A New Approach to Church

I have been doing a lot of thinking recently. Some of the podcasts I have been listening to have been talking about what the original church looked like. I have also been reading a lot of blogs from church leaders that have been writing about what the church should look like in the 21st century. I have had conversations with other Christians that freely admit that the way we do “Sundays” is not how the early Christians would have done it. In fact, some of these conversations discuss how meeting during the week for bible studies seem to be more in line with what the original Christians had in mind than what we do formally on Sunday mornings.


There seems to be a growing number of people who look at our Sunday morning rituals and are starting to see that they are not conducive to building relationships. We come to a church building, sit in pews facing forward, sing songs to God, but rarely engage in meaningful relationships with those around us. Is it any wonder that churches all across the country are decreasing in attendance? At the same time, this is why home churches, and small group ministries are growing. Let’s face it: one of the main reasons the early Christians met was to foster closer relationships.

I like the concept of home churches and small groups, because these environments allow relationships to grow. But I can’t abandon the thought that we can do something with these multi-million dollar buildings. There is all this SPACE that can be utilized! Some have gymnasiums, cafeterias, preschools, coffee shops, etc. Some churches are massive. Some have their own exit ramps from interstate systems. There is something about church buildings that still draws us to them. Then there are the smaller churches. They may not have a gift shop, but they were still a million dollar investment. And all across the country there are a lot of these churches that sit vacant. It seems such a waste of money to see a church building just sitting there, empty.


And yet, when I talk to people that attend smaller churches, most talk about the relationships they have fostered. It seems, smaller congregations are much more suitable to creating strong relationships than larger ones. That is why many congregations (mini and mega included) have small group ministries. People develop strong relationships in small group settings.


So back to the my original statement: I am hearing lot about how the way we do things on Sunday mornings isn’t the way it was originally intended, and this environment isn’t good to develop strong relationships. So I started working on something that is designed for smaller churches, that is modeled after the mega church environment where there is a lot going on because there are so many people. What if we could create an environment that felt like it “flowed”? What if we could create an environment that allowed individuals to choose when they worshiped, when they went to class, provided time to fellowship, and offer periods of counseling? Below, is what came out of a late night discussion with a great friend of mine.



I was thinking of how the Jewish temple was always open. People did not always arrive at the same time, although they did have some set hours for prayer, etc. Something was always going on. People “flowed” from one aspect of the temple to the other. Jews wanted to go to the temple. To them, that was where God was. For us today, we know that God lives inside of us, but there is still this strong desire for us to “get together”. We have this deep desire to come together, but when we do and sit in a pew, or don’t talk with any one, we sometimes don’t feel fulfilled. We “checked a box”, or did our part by showing up on Sundays, but there was still something missing. Let me try to explain each of these time frames and how they interact with each other.

Communion – Why do we come together? The purpose of Sundays gets its roots from Acts 2:43-47 (one of only a few passages) that mention the believers coming together to take the Lord’s Supper. Communion is an extremely important event to a Christian. It is a meal where we are to discuss, reflect, teach about, etc. what Jesus did for us. This part of Christianity can actually be dated back to the Passover, which God instituted with the Israelites in the book of Exodus. It is one of the most important aspects of being a Christian.
This time could be started with songs as a large group. We would be sitting around tables where discussion could be easier than in pews facing forward. Maybe some would get up and congregate with other families. Maybe, background music would be played. This would also be a time where parents could discuss more openly about why Jesus died, and go back to the command given by God in Deuteronomy 6: 4-9, “…repeat them [commands from God] again and again to your children…”

Worship Experience – As you can see, the worship experience continues for almost three hours. This a period where people can gather and sing, have a prayer, read scripture, play a video, give a declaration, etc. The beauty of this time is that it is not scripted. It would also be a smaller group setting (depending on the number in your congregation). This type of environment would lend itself to parent’s encouraging their children to lead a song, give a prayer, etc.

