A reminder or perhaps a revelation…

So last Sunday I attended worship at Grace Community Church.  To be truthful I anticipated going in, critiquing the worship service and finding all kinds of flaws with the message.  It is sort of what we preachers do when we listen to other preachers.  Sure on the outside we might say we want to hear a powerful message but on the inside we are saying, “Really?”  I imagine that my congregation does it as well when I speak but I think we preachers can be more critical.  The night before, I had a conversation with my brother and I shared my reservations about how I anticipated my approach worship  the next day and in jest (“some things said in jest are true,” a proverb from my mother in law.) asked my brother to pray and I can have an experience of worship.  Perhaps he did just that.

I wanted to be wowed and in some ways I was.   Ok, there wasn’t a greeter at the door but there were greeters all over the parking lot!  They need it cause its hard finding a parking place on Sunday morning at 9:15 (yeah, I cut it pretty close and perhaps just a little late for arriving for the 9:15 worship service.)  I got a hello from the usher as he handed me a bulletin, no order of worship displayed but there was an entire empty page for note taking, along with announcements of upcoming events and celebrations.   You walk into a full auditorium that seats 1300 people and the majority of the congregation has brown hair (by that comment I’m implying that my gray hair was less abundant among the worshippers!)  Their opening music was awesome, and then a youngish woman stood center stage and welcomed  “Grace” and mention to the guests who came that day to stop by their welcome center.  The offering was received and then there was a special selection of music played while seven or eight participants in various mission trips sponsored by Grace that summer shared testimonials between the stanzas of music (very well done and effective!) 
 Dominican Republic, Belgium, Africa, New Orleans, Appalachian area, Baltimore, were among the list of those that I can remember.  Each testimony spoke, like the do at Mount Zion, of the powerful impact of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ (my words not theirs necessarily) on those who participated in some cases more than those they served  (most probably the appropriate humble response that is a common theme that the missionaries have than what we get more from giving using their gifts to help others. )   I was really impressed at the youth and vitality of those who spoke and the sincerity of each message, it was a powerful witness that also encouraged the general body of the church who gathered.

The preacher of the day spoke on the closing verses of the book of Colossians.  Throwing a picture on the screen of a baseball team where all but one of the players had blanked out ovals over their faces, we were asked, “Who was on our Team?”  It is a great question, who in our life do we turn, day to day, week to week, as those who will be with us on a spiritual faith journey.  Using the names listed in the text of the day, the preacher labeled the characteristic of those people that Paul had on his team.  The team was made up of practiced theologians, new people to the faith, a slave on the run, people who served and support, male and female and the obviously point was that Paul was better off having these people on his team and in service to God.  The point made is that we benefit and others also benefit when “our” team  is diverse  It was a long message (I understand that most messages are about this length) and I am sure that I’m not doing justice to the preacher but the point that I wanted to make is mentioned here.  Grace is big on small groups.  By doing so they ensures that people don’t get lost in the crowd if they meet regularly with a small group of people.  They are also preparing their “fall launch” into small groups.

Some other cool aspects.  No pressure.  They welcome guests, encourage them to stop by their welcome center to get more information .  They don’t pressure membership but they provide opportunities for people to join.  They don’t focus on numbers or statistics or how many are joining.  In fact, they don’t pressure baptism and if people feel like they would like to be baptized they can go to a website and fill out a form and register to be baptized (interesting and something very different from my denominational practice.)   Along with the then of the day, everyone, member and  non member are treated equally and all are encouraged to join a small group. 

The only person that spoke to me was the person next to me cause the preacher asked us to discuss a question.  For all my friends at Mount Zion, I know some of you don’t like it when I do this but I got to tell you that if the preacher didn’t do that then nobody, outside of the usher and a “car park waver”, would have addressed me.  Did I enjoy being put on the spot to answer the question with this person next to me?  Well, not really, most mostly because I didn’t have a good answer to give so I commiserate with you … (PS.  I do believe we do a better job of intentionally greeting folks) … but just in case the possibility exists that someone might comes to worship and not be greeted until I have you all talk together over some inane question, I’m going to keep doing it occasionally.

