Simple Church

My youth ministry friend Stacie told me about a book that I should read called "Simple Church" that was written from the perspective of intentional discipleship without all the insaneness of programming exhaustion. I asked the question this week "When did church become such a burden on the family?" It seems that as we fill our calendars with really wonderful events, programming, classes and studies that we fail to realize that our most dedicated members will be worn out trying to come to all the things we have offered. And how many things do we do without any intentionality for spiritual growth? Yes, we should have things that are just for fun and yes we should have a variety but the reality is that trying to keep up with a fast paced entertainment culture is killing us. The church can not meet all the needs, of all the people, all the time. We need to find our thing that we do well (while growing spiritually and bringing people into relationship with Jesus) and just do that. And if someone wants a different type of program, study or experience we need to be okay saying that they should go down the street and find what they are looking for. Could simple be the new black?
Quote from the book: "To have a simple church, you must design a simple discipleship process. This process must be clear. It must move people toward maturity. It must be integrated fully into your church, and you must get rid of the clutter around it."

So why does simple sound so hard? "Imagine that your church is no longer just busy but is alive with ministries and activities that make a difference. Such is the simple church revolution." This gives me hope that starting a church from scratch might actually be easier than serving in an existing church. : ) http://www.facebook.com/#!/LivingWaterTulsa

My Books

In the last day and a half, I have gotten a bookshelf and chair from my parents antique store and started unpacking my office to my home.  Six boxes later, I am almost done.  As I organize my books, I have started opening some of them and reading things I highlighted or just drifting over a few paragraphs to remind me why I have the book.  It has been a beautiful and powerful journey of the spirit as I have been inspired by things I had forgotten or maybe hadn't ever noticed.  I have been reminded of ideas that I had been passionate about but never explored.  I have been challenged to consider what do I take with me into my new church plant.
You see, as I listen for what God has planned for this church I have had to filter out the voices coming from every direction with thier ideas and excitement.  I have had to dive into the Bible and spend time on my knees reflecting on what the church could be.  I have been given a monumental task of discerning how to create a church that speaks to people on the deepest level and offers them a place to find purpose for their lives.  I have been asked to do something that all statistics say is unnecessary and unwanted in a culture that is leaving the church in droves. 
I long to offer a place of holy grace to a people that are hurting-to create a culture of church that is more about love and less about judgement.  I want to offer authentic relationships and real conversation that isn't glossed over with an unchallenged truth.  I need to know that God has a plan to reach the community and change the world that isn't judged by how many people are counted in a worship service.
Where do I find people who will risk taking this step with me?

Healthy Churches

For the last couple of weeks, I have been visiting churches in the area on Sunday mornings for worship.  Other than when I first went to college, I have never had the opportunity to visit different churches.  I have always been volunteering in my home church so much that the opportunity to visit others wasn't an option.  It really is very interesting. 
The things I look for are signs of a healthy church.  For me, those signs are a diversity of people including age, race and ability.  I check to see if accomodations have been made to include people with mobility or disability issues.  I look for children and youth and if they are included in leadership in any way.  I check out the way people are dressed and how they relate to each other.  I watch who leads and what age, race, and sex they are.  I notice what kind of music is played and how the congregation participates. And I pay attention to how they treat me, a visitor. 
To be honest, the churches I have seen so far are doing very well.  They have hit all the healthy church signs and they seem to be a vibrant, loving congregaton.  The only weak spot could be that they don't engage me in any way.  Oh, they have smiled and shook my hand.  They have nodded and said welcome.  They have handed me information and sent me out with a blessing.  But no one has asked me my name or why I am there.
 To be honest, I am kind of relieved because I don't have to explain that I am a new pastor in the area sharing worship with everyone until I have my own services.  But I would think that someone would take the time to say, "Hey I don't know you.  Are you a visitor?"  I have to ask myself, what keeps them from asking?  Are they afraid?  Do they think I have been coming often and they just haven't noticed?  Are they hoping to visit with someone they know and I am just a "have to" handshake?  Do they worry they might offend me or seem too pushy?  If I had been seeking a place to be in relationship or needing a person to pray for and with me, wouldn't I have left still a stranger?
 I learned in seminary to have a name in a Biblical story is significant and shows status.  Because I have gone unnamed as I visit these churches, does that mean I have no significance?  Did I matter? Will my church be the same way?

Making Connections

Today I followed up with a lead from a man I met at a meeting in Tulsa.  He told me that his niece and her husband had just moved to the Glenpool area and were lifetime United Methodist.  He gave me thier address but not their phone number so I couldn't call ahead.  I went with the hope that he had called them and told them he had asked me to come by.  Which I discovered, he did not.  Cold calls are always a scary thing.  You have to steele your spine and as my friend Pete says "plow through the fear" with every expectation of being rejected.  But they were very nice and as soon as I mentioned the uncle's name, they opened their home to me.  They were definately life-long UM and mentioned names I had only heard from my grandparent's lips.  We shared a wonderful hour of visiting discovering that their daughter, like myself, had created programs in churches for people with disabilities.
 After I left, I was hit with a wave of grief for my grandparents.  They would have joyfully welcomed a stranger into their home just as this lovely couple had.  I cry now thinking of how deeply I miss them and how I wish I had their wisdom to draw upon as I try to build a church that reflects a love for all kinds of people. My mom and I call these waves of grief "sugar cookie moments."  The first time I allowed myself to really deeply grieve (you know that sobbing messy scare-people kind of grief) was when my daughter baked me my grandmother's sugar cookies as a surprise.  I unraveled.  It was time.  I had held myself together long enough and it was to be expected.  As a pastor, when someone you love dies, you are called upon to do the service.  So you hold yourself together and do the to-do list of things that are necessary.  Than your grief leaks out later at the most unexpected times.

In The Beginning

As I begin this journey into starting a new church, I am surprised by the mixed emotions that accompany this step.  The thought of creating a church is both thrilling and terrifying at the same time.  The opportunity for failure is great and the opportunity to be blessed in a way I never even imagined is even greater.  So many people are so hopeful and encouraging and others are fearful and threatened.  Opinions fly at me from every direction while I try to cast my eyes on what God has planned.  As I pray and read, I am ever drawn into a river of "have-to's" that want to carry me in their own direction.  Forms, more forms, and even more forms have to be completed without even having any idea who we are and where our place is yet.  Some days I feel complete by the contemplation and insight I have gained and other days I feel like I am treading water.  I move forward only to be blindsided and stepping back into doubt.  My trainer warned me that I am engaged in a spiritual battle like non-other that I have faced.  And when I didn't believe that this battle was real, I was reminded how fragile life and security is.  So here I am,  a new pastor on her first appointment, contemplating that God intends for the people in this area.  Repeating daily to those who are fascinated by the idea of a church without a building, "the church is not a building, the church is a people."