There would be facilitators who could start songs, prayer, play a contemporary song, etc. but they were not doing this the entire time. If someone felt moved to lead a song, they would do that. It’s important to note that the same facilitators would not be there the entire three hours. This time would be managed by multiple facilitators that could be scheduled at different times. The entire church body could come and go as they pleased. According to how they were participating in the other areas of the building would dictate when or how long they stayed in the worship experience. And without a scripted order of worship we would actually be giving the Holy Spirit the opportunity to do his job and lead worship. The body would be lifting itself up instead of having a small number of people being overworked and somehow being promoted into a ‘higher’ level of Christianity.

Classes – each of the classes are in 50 minute blocks. It’s important to note that these classes in the diagram above are examples. They could be any number of classes, arranged in any number of orders. The point of the diagram is to show that multiple classes are going on. Members can choose how many classes they want to attend, depending on the topics and the needs they have on their lives.

Family experience – This aspect of the Sunday morning worship is important as well. This is the time where parents and children are being taught and engaged as a family. For us, family experience is when we do our high energy music, skits, videos, audience participation, etc. It’s a production and is designed to introduce the bible story to be focused on for the week. It is very high level, and it is very entertaining. This way, it is more memorable. That is why it is important that parents of these children are present and involved. The children are going to be asking questions about characters in the skit, and the parents should know what is going so they can answer their children’s’ questions appropriately.

Large group – This is a period where the children are in a large group setting without the parents. The bible story is reinforced one more time, and there is possibly a video or multimedia presentation to compliment the bible story.

Small group – this period is when children are broken into groups of 5 – 8 where the small group leaders can go over the bible message one more time, while also fostering relationships from child to child.

So what would a typical Sunday look like? I created a couple of examples of how I think different types of families could participate in this form of coming together.

Example #1 – A typical family would show up at the church building around 9am. They would go to the worship part for about an hour, and then head to Family experience. During this time, mom and dad would be engaged with their children as they start to focus on the bible story of the week. When the children go to Large Group, the parents can then go to a class that is available. In this particular example, it could be a class on handling money responsibly, or a study of the book of Acts. After this 50 minute block, the family would come back together to have communion with other families. There would be songs sung as a large group. During this time, the parents would talk to their children the importance of remembering what Jesus did. It’s also possible that other families would migrate from table to table, having conversation and fellowship with each other.

Example #2 – An empty nest couple could attend this congregation by showing up around 8:30. They like the idea of getting their morning started early. Again, this communion period would be started with songs, a group of families would be gathered, and the focus would be on taking a meal together, remembering what Jesus did for them. After a period of time the empty nesters decide to go to the class on The Beatitudes. They like this class, as it is a lecture style class. It is very similar to sermons they have experienced at other churches. After this class, they meet some friends, and fellowship with them for a few minutes before going off to the worship part of the congregation. After a period of worship (the length of which is their choosing), they decide to leave, going about their Sunday. (Or in a radical way of thinking – they finish with their personal worship by 11:00 and can now lead a small group of children and participate in growing the next generation as well)

It’s important to note that the focus is being fluid from one aspect of a Sunday morning to another. We should not get hung up on the schedule. There are many ways this type of Sunday morning can be scheduled. This is not just a three service church – the worship experience is fluid and nonstop. The classes would change over time and potentially the time your family arrives/departs would change as you attend the portions you need, in theory allowing you to mix more fully with the entire congregation instead of early and late service attendees never overlapping. There is no more early and late sessions. The worship experience is dependent on those in the room at the time – if it isn’t what you like, you played a part in making it that way. I recognize that this change would take A WHILE to get used to, but should encountering God be such a habit that we no longer have to think about it to do it?

So my question to you is… would you attend a church like this?

* 8 Squash

I may have commented before about our gardening attempts. Last summer (08) was our first garden, during which time we successfully fed the rabbits and squirrels in our neighborhood. We ourselves came away with two squash which I served to some guests in a squash casserole. Had I known at the time it was to be the only produce of that summer I may have selfishly horded it and served it only to myself.

