The End

This blog is at an end. There is no longer a need for an alternative, contemporary service locally. This bloke swept into town and within a few weeks had an independant "fellowship group" (ie church) going - which those of us who have been here for years couldn't accomplish.

I guess sometimes it takes an outsider.

Funny thing is, I'm not interested in attending. And it's not because I didn't start it (so am boycotting it in a petty way). It's that I'm just not interested. 5 years ago - yes, I would have been there with bells on. Now - no thanks. Just not into church or meetings or anything that goes with it.

So perhaps it's a very good thing this blog has come to an end. Along with the reason it was started.

Eye-candy

Time to update this much-neglected part of my blogging life with two things that caught my eye:

* Bob Hyatt on why YOU should plant a church.

* Tall Skinny Kiwi on Getting Things Moving (introduce movement into worship).

Why is @5 not yet up and running? Because I feel like I currently don't even belong sneaking into the back row, never mind up front.

This too shall pass...

Big Questions

Can someone who doesn't feel Christian (never mind any loyalty to a particular denomination) lead a church? Can someone who is tired of religion and the standard explainations of God, life, the universe and everything?

What if 2,000 years of Christian Traditions have simply led us way off track - what if all we assume about how Christianity should look is very, very wrong?

What is church anyway - a gathering place for believers, or for the lost, for those seeking a Way (even if they're not sure what exactly that is)?

And if it's the latter - what will church look like? How does it escape the set expectations of those already at a decidedly Christian (and denominational) destination, and encourage those far from any destination at all?

Is reaching a destination important?

Should it even be called church?

Back to our Roots

The ever-wonderful Tall Skinny Kiwi had this to say in a recent post:

The church began with a meal. The Church needs to come back to the kitchen and get itself sorted again. The Church needs to rethink the puny wafer and thimble ritual and get back to the love feast which is a MEAL that takes TIME and happens MORE than once a week and has LEFTOVERS which can given to the POOR (the justice element) and resembles a PARTY that is full of HOPE towards the FEAST that awaits us with our SAVIOR who is not drinking wine until we get there to toast with Him. Jesus said DO THIS in remembrance of me. We would do well to ask "WHAT?"

Still gathering up ideas here, still thinking and wondering. Each time I come across something like this, the lightbulb above my head gets a bit brighter.

TSK really knows how to party church over food - I've been lurking at his feet and absorbing his thoughts since I started blogging. I ain't gonna stop now! :)

What Church is Supposed to Be

Real Live Preacher ends a post on Ash Wednesday with this:

Let me tell you what church is supposed to be. It is supposed to be a community of friends who have walked together through the good times and the hard times of life so that their shared history is more powerful than their differences. It is a gathering of spiritual seekers who do not demand exact conformity in every doctrine, but acknowledge a shared commitment to Christ and fidelity in living. There is real trust and love. Mistakes are made and people are forgiven. And you feel safe. Safe enough to laugh or cry. Safe enough even to sneak up to the front of the church and have a little fun with the ashes.

Amen, Preacher, amen.

When the music fades...

Here's the essence of what I think about when I think "church". Sample from link:

If the electricity went out, and your walls fell down, and your biggest givers died, what would you have left? Would you have a community of people still seeking after the heart of God? Would you still worship even without a band? Would you still be able to learn about God even though you can't show a video or a PowerPoint slide? In other words, what you have when everything else goes away is what your church is really all about.

(With all the recent blackouts, I wonder if electric-dependant mega-churches might also be thinking along these lines! :) )

Time for Silence

I've noticed that most church happenings have a definite schedule of go-go-go. The worship team keeps the tempo up, the planners make sure every minute is filled with something. They're scared that if there's a break, a pause, then the "mood" will be lost, folk would get all awkward, and the entire process will break down.

After a few years off church, the cynical me sees it as one long manipulative, entertainment thing. Which I know is not the motivation behind what happens, but nonetheless. As I said, I'm cynical.

There seems to be little space for silence and contemplation. I want to make space for these at @5. I know it's not going to be easy - it's hard to be comfortable with being quiet, sitting still and being alone with your thoughts. But the Quakers have done it, and others have too. There are elements of worship and beauty that can only come forth in silence.

I remember one such time at the Baptist church when I was on the worship team. We had a new leader, it was her first week up front. Where I'd had to rush to keep up with other leaders, not a moment of quiet in the programme, she let the Spirit dictate what was next - her whole family was a very Spirit-led one (albiet a bit on the scary side at times!). After one particular song, the whole church fell silent in meditative contemplation and worship, like they'd never done in the 3 years I'd been attending. There was a Presence in that time that is hard to pinpoint, but it affected us all.

There was only one other time, now that I think back, where there was a block of silence. And that was the only other time I've felt so close to God that tears streamed unbidden down my face. Causing my pew-mate to ask if I were OK, which completely broke the mood! :)

The memory of those times of stillness, and reading things like this have made me realize once again how big a place silence should have in our worship.

In crafting an entirely-different type of gathering, with no tradition to uphold, no unspoken laws to follow, I hope that we will be encouraged to be still at times. To let the quiet Voice talk. The one we too often drown out in worship noise.