Rethink Church!...(?)

Rethink Church was announced back in October with the goals as stated in the link. Since the new 10KDoors opened for business now, I guess the question on my mind is, will it work?

quote from the article...

Challenging the church

The Commission on Communication was “very enthusiastic” about the general concept for “Rethink Church,” said Bishop Sally Dyck, commission president, …

... Rethink Church is going to challenge every local church to think about what the meaning and purpose of church is.”

So I am wondering, are our local churches ready to accept the coming tide of those influenced by the new campaign to give the ole' local Methodist Church they drive by every now and then a try? Will they find the "Church is a verb" or "Church is a state of mind" concept or will they find the traditional "Church is a building for Sunday where we collect money"?

I have heard little passed on through our church except what I have read about myself. How can these large campaigns start at the top if the bottom is not ready for it? Training for the local churches is absolutely mandatory for these campaigns to work. Are we ready to recieve the people this might attract? Do we know what to expect at our local Churches?

You might say as good Christians and Methodists we already know how to treat newcomers and how to provide welcoming hospitality. Hopefully, this is the case. But still, are we ready for the different attitude? Are we ready to dig in and get hands dirty for the people who want to do Church as a verb? Are we ready "to Church" instead of just attending? Is your congregation set up to support those who want "to Church" or are you set up to have people attend events? Are you "Churching" outside of the walls of a building?

Thoughts, anyone?

Leaving Covenant

Some time ago, I mentioned in a post comment I was going to go do some reading about Christian Ethics. I acquired three books but have not been able to read adequately. I started with Hauerwas’s Peaceable Kingdom. Alas, I may have reached too soon for this tome. I found myself having to re-read portions on a daily basis, and my current ability to sit and take notes while reading is limited. I put it down for another time when I could spend the quality time to give it a better reading and reached for something more digestible given my current reading habits.

I reached for the following book, a portion of which I quote below:
Lovin, Robert W. Christian Ethics An Essential Guide. Nashville: Abington Press, 200, pp 53-54.

I came across the following paragraph on a page that I dog-eared immediately, as it seems to apply to some situations with which I have observed in a number of situations. I believe it applies at many levels and in many situations. I believe the paragraph sums up something that I have been living, but not been able to adequately express.

"Covenant does not preclude interpretations of ancient rules that help us to understand what they mean in new circumstances. What covenant precludes is an individualistic approach to this interpretative task that examines the rules and decides what to keep and what to discard according to ones own set of values and then acts on those decisions without regard for others. Interpretation in a covenant community always involves a great deal of listening, and the decision to act must involve choice; not only about what is right and what is wrong, but also about what course of action will sustain this process of communication for the future. The decision to leave a covenant is not made by deciding to do this thing rather than that. It is made by deciding to not try anymore to understand or to persuade."

I feel I may need to laminate this on a card for my wallet. I am wondering if I will need to read this paragraph quite a bit in the coming years.

The Cost of Easter

The Lord blessed me with another opportunity to provide a message. This time for our Easter Sunrise service....

During the time I was thinking about the Sunrise Service message I was to deliver, someone pointed out to me an advertising campaign from Wal-Mart – “Easter Costs Less at Wal-Mart”. For some reason, I immediately knew where my message would come from. Was not sure what it was yet, but it was going to be based on this ad from Wal-Mart.

As I thought about it, my first thoughts were ughhh…now we are equating Easter with commercialism and spending money. It’s that way with Christmas and now Easter is under commercial attack! The most I remembered seeing before was the cute Cadbury bunny ads with the bunny clucking like a chicken and laying chocolate eggs or the newsprint ads displaying bargains on your new Easter outfit for Easter Sunday or the coming springtime fashions. But this seems different, flashier. The highest, most holy celebration of Christianity is now being sold as another reason to run to the store and buy stuff to save money? Is this a sign of our times?

There’s a message there, yes, but I was unsettled. That’s not a message for an Easter Sunrise Service.

Once over the commercialism aspect, I then was struck with the “cost” statement. Easter costs less at Wal-Mart? What of the cost of Jesus dying on the cross? Was this ad poking at that? A Wal-Mart Easter costs less than the cost of Jesus dying on the cross? Now I am feeling offended! How could someone dream up this kind of slogan for Easter knowing that the cost of Easter was the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross! How dare they! I feel like writing a letter! Boycott! Boycott!

That’s a message, but I was still unsettled. That’s not a message for an Easter Sunrise.

The cost thing…keeps tugging at me. Hmmm… I’m thinking Easter doesn’t cost anything. I’m distracted from what is really important. There is a story I read of Leonardo da Vinci, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but it is said that after he completed his masterpiece of the "Last Supper", he took a friend of his to see his just completed work. The friend's first comment was, "Look at that cup! It’s beautiful. My eyes are drawn to it. It’s wonderful! It’s striking!" Without batting an eye, Leonardo took a brush and painted over the cup. "Nothing in my painting should attract more attention than the face of Jesus."

I was distracted by this Wal-Mart ad talking about the cost of Easter and it was drawing my eyes away from the face of Jesus! Jesus gives the free gift of new life! Jesus paid the price from Alpha to Omega, once and for all, so that we have NO cost at Easter. He will wipe every tear from the eye. The sting of death is gone and the old order of things is passed away. He paid with a cost that filled a tomb and then emptied it with a mark down that says “free for the asking”! To all who are thirsty He will give drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.

The One seated on the throne says “those who overcome the spiritual distractions of the world will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.”

By worldly standards, "At Wal-Mart Easter Costs Less", but in the Kingdom of God, Easter is free for the asking!