Enter summer of 09 when I much more realistic expectations about the animals in our neighborhood, my son had much greater leeway to chase them out of the yard and occasionally throw dirt at them. (Animal rights activists please note that my opinion of the odds of him actually hitting a fleeing rabbit were so low as to see this as a safe activity for the rabbits - and I may say that he did a splendid job) They still managed to eat all the green beans and carrots, which is not surprising for anyone who has read Beatrix Potter's stories about Peter Rabbit. I testify that my sympathy for Mr. Mac Gregor has increased dramatically and feel no sympathy for the rabbit who DISOBEYED his mother and STOLE food from a hard working farmer.

We succeeded in harvesting eight squash this year. Shortly after the eight were harvested I went to the beach with the kids, it didn't rain for a week and the garden was dead upon our arrival home. Not wanting to 'waste' these squash I was careful as to when I used them, but I did not want to actually be selfish. I served them in three meals, all with guests, all differently prepared. Since you are dying to know I will make a list...

• Sauteed with butter and garlic - served to our friends in Memphis (although in all truth I observed this preparation rather than be of any help - and for those who know, sometimes it is best to just observe her than get it the way :) )
• Mixed vegetable saute, different spices than before - served at college dinner - never too big a fan of vegetables, young adults will indulge me and try what I make. I liked it and felt terribly healthy being able to say we had "mixed vegetables" as a side dish.
• Squash casserole (the stand-by) - served at this past week's senior dinner (I ate the last of the leftovers yesterday - yum)
  

I took some lovely pictures of the garden when it was fresh and new and I am going to share them because I think everyone agrees with me (until proven otherwise- which has happened on occasion)

Those are some good looking green beans - and apparently tasty 'cuz the rabbits couldn't get enough. I did get some for seeds so maybe I will get to eat some someday. I found how the green beans grew from their plant fascinating - maybe you will too. Check out how the bean pushes out from the flower...

Since it is squash that I was talking about in the first place I will share a picture of the gorgeous vines (that go everywhere and annoy Judah for invading his lawn)

The vines at the bottom were actually watermelon, which never produced anything but cute little flowers. As winter gets closer I enjoy looking at garden pictures - a reminder that I will come out on the other side of the cold and get to plant things again.

Hopefully in 2010 we will harvest even more than 8 squash.

Knowing God

This post is mainly for the guys in our Men’s Wednesday morning bible class. I wanted to have some follow up on John 17. We had some really good discussion, but I felt like taking some of those thoughts a little further. Below, is a compilation of notes from this chapter.

In John 17: 3, Jesus is pretty clear what eternal life is: Knowing the father, and Jesus Christ, His Son. The next question is, how do we know the Father and his son? The amazing thing, is that this chapter explains this. In short, to know the Father is to have a relationship with Him where any desire or temptation we should have would be quenched. In other words, we would be tempted, but we would not give in to that temptation, because the relationship we have with God is satisfying. So, how do we have that relationship with God?

I believe one way we have that relationship is to know what truth is. Vs. 6-8 Jesus mentions that He “has given them the words that God had given Him”. This is the bible. I believe that Jesus sees this as a very important part of knowing God. He even mentions it again in vs. 17. Part of a relationship with God is to study the bible, and to understand what it says. This knowledge of the bible also helps to strengthen our moral compass. It provides what is right and wrong. Our brain will establish what is right or wrong on its own, if we let it. But to study truth, as God would have it, helps to solidify what is truly right and what is truly wrong. When we desire a relationship with God, we will try to do what He says.

