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OK, so why post the words of an "old" song?
This past weekend Nancy and I had the pleasure of going to Virginia Beach to visit longtime friends of ours, Bob and Juliette. Long before I heard of "spiritual" friendships, and experienced them through small groups at Peace, the phrase aptly described the deeply felt bond between our two families.
There are close friends -- and I have those -- but Bob and Juliette are friends who have visited the good, the bad, and the ugly of my heart and soul -- only God, and Nancy, has seen more deeply. I've dusted and vacuumed and straightened up my "inner self" for those "authentic" moments together with other guest-friends. Tht's to say, you may have visited my casual self with some of my mask lifted, but you've not seen me naked. These two soul partners have seen me unplugged, unvarnished, unglued, broken, vulernable, and seemingly trapped in hopeless despair. And vice-versa. Our connections are a much needed gift from God. A sign of his love, mercy, and yes, grace.
We attended church in a storefront setup -- Acts 2 describes itself as a Southern Baptist Charismatic cell church. http://www.acts2church.org/Welcome.php
The first 30-40 minutes of Sunday worship celebration was spent singing together accompanied by a band on stage. This weekend, each and every song centered on Grace as its message.
Odd -- in the comings and goings of my own busy-ness this past several weeks, my mind has drifted back in brief moments to my mother. Her middle name was Grace. She passed away at my age of 17 from an advanced stage of cancer. Most of us share the experience today of having family and friends dealing with this disease. So, no wonder she comes to mind... but...
On Friday night we had a small group dinner together at the Cardellas, and among the good food and the fellowship, the stories and the laughter, little Grace made her presence felt -- I can't really explain how, or why -- its as simple as father and daughter sharing hugs of comfort and joy with one another.
And then all these songs about Grace.
I am trying to be more of a listener. I don't yet get the message -- assuming that there is one. And it is in the words of this song that I get a glimpse, perhaps, of how God may be tugging away at me.
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You use the weak to lead the strong
I cannot help but connect these words to myself,and then to Peace, and to many of my friends in mission at Peace. In our Faithwalk, we hear about being called.
To do, exactly, what? As they say, the devil is in the details.
One very strong tug on me is that we -- as in the people of Peace -- show up en masse at the IMPACT Nehemiah event. Not 12, not 40, but 100+. This is a Nike moment -- "Just Do It!".
The other, less direct, more nagging tug is how to best reach the community next to us.
Sitting in a strange, strip mall ambiance of a sanctuary -- a rectangular box with a stage, Sam's Club chairs, and some basic electronics for music and projection -- I found myself imaging in my mind a large space that -- for all intents and purposes -- looked something like a family room on steroids. I saw round wood tables with chairs, like you might see in a kitchen or small dining room, and I saw couches and overstuffed chairs and end tables, and I saw some computers, all of these scatttered and "nested" in a crazy quilt pattern across a room, with warm colors and fabrics and lighting. And I saw people in there, in relationship, gathering. I saw this during a period of "altar call" -- something previously unknown to me.
Funny thing is -- after service -- I got a tour of the rest of this storefront ministry -- and right across the hallway from what services as their entranceway (like our narthex) was -- voila -- a space that the church named 'The Clean Room". And, as best as I can describe it, it is very much like my early vision in worship. That is (was) wierd.
What if "that" were our Fellowship Hall? I know it would be a huge change, and raises a lot of building usage and ministry questions, but what if? Or, is there another place for this?
I'd like to make it happen, if that is where God is leading us. Maybe we can call it, simply, Grace Place. |
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Ken |
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January 30, 2008 at 8:56am |
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I tend to think that God is in the details, or we wouldn't have a chance :o). It seems, from my limited perspective, that at Peace so far the inhibiting factor is fear of losing what we "have." So maybe the answer is to add options and spaces as we can, rather than challenge or take away existing spaces and styles. I don't know if that means here in the building or elsewhere, but I do believe there's a limit to what we can do in the sanctuary, both in terms of who is there and what goes on. In my rebel's brain there's an imaginary church called "New Pentecost Rainbow Church." It is always seeking encounter with living Spirit rather than dead letters. It is actively seeking the other, rather than tolerating the visitor who is "different" and hoping he or she doesn't bring too many friends. It embraces the new in technology and art and lived experience of God, and has genuine, intellectually honest curiosity about the old in scripture and theology and faith history. Does this ring a bell for anyone? The name is just a label in my head, I personally feel that the Lutheran tie we have is equal parts strength and hindrance, no gain in trying to hide it or sever it, nor in slavish loyalty to all its institutional fetishes. I love it here, and I'm quite aware of how reactionary the theology is in many "Spirit-led" congregationalist churches, and how lame and narrow the sense of call and worship and mission is in many denominational outposts. So... no whining here, but I know we can do more and better, or else we must feel God is very small indeed.
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