Other than affirming what God is doing in another church in our community, you are probably wondering where I am going with all this???  

Well, I’m reading another book.  It is by George Hunter III, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, How Christianity can reach the West … AGAIN. (Interested in reading the book?)  I’m reading the book cause Jacki bought it for me and it seems to fit into both our trip to Ireland and also to my overall theme of the church beyond the walls.   I am about over a third through the book and here are some observations that I’m making.  According to Hunter, Celtic Christianity thrived in the fourth to six centuries before it was force to conform to the Roman Catholic model of Christianity.  It started with the evangelization of St Patrick to Ireland (from Briton) and then it continues with the story of St Columba’s evangelic mission from Ireland into Scotland and northern England.  Hunter asserts that Celtic Christianity is more of a movement of the spirit contrasting to the institutionalizing (model) of the Roman church (I’m not doing him justice here…read the book.).   Hunter does a great job of explaining how the enculturation of Christianity was uniquely influenced by the Celtic tribal culture of Ireland, Scotland and in many ways early Briton cultures.   My understanding of Celtic Christianity (and it is a sort of layman’s understanding) is that there is a holistic attitude to the Christian faith being more like a journey, praying without ceasing (over the start of a fire in the morning, to the moments before going to bed), an appreciation for the creation and God’s ever presented-ness in relation to human beings and that creation.)  Celtic Christianity has a strong focus on the Trinity, Hunter points out that Celtic Christianity has a stronger focus on the Second and third person of the Trinity while Roman Christianity is on the first person.  According to Hunter, This is not just a Roman Catholic thing, it is for the most part any religious institution that has its roots in Europe.  He contrasts that in our modern day, Christian organization that are rooted in the United States and Africa are have more focus on movements of God opposed to supporting institutions of God. 

Hunter contrasts Celtic and Roman Christianity evangelistic techniques.  Celtic Christianity meets people where they are and provides an opportunity for people to experience the religious life before committing whereas Roman Christianity focus on making someone a member of their civil society before they can join and become a member of the church.  Further, Hunter states that there isn’t a strong focus for Roman Christianity models for evangelization, they got theirs so there is no need to worry about the others.  Celtic Christianity meets barbarians face to face by becoming present in their community and as they (the barbarians) become curious they are welcomed in, as they ask questions they are invited to explore more and to practice the faith, then they make a decision to join the faith community they are baptized into it.  Hunter quotes a study by the United Bible Societies in Great Britian led and written by a John Finney.  He concludes the observations from Finney on pg 45, “Belonging comes before believing,” then evangelism is now about “helping people to belong so that they can believe.”   Finney believes that, as we adapt to a changing Western postmodern culture, we will observe a widespread shift from the entrenched Roman model to the rediscovered Celtic model. 

While probably not intentionally doing the Celtic model, Grace seems to have stepped into this reality.  All this leaves me asking questions about our own denomination which for many years has experienced a drop in membership and aging of our membership.   I’m not saying we should become like Grace, we do what we do exceptionally well; I do believe that we can consider new paradigms and models for ministry.  Get our focus off of the institution and on the movement of God.   I know that we at Mount Zion are really being intentional about reaching others, the mode of doing this is through our mission and outreach ministry.  I think there is more to this conversation and we need to intentionally look at this in the coming years.  This is not a new subject to us at Mount Zion.  If we are not living our life in community, as an alternative to the world’s model ,and if it is not a desirable model then we stand the fate of our mainline denomination.  Our service and mission can be a magnet for people as long as we remember that our goal is to draw people closer in a relationship with to God, the Christ and God’s Spirit...not the church.  This is the revelation  (go figure!)  But it is also a reminder cause for some time I have become a player in the church institution.  Where I excel and much of my service in ministry to the church over the years is “movement oriented" with a broad focus on serving our community and when this has been our focus, in the congregations that I’ve served, the Kingdom thrived...  

What revelations and reminders come to you as you consider some of these meanderings.  I’m trying to give voice to the thoughts that have wandered around in my head these last couple of weeks but more so in the last week.  I’m afraid that I’m not really doing justice to it all.

But tell me, does this resonate with you?