a church planter is to oversee the development of new disciples and to manage them in such a way as to bring out the very best in them and offer them full participation in the leadership of the new church. As a side note, I have discovered that it is imperative to allow people to belong BEFORE believing. We have tended to require belief before full participation in the life of the church.  I believe that we must allow people to belong, participate, have a voice etc. in the life of the church even while they are figuring things out.

5.   
You have to take risks. A new church is just not going to make it without taking some serious risks. Not all of the risks we’ve taken have worked, but the ones that have worked, worked really well! Failure will occur. The test of faith for the new church plant team is whether they will get back up and risk again. If everything worked out perfectly every time, I’d wonder what we were doing wrong.

Bigger is not always better. In fact, I would argue that the megachurch is being replaced by the microcommunity. Just as people are looking for opportunities to serve, I am also convinced that people are looking for genuine relationship. The technological age has persuaded us that genuine community can be found in cyberspace with our 700 “friends” on Facebook. This just simply is not true. Now don’t get me wrong, I love me some Facebook, but genuine relationships just aren’t going to form there. We need to be together – preferably serving together – so that we can truly connect and develop the kinds of relationships that are only forged in what Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost call “communitas.” We are transitioning to a more micro form of church beginning in January and are very excited about this next phase of our journey. We are beginning with two Sunday morning gatherings so that we don’t completely ignore the deeply imbedded “Sunday morning is for church” ethos of our community. But we are launching these gatherings in our coffee shop which has a maximum capacity of 50. This will force us to start other gatherings as we grow. Our intention is to launch several microcommunities that meet throughout the week in a variety of locations all across North Okaloosa County and challenging each community to have an outreach/missional component to everything they do. In this way we are able to meet the needs of the spiritual but non-religious/anti-instutional/un-churched for service and community all at the same time.

I am doing a teaching series beginning in January that I am calling “I Dream of a Church.” Here are the 7 things that I dream of, and the 7 things that The Journey is going to strive to be in 2013:

A Church:

That doesn’t feel like church
Where everyone is welcome
Where it’s easy to belong
Where “real” is more important than “right.”
Where “people” are more important than “policy.”
Where outside is just as important as inside
Where lives are being transformed

I am excited for what is in store for us in 2013. The journey continues …

An Advent Candle Reading in the Aftermath of Tragedy

This Sunday is the Third Sunday of Advent when we traditionally light the candle of JOY. I am having a hard time cultivating joy in the midst of the unfolding tragedy in Connecticut today.

I wrote the following reading that we will use for our candle lighting this Sunday at The Journey.

Please feel free to use it if you would like and make any changes you feel necessary.

Kyrie Eleison

Sean

Advent 3

Today is the third Sunday of Advent in which we prepare for the arrival of Jesus the Christ. Traditionally the theme for this Sunday is Joy. While we pray for joy today, we acknowledge that our hearts are heavy in the aftermath of another senseless tragedy in our country. We re-light the candles of Peace and Love and as we do so, we express our deepest longing for the Prince of Peace to come and wipe away every tear. We wait expectantly for the Lord of Love to return and make all things new. And now with sincere faith we light the candle of Joy, and proclaim with the Psalmist that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Let us pray

Redeemer God you are close to the brokenhearted, and you save those whose spirits are crushed. Fill us today with your joy. Bring comfort to all who mourn, and remind us all that you are Emmanuel – God with us. We long for the day when you will come again and wipe away every tear from our eyes. We long for the day when there shall be no more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain. Until that day, we will wait. And we will trust that as we do, our strength will be renewed. Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

You're Being So Dramatic: Our Ongoing Attempts At Being Missional

In an ongoing effort to be missional, The Journey has recently decided to lead the charge in formulating a Community Theatre in Crestview.

Sandra and I, as well as our worship leaders Nick and Cathy, bring years of theatre experience with us into this church plant. We could have simply decided to start a “church drama ministry” which many churches do, but we realized pretty quickly that Crestview did not have a community theatre. So, we set to work to begin connecting with folks in the community who might have some interest in starting a local theatre group.

We soon discovered that there was a real desire to get a community theatre up and going but no leadership to make it happen. That was all we needed to hear.

Currently we are working with the Okaloosa Arts Alliance and the Crestview Arts and Culture committee to lay the groundwork for a new Community Theatre: A View from the Stage.

We are only a week away from our inaugural production of Arsenic and Old Lace which will run November 16-18^th at Warriors Hall.

We have roles being played by Christians and non-Christians, church-goers and free-spirits, believers and skeptics.

We have made some wonderful new friends and have had opportunities to talk with them about God and faith in ways that we may never have been able to had we not built a bridge to the artistic community by thinking outward instead of inward. Church drama ministries are awesome and provide great opportunities for fellowship amongst believers. Thinking outside the box and helping to create a community theatre where all are welcome and where there are no religious requirements is something completely different.

This is thinking missionally.

This is incarnating the gospel.

This is something that every church can do.

What are you waiting for?