where to now?

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 21 March 2006 20:39:14

The small congregation I belong to commenced 15 years ago ( a sort of mission from a main-stream denomination) when a group of 5 couples with young families got together and decided they wanted to do church differently. We were one of the five families and as we only had access to an ordained minister once a month we were all involved in lay leadership..
A time of great blessing, excitement, experimentation, moments of almost unbelievable closeness to God ensued but it was always a journey and never a destination.
As a friend remembereded recently..”The journey has been to explore how the ways in which we worship, behave, understand belonging, integrate children in the worshipping community, challenge traditional church culture and thinking, and the values we hold to, can help others discover Christ in a way that is more to do with an authentic model of Christ's ministry and discipleship than becoming a "member" of a church in a traditional church setting.”
Our four kids grew up on the journey, in a church environment of fun and participation and we are very proud of where they are now in their young adult lives.
Sadly, at a congregational meeting last week one of the options considered for our future was to close down.
The reality is, that the young families we have contact with now do not have the same passion for seeing their kids involved in church.
Families have grown, people have moved and the original 5 families feel they are being called in different directions.
It's hard, there are some very precious people who have become part of the church family.
So we are entering a time of seeking God's guidance for the next steps in our journey, either together or seperately, by the end of this year a decision has to be made.
I remember reading in a young peoples book something like...wouldn't it be good if a large 1 ton block of concrete dropped from the sky with a note stuck to the side of it labelled “to you from God” so you would know exactly what God wants. I feel like that sometimes....