We are also to “live in the world”. I believe this helps in understanding where the world is heading, and how it works. God does not call us to move into isolation, and focus on ourselves. We are to be a beacon of light to the world. Our actions should be such that they are a positive impact on those around us. I think we can also better reach the world by understanding how it works. Science has shown in numerous disciplines that there is a creator, and He is active in different aspects of life, environment, and social structures. We can show, through chemistry, biology, mathematics, physics, etc. that God exists. This “knowledge of God’s creation” can also satisfy that voice in our head that may say, “where did I come from?” I don’t believe that we all have to be researchers, but I do believe that God wants us to recognize His creation around us. We see this in the plants, the blue skies, the water cycle, and the stars, just to name a few. When we look on God’s creation, we see His foot print.

Another way of knowing God is through relationships. Vs. 20 – 24 discusses Jesus’ desire that, not only the apostles, but us as well, are unified. It’s interesting that Jesus mentions that “the world will know You sent me” by the relationships we foster. Of course, these have to be healthy relationships. The relationships we have must be positive in nature. Being unified does not mean we focus on ourselves. We can’t be selfish in a unified relationship. We are focused on others. We want what is in their best interest.

So how do we do that? How do we know God through relationships? I believe we do this through sharing hardships, through fellowship with others, celebrating our successes with each other, and even supporting each other during our failures. In other words: we know each other, we trust each other, we share with each other. When we know those we associate with, we are that much closer to having a relationship with God. Again, God does not call us into isolation. He wants us to have relationships with others. He wants us to be united in our beliefs.

We cannot have meaningful relationships with others JUST ON Sundays. I am sorry, but it just won’t work. Having meaningful relationships with others is dirty business. Think about it: If you are married, do you always get along with your spouse? Maybe you have a best friend. Do you always agree with them? Now, it may be that you know your spouse or best friend so well that you can usually answer for them, but that is different from “never fighting”. Having a true relationship with someone means that you know everything about them. It means that when there is a disagreement, “going your separate ways” is not an option because it is not even in your dictionary. Neither of you would know what that means. You cannot see yourself separated from them. You disagree about a certain topic, yes, but you know that eventually there will be a resolution. Having a meaningful relationship with someone takes work, and it is two sided. It’s funny, being unified is a “two way street”….

I believe that positive relationships are addictive. If others see me in a relationship that is healthy, then they want one as well. As others experience healthy relationships, it spreads like wild fire. I believe this is what God intended. We all desire a close relationship. God made us that way. It’s His way of bringing heaven to earth, and He wants to experience eternal life.

So, eternal life is knowing God. Knowing God is studying His word (and following His commandments – evangelism, helping others, being a positive influence in the world, etc.), studying His creation, and having positive, meaningful relationships with others.

What are your thoughts? Would you add anything to this list?

* Laziness

Honestly - I have no right to pick on my blogger friends any longer for their time away and gaps in their posts. I have not posted in well over a month and perhaps longer. It got to the point when it had been so long I was avoiding saying anything because I felt such an absence warranted a really profound return blog. I have no such thing. Life moves along and I am missing profound moments. I am not feeling the overwhelmed sensation I went through last holiday season, although the holidays approach. I have no really good excuse for not blogging, so I will blame it on laziness. My old trusty stand-by.

I had great thoughts the other day about little boys when my second grader dove to the ground in the middle of some conversation for NO REASON then looked up at me and said "I just had to do that!" I thought 'that would inspire a great blog...' then I promptly went on with my day.
We have recently begun rock climbing as a family and I have taken the college girls a few times - a wonderful experience. It occurred to me that the differences between how my children climb and how I and the college girls climb could be a interesting lesson/commentary on trust, but I let that one go too.
I am teaching a gymnastics class on Tuesdays at a preschool and my daughter sits in a four year old class. The teacher is a splendid mix of firm and silly. My daughter and her friends know that their silent/pay attention word is "salami" and when on the carpet they all sit on their "coolio." My daughter busted out with "I know what a coolio is" one day at dinner and I truly did not know what she was going to say. How could one not stop and comment on such fantastic silliness?
I did not do any adorable Halloween post, although my sister, mom, and nieces came and we were surrounded by a very adorable Belle, Strawberry Shortcake (the hat was toooooo cute) and Wonder Woman, as well as very stealthy and cool Snake Eyes (ours talked)
My son's class is going through a change in teachers mid year and this has sparked some conversations in our home - no blog however...
KidZone is going well but I have visions and desire for more...no blog.
I found myself on the yearbook committee once again and I am not that excited about it. This will surely come up in blogs after the first of the year...

