My, my, my... over one month has passed since I last wrote. Tsk, tsk! Well, in my defense... I was without Internet at the house, and the time I spent at Starbucks was used exclusively for getting work done. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous benefactor, we now have Internet at the house once more. I still have a LOT of work to do, but I thought I would take some time to update everyone on how things are going with the church plant.
During the Christmas break, our church decided not to do a major production or any other typical Christmas-y outreach. Instead, we hosted a simple party at the pastor's home for all the friends, associates, and neighbors that we had met so far. It was a fun get-together and we had a good number of new faces and names to learn. There wasn't a program per-se, but we did do some Christmas songs (with a very cool Appalachian vibe) and Jesse gave a very succinct and effective explanation of who we are and why we celebrate Christmas. All in all, the evening was great.
Over the past two months, our group has been meeting in our house on Saturday evenings to eat together and to spend time in prayer. The prayer time was sort of Quaker-ish, and depended completely on the Spirit to "shape" the meetings. I believe God really used this time to work out a few things in our hearts and minds concerning the direction and vision of the Roots Community. That time has come to an end and we are getting ready to "program" a weekly service. It will still be on Saturday evenings and at our house, but we will shape it to resemble a "typical" worship service. Jesse and Doug (our teaching/discipleship pastor) will be teaching through our vision and values, using the book of Acts to do so. I am very excited as we do all of this in preparation to launching our first public services in March. Pray for us as we are currently seeking churches, organizations, and individuals to partner with us in an effort to make public services possible.
Last Saturday (as part of our continuing effort to connect with our community and to live "incarnationally") we hosted a BBQ picnic at the community park of our neighborhood. This was a simple get-together to which we invited the entire subdivision. Fliers were put on every door the Wednesday or Thursday before, and a couple of signs were stuck at the two entrances. We expected to have a few people stop by and get a free hot dog or hamburger... what actually happened was that we created a catalyst event that brought our neighborhood together in a way that has never happened before. People showed up, got some food, hung out, brought their dogs, let their kids play, talked with neighbors they never knew, and stayed ALL DAY!
I don't know how many people showed up, but we had the little community park packed with kids running around, parents talking with each other for the first time, and some serious basketball being played. It was amazing to see how hungry people were for community. Everyone was so thankful. Now, some people may be asking, "did you give them any literature or information about your church?" No. Whatever information was given would have happened in conversation. We weren't about promoting the church. We were simply being the church.
I am so very excited about what God is doing in our little rag-tag group of church planters. He is moving in a way that many of us could not have predicted. Is it going the way we wanted? Not necessarily. Of course, that's not always a bad thing. Many of us are still struggling financially, but we have a bit more peace about it now that we've seen God's provision come through in ways we never imagined. His provision isn't always easy, and it is often painful (to us and to others), but we know it is much better than what our cleverness can create. Keep praying, and keep seeking!
