Emergent Brethren

The other day while at my favorite “book store”..Ollies…you know what they say…”Good stuff cheap”, I picked up several books. One was Death by Suburb and another was called “The Ministry of the Missional Church” by Craig Van Gelder.

As I was reading Gelder’s book I came to a chapter dealing with Spirit-Led Ministry in context and was struck by something he had written. In a section dealing with Relating the work of God’s Spirit in the World to Congregations in Particular contexts, Gelder encourages congregations to ask two questions that he believes need to be regularly asked in relation to the contexts that the congregation find themselves in.

The first question is “What is God doing?” He says, “Discerning this work of God is foundational for effective ministry. The church is called and sent to participate in God’s mission in the world. The responsibility of the church is to discern where and how this mission is unfolding.”

The second question that Gelder encourages congregations to ask is, “What does God want to do?” He says, “God desires to bring all of life into reconciled relationship. The church must seek to understand how the intent of God, as expressed in the gospel, can work itself out in a particular context to contribute to this ministry of reconciliation.”

Those two questions have stuck in my head and I think can give Veritas a framework to move forward in mission and ministry. I will be sharing these questions in the months to come, before the launch, and after the launch as well. So I ask you…what is God doing in your context and what does God want to do?

I have been doing a lot of thinking over the last year regarding Suburbia. Mostly in relation to what does it mean to be missional in the suburbs. My wife and I wrestled with this question and whether we needed to move to a more “urban” area in order to be missional…but I think that is, in one way, a cop out. Being missional is about where you are planted. Yes you can be missional in the urban area…the needs are easier to see. But you can also be missional in suburbia. I got to see a great example of that at a church in Bucks County called the Well. Todd Hiestand is the Pastor and he has written a great deal about being missional in suburbia, which has been tremendously helpful to my journey.

So the other day while in my favorite bookstore, Ollies…(good stuff cheap) I found the above book “Death by Suburb” by David Goetz. So I picked up and began reading. Goetz lays out 8 toxins of Suburbia and 8 Spiritual practices to counteract the toxin.

The 8 toxins are: I am in control of my life, I am what I do and what I own, I want my neighbors life, My life should be easier than this, I need to make a difference with my life, My Church is the problem, What will this relationship do for me, and I need to get more done in less time.

The 8 Spiritual practices that he lays out are: The Prayer of Silence, The journey through the self, Friendship with those who have no immortality symbols, Accepting my cross with grace and patience, Pursuing action, not results, Staying put in your church, Building deep and meaningful relationships, and Falling in love with a day.

Here are some quotes from the book that resonated with me:

“I think my suburb, as safe and religiously coated as it is, keeps me from Jesus. Or at least, my suburb (and the religion of the suburbs) obscures the real Jesus. The living patterns of the good life affect me more than I know. Yet the same environmental factors that numb me to the things of God also hold out great promise. I don’t need to escape the suburbs. I need to find Jesus here.”

“The kingdom of God often appears plain, ordinary, small, in the moment.”

“Even in suburbia all moments are infused with the Sacred. God is really present where I live…”

“The practice of solitude may be the most important spiritual discipline for the suburbs. And it is probably one of the most difficult to practice here.”

“A friend with a special needs child (and five other kids as well) recently said to me that he thought one spiritual issue of our community (which has a median household income of 75,000) is how hard we work at appearing not to have any issues. ‘The sad thing’ he says, ‘is that you wind up with a bunch of folks who appear to have it all, but are miserable. They’re trapped in the attractive veneer of being ‘perfect people.’ That, by its very nature, negates the transparency to form a deeper bond with a human being.”

“The perfect suburban life is bogus.”

“Coveting may be the most toxic indulgence of the suburbs, and the life practice to overcome it requires the discipline to face another kind of person. This person is not like me. This person in not like my neighbor, whose house I covet. This person is invisible to me, because I am facing in the wrong direction- toward those I perceive to have more than I.”

There are a lot more quotes that I could share but I close with this one…

“forget trying to live a safe, gated life.”

http://www.veritaspa.org/uploaded_images/McJesus-764145.bmp
So yesterday I got back from the Creation Festival in Mount Union, PA. We have gone every year with the youth group from Hempfield COB. It was a bittersweet time because this will probably be the last one for a while. But I have this love hate relationship with the Festival.

