Contact Us

[AriahFine]

Gary asked this at church a couple Sunday's ago and we had sometime to sit and chat about it.
The couple minutes of sound bit statements was certainly not enough for everyone to get a chance to share what they dream and why.

I'd love to know more about what people's response was to that statement.

So, What do You Dream the Church to Be?

[tnjaguar]

Hm, some of us have dreamed about what we don't want in previous churches so much that it's hard to switch gears and make it positive.

One thing I noticed when I was browsing the tables Sunday is that people really want unity and a "safe space"... not in the sense of isolating from the world, but people with whom they can really be honest about their struggles without fear of the response. It was both nice to know that the desire spreads across generations and sad to know that at people have been looking for it for so long without finding it. It's good because someone expressed a concern about age gaps to me and I can now point to some common ground. It's sad because it looks like my generation didn't learn squat about unity and realism, and now this generation is paying for it.

/Sorry, Monday grumbles

[Gary]

Dan Kimball a pastor an a author tells a story about the Vintage Faith Church writing out their Dreams. Here are a few thoughts which they listed.

Enjoy the read, and may God's thoughts become our thoughts.So, what do you dream of...

I DREAM OF A CHURCH...
- that reaches the broken world to bring a healing that can only come from Jesus Christ
- that does not get caught up in technicalities and politics but stays focused on the Lord
- that helps me understand
- that is more about helping others than about us
- that listens to the Holy Spirit and is bigger than man's efforts
- accepts people where they are in life and not just when they have achieved a level of "spiritualness"
- grows in the knowledge of God and His love for the world
- lifts up Jesus and redeems things like the environment, stewardship, the arts and philosophy
- that prays for one another
- that serves others, feeds the hungry, visits the sick and imprisoned
- lives a diversity of thoughts, opinions, ages, worship expressions and celebrates the differences
- is a soft place to fall; that is a daily part of my life; that doesn't feel like a wall; that is the heartbeat of Christ
- that knows me and loves me anyway
- impacts the community around them so that it can be a light for Jesus in people's lives
- that gets lost in worshiping Jesus and lingers in His presence
- that is the church throughout the week and not just on Sunday
- that is real and where people are not fake and has a passion to serve those in need
- acts like a family, reaches out to community, accepts all people
- that Jesus would be proud of
- that changes lives by drawing people to Christ
- whose whole heart is consumed with Christ and flows to others
- that is completely outward focused and selfless
- that has a love for the untouchables of our era

[TheBelmontEmergent]

I wasn't here for this sermon (as I had not yet found Mosaic), but I do agree that we (I) spend too much time saying what church should not be.

I guess for me, I dream that the church would be multi-cultural and progressive.  I dream that the church would seek to support its members in their dreams and that it would, like so many people said, be a place of refuge and safety.  I know that church has been none of those things for me over the last several years.  It would be refreshing to see these things in a church.

[AriahFine]

Dan,
Thanks for chiming in, I was starting to think no one had any dreams. I peeked at your website, and from what I can tell I think you've thought about church quite a bit in the past.

So, I'm curious, what are your thoughts on how the type of church you dream of could be accomplished?

[TheBelmontEmergent]

well, let me start with the disclaimer that i'm still thinking all of this through.  i am completely open to continued dialog on this subject and am completely willing to hear other opinions.

that said, i think that there are several terms that need to be redefined:

1) preaching-i think that gary has the right idea in the way he presents the word on sundays.  to me, it seems more of a discourse that is open to conversation...much like jesus does consistently through scripture (not that i'm comparing gary to jesus  ) We need to get away from what preaching has become: speeching (for more on this read preaching re-imagined by doug pagitt)

2) church-this is a red flag word for so many people in today's culture because those people (me included) have been hurt, scorned, lied to, etc. by institutions called churches.  we need to make it clear that the church is not an institution but the people that make it up.

3) christian-i'm going to go ahead and chalk this whole concept in my mind up to donald miller (even though i kind of feel like quoting blue like jazz in today's christian culture is seriously cliche).  but miller does make the point that the term christian has so many varied definitions in today's culture that it is hard to connect with people who aren't christians on many occasions.

i also think, in addition to redefining some terms (the previous list is not all inclusive), we have to be very mindful of the culture we live in.  i come from a very conservative fundamentalist white southern baptist background.  i have learned over the past couple of years that this is not a bad thing.  however, i think that if the church i dream of is going to be successful and even possible then we have to look toward a church that is not conformed to the culture but adapted to it.  i am a sold-out believer in multi-cultural, multi-generational communities of faith.  i think that the more perspectives present in an intentional christian community, the more that community can grow in a deeper understanding of god and how much he loves us.

that's really all my ranting for now, but fyi, this is one of my favorite topics of conversation.  feel free to pick my brain anytime.