Friday, July 28, 2006

The Answer?

I'm not sure if this is the answer, but we're going to experiment with it.

Yesterday I said that I have struggled with how we, as The Point, can be the church. Really, what is going to keep us from slipping into another "come and see us" organization? How can we BE the church, BE the hands and feet of Jesus, BE a forceful agent for faith, hope and love in Spartanburg?

Here's what we're going to try: As some of you know, our church is going to launch/begin/start on August 13. We're meeting at Dawkings Middle School (please come!). Most churches meet every week. Actually, most churches meet multiple times a week. We're going to meet every week too, but each week we're going to have a different focus. We're calling it: Gather and Scatter. On the first and third Sundays of each month, begining in September, we are going to Gather. On the second and fourth Sundays of each month we are going to scatter.

Now let me explain what I mean by each. On our Gather Sundays we are going to meet at Dawkins Middle School to create and carve out some time (10:30-11:30) where we can connect with God. It is a place for unchurched (we really want to be a church for people who don't go to church) people to come, connect with some other people, have a cup of coffee and a donut, and explore what following Jesus is all about.

On our Scatter Sundays we are going to meet at Dawkins Middle School at 10:30 (we'll still have donuts and coffee) and then go out, Scatter out, to do communty service. Our goal is to be working with the homeless, doing free car washes, loving people with AIDS, brightening the lives of Senior citizens, partnering with the city of Spartanburg, giving out free water, the list goes on and on and on and on. The goal is for us to actually BE the hands and feet of Jesus in our community. We'll have projects that whole families (birth-death) can participate in, as well as some projects that might be best for adults only.

Is this the answer to us Being the church in Spartanburg. I'm not arrogant (at least not at the moment) enough to say that it is THE answer, but it is our attempt at the answer and we're trusting God to see what He might do.

Would you consider joining us on this adventure? I hope so. See you August 13th!!!

Until next time...

Thursday, July 27, 2006

The Question

I am plagued by the questions, How can we be the church?

Here's the deal: I see a lot of churches doing church, and they are doing church well. The problem is: I don't see anyone really being the church, at least not on a grand scale.

We at The Point are going to try a little experiment to figure out how we might could "be" the church in Spartanburg.

I'll tell you what that experiment is tomorrow. Until then...