Etc, etc, etc.

I am so lazy.

Forgiveness

Not sure where this one is heading.
Recently, I have been teaching a class on forgiveness. For me, teaching a specific topic seems to have more meaning than I really expect at the time. Events happen that seem to be random, but are associated with the topic. I hear things through podcasts or people’s conversations that are completely relevant to what I am teaching. I tend to plan to teach the topic in a certain direction, and then these events happen that steer me in another. It seems to always happen that way! Not really sure what that means.
Anyway, back to forgiveness. A couple of Sundays ago I talked about revenge. I’ll be honest, revenge movies are some of my favorite. As soon as I started talking about revenge, the movie Taken came into my head. When this movie came out, I took Michelle to see it. I could truly relate to the character played by Liam Neeson. There is just something about being able to relate to the characters in these movies! Problem with revenge, is that it’s a cycle. When is enough, enough? It also escalates. It is also a personal problem with me and God. It says, “God, in this instance, I will be the judge. Your justice is not good enough.” Revenge also justifies heinous acts that we would “normally” say are wrong.
This weekend I taught on Matthew 18: 21 – 35. I usually hear this story in relationship to how we have to forgive people all the time. I taught from the point that if you want to live by the book (tit for tat), then God will let you. It was a different approach to a bible story. We had some good discussion, and I think it opened a few eyes on how we handle relationships. Do we treat our relationships like a positive and negative column? Positive column would be when people say good things about us, include us conversations, invite us to dinner, etc. Negative would be excluding us from lunch, not getting us a present on our birthday, pouting when someone hurts our feelings. How we treat that person is related to the sum of the positive and negative results. God tells us, “if you want to live by the book, I will let you.” He however, threw out the book when His son died for everyone. He wants us to do the same.
We were eating lunch with some friends this weekend, and the topic of a high profile trial came up. Somebody asked me if I could vote for the death penalty, and I immediately answered, “yes”. I didn’t even think about it too much. My head was killing me, and all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap. Later that day, the thought hit me, “how come I answered so quickly”? Is it so easy for me to write off someone’s life? Just because someone did such a terrible crime does not negate the fact that they were created in the image of God. But still: I can’t disregard the acts I would go to for my wife, or my children….
Yesterday, the talk radio show I listen to, talked about capital punishment. The host had one of his buddies from college on, who happened to be a high profile radio host in another market. The point: they were friends, good friends, and they had completely polar opposite views on the death penalty.
I just finished listening to a podcast on “Blessed are the Peacemakers”, one of the Beatitudes. Some of the points are: 1) Do we project our deepest fears and place them on others (homophobia, government conspiracies, racism, etc.)? This creates a “they are evil, we are good” situation. 2) The podcast mentions the story of Joshua when he comes in contact with the leader of the Lord’s army (Joshua 5:13-15). Joshua asks him, “are you for us, or against us?”. The angel replies, “neither”. What?!? I mean, he is Joshua! He is one of the spies that says with God on our side no one can defeat us! The angel of the Lord is not on Joshua’s side? What is going on here? He then tells Joshua to take off his sandals for he is on holy ground. The story then goes into the Fall of Jericho. That’s it. Nothing else. It’s the weirdest story….. We look at life as, “you are either on my side or on their side.” God sees life as “everyone is my creation. If you come at them with hate and fear, you are not showing them My love that I have for them.”
It seems forgiveness is more than just a topical discussion to be taken up on Sunday mornings. I guess, God is trying to tell me something.