Before I write this "church thought" out I wanted to celebrate the fact that a dear saint and good friend, Imilse Watts, is now loving life in Heaven today. I am both sad and happy for her at the same time. She will be so missed here by her friends and family. Imilse was one of the most encouraging people I ever met, she was a prayer warrior, she loved people and loved Jesus. Her husband and two daughters Cassandra and Katrina are so amazing and she loved them dearly. Imilse had battled with asthma for years and hated when it kept her from ministering to people. She hated being sick and not feeling well. I con only imagine right now that she is breathing deep and catching up with Cookie Prine! Oh man, Cookie and Imilse together, for those of you how know that combo you can only imagine. Imilse, we love ya and will miss ya.
I had a thought about church life the other day and I wanted to go ahead and write it out. it is not new but I finally grabbed on to it. In my church life I have moved from leading in a church culture that tried to have a "wal-mart" philosophy of ministry (LOTS OF OPTIONS!) to a starbucks way of church (A FEW GREAT OPTIONS). Walmart has everything, tries to sell everything, tries to compete with everyone. Starbucks tries to sell coffee and create an atmosphere for their customers and employees that makes you want to be there. I do not even drink coffee and I love the place. It dawned on my that in my current ministry role I am striving to create an environment that looks a lot more like Starbucks rather than Walmart. At relevant student ministry or Cross Street, or grace Acres, or the gathering at GCC, or community groups at GCC...we just do a few things well. We are trying to focus on just a few things and get those right. Again, new things dawn on me all the time right now, this new way of ministry, new way of church has been amazing but now I am trying to figure out why I am serving, loving, living different in community. It is great to be able to focus...not just talk about it.
I wonder if people are looking for churches that strive for excellence in what they do best, unique, creative places to gather in community. This could be why we need churches to re imagine what they can be as a community of believers. Different churches are going to reach different people looking for different things. No one church has all the answers, all the perfect environments. The one thing that is for sure is that it is a new day in church life for new and established churches. Hopefully we can seize the shift and see God brought greater fame! Our God reigns!
I wish more people would understand that philosophy of ministry and quit seeking out the perfect church.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't exist.
The churches that suceed identify a small handful of things they want to accomplish and master those things. The rest come with time.
Hope you're doing well--GCC looks like its booming!
-Zach
Bayne,
ReplyDeletemy heart was lifted as I read your post about Imilse and Cookie together in Heaven. Amazing thoughts! Also, a big amen to your latest post on Christians being unified and how beautiful Imilse's funeral was for her honor, Jesus' honor and the good of our community. I've been wanting to hit you back on a few of your thoughts on this post.
You wrote, "I wonder if people are looking for churches that strive for excellence in what they do best, unique, creative places to gather in community."
The people I desire our churches to reach are not the people looking for a church at all. Granted Clarksville is growing so Christians will be moving in and looking for a church home, but other than that...it seems like the vast majority of people looking for a church are the consumeristic church hoppers, that is the exact kind of people I don't want to attract here @ FBC. Its the other 80,000 people in Clarksville I hope we are successful with reaching the gospel. The Bible is very clear that no one seeks God. I think it follows that most don't seek a church unless Christ has found them through the gospel. Anyways, I could develop this a lot more, but this is a blog right. I just think we spend too much time trying to be attractional the minority of already churched culture rather than missional to the unchurched masses.
I like your blog and hope you continue to post...thanks for letting me throw in my humble 2cents.