Alright, I have been put in my place and I am going to try a little harder in resuming my blog. I have also changed some of the settings so anybody should be able to comment.
Anyway, I spent the weekend in Calgary at an Organic Church Network training Seminar. Darrell MacLearn is the director of this ministry for the Church of the Nazarene in US and Canada. He is currently based out of McKinney Texas leading and planting organic type churches, as well as traveling and educating leaders on this cutting edge ministry.
Let me take a moment to explain what organic means. (this could be a long blog) Organic means natural of course, but it also has a reproductive quality to it. Organic multiplies, look at Mark 4 for more on this.And when we talk about church, at least in North America we have this strange idea that it's about a building. But church is really meant to be defined this way: The Church is the People of God empowered by the Spirit of God on the Mission of Jesus in His world (taken from Darrell MacLearn). So when we have a more complete understanding of why we are here, it changes the game. When you look at the explosion of growth around other parts of the world, it's because the focus is Jesus and not on building or land. Hopefully, I haven't over-simplified, but I have generalized a little for the purpose of my blog.
I have years of knowledge when it comes to church planting and some experience with it, but after this weekend I realized I needed to get back out there and try again. I currently pastor a church in Lethbridge, and have been sowing seeds for some time about starting new work for the Kingdom of God which doesn't have to be in a church building. If we focus on Jesus and His Kingdom and the mission He has called us to which is making disciples, I think church will naturally form out of that mission. These churches may not be big, but they will be beautiful because they will have the aroma of Christ. These churches can also pop up anywhere, houses, coffee shops, pubs, malls and the like.
Understand that this isn't about being disenfranchised, it's about realizing the mission of Jesus is more important than the building we might meet in to talk about Him. Understand too, that this isn't meant to replace the current church model. It's one model among many.
There is probably more I could say on this, but if this is something you are interested in, then let's talk. Let's start a conversation and see what God can do with it.
An "organic church" would be a great place for those who do not fit within the tradational church. It also would be a more relaxed atmosphere for those to search out their beliefs especially for a new Christian.
ReplyDeleteVery well put brother...the focus is on Kingdom and Christ, not the building. We have started a "church" online with these blogs becouse where several gather, there He is also. The times have changed and it is time for the church to change as well...relationships and gathering to share in His love and with His purpose in mind really does need to come to the forefront.
ReplyDeleteMy question for you or anyone else, what forms can the organic church take, that is what could it look like? Another question, where do you start if you are already in a church or leading a church?
Are there resources online tha are available for those interested in learning more?
I look forward to seeing where this goes.
Shalom
Todd
This totally makes sense. Jesus met with people where they were and took His love to them where they needed it. He didn't expect them to come to Him like we seem to do today for the most part.
ReplyDeleteIt might be difficult to convince some people that meeting in a pub, private house, coffeeshop or various other places is a good idea, but really, why not?
God bless you, Mark!
It is not as hard as people think to get a group of people together in a coffee shop or a private house, especially if this core group of people have a common interest that brings them together. In my case we are a group of people from different denominational backgrounds (baptist / nazarene / reformed / united / catholic / anglican / non-denominational) who have become disillusioned with what the traditional church stands for. We don't attend a traditional church. Our first semi-formal meeting was in a coffee shop. I had invited a few people to read a blog that a pastoral friend is leading. Quite literally, a few of us met up by accident at a coffee shop and started to discuss what we had gone through as former members of a church because of the blog topic. We thought that meeting up was a good idea and we invited others to come join us in the healing process. We meet (either in person or online; as some of us don't even live in the same country), we discuss the issues that we are trying to "heal" from or the blog topic. Those who participate are in their twenties, thirties and forties. We trust each other and we have a great respect for one another. We also share a common bond and a dream of what the church can be like. When something comes up and I need to seek a pastoral opinion... I e-mail a friend who is a pastor/counsellor for guidance. I don't feel that we will ever end up attending a traditional church or have any denominational affiliation, but I do hope that one day we will move on from this healing process and get together to discuss either a christian book/bible study or even to discuss online sermons.
ReplyDeleteHmmm intriguing thoughts to continue the discussion, the church itself is in renewal and I know now and by 2015 the landscape of Canada will be different for Christians.
ReplyDelete