I love hanging out with people. I love eating with people. I love seeing people I haven’t seen for awhile and catching up. I love some of the bands and the speakers. But the one thing that drives me up a wall every year is the jesus junk that is being sold…especially alot of the T-Shirts.

The one that bothered me the most this year is represnted by the picture above. It said “mcJesus..Over one bilion saved.” This shirt to me represents a troubling trend..the commodification of Jesus. What this shirt is really saying is that Jesus is a product that can be bought and sold. That when we “accept Jesus” into our lives we are making a business transaction. That we “go to a church” on Sunday and attend a worship service, where we are being served by the Pastor and leaders. Also there is the whole problem of consumerism that Tony Campolo speaks about in “Lord Save Us From Your Followers”. We are way too comfortable with consumerism in the evangelical world.

Maybe I read into things too much….but people need to think about what they are making when they make t-shirts that they think are clever. Most of the time they are a rip off of something in the world, which is not clever, not original, and not artistic. And there are the meanings behind the t-shirts that the designer didn’t think about. Jesus is not a product to be bought and sold. Jesus is Lord and is to be followed and served.

For those not on my Veritas prayer list, I thought I would take this space to share some prayer requests with the Emergent Brethren community (btw…have a great time at Annual Conference….have some great conversation at the Emergent discussion…wish I could join it). If you want to be on the Veritas prayer list…please drop me a note.

1. Purple Door Arts and Music Festival: Every August at Ski Roundtop a great music festival is held that brings the best alternative music, great speakers, and art in all forms. The Purple Door Arts and Music Festival takes place August 14-15. We thought it would be a great place to promote Veritas. So we sent out a registration form and a deposit for a booth, and this weekend heard that we were accepted. So Praise God. We’ll have a booth where we’ll be giving out literature about Veritas, a CD with original music from various people within our Community, Coffee Mugs, chocolate, and other random stuff. Pray that God would bring people by the booth, that we would have great conversation with people, and that many will check out the booth, and Veritas as well. Praise God for the opportunity to be involved at Purple Door.

2. English Presbyterian Church: It is now official. We will be officially meeting at English Presbyterian Church in Marietta for our Sunday gatherings (10:45-12:45) starting on September 13. Pray that this relationship would be a blessing to both parties involved, that we can bless English Pres by our presence, and that God would be honored/glorified by this arrangement. Praise that this part of the details in planting Veritas is officially done.

3. Core Group Development: We have been having lots of people over for dinner and dessert the last few weeks…and its been fun…my wife is an amazing woman. Anyway….we had a great meeting with Chris and Carmella Tress and look forward to having them check out our Core Group sometime in the near future. Also on Saturday we met with Tobias and Amanda and will be looking forward to having them check out our Core Group this coming week. I am excited about these two couples and what God is doing in their lives, and what they can offer to Veritas and the Kingdom. Pray that they would connect with others in our community and that they would feel God’s call to join Veritas. Pray for our Core Group nights on Sunday nights as we worship, pray, study, and share together.

4. Finances: Our Finances are coming together slowly but surely. This weekend Lampeter COB sent a check for Veritas..so praise God for that. We are also going to be sending out support letters in the very near future. Pray that God would take care of the finances that we need, that the letters would be well received, and that God would bless those who receive the letters. Pray for wisdom and discernment when it comes to finances.

5. Job: Continue to pray for me as I seek to find a part-time job (I really haven’t done any looking but will be in July). Pray that I would find one that would connect with what I am doing with Veritas. Pray for a flexible job. I truly believe that we can make it work by being part-time Church Planter/part time other. (Instead of part time planter/full time other…which is good). Pray that God would guide me to the right one.

6. Missional Opportunities: Pray for us as we work on some outreach events including a FREE Car Wash (Saturday’s was a wash out…God washed everyones cars…) and a Block Party on August 29. Pray that we can connect with people, share the love of Jesus in real and practical ways, and pray that we can also share a little bit about the mission, vision, and dreams of Veritas.

Thanks so much for your prayers and friendship..they mean the world to me….

Things seem to moving forward with Veritas as we work towards our September 13 launch. Here are a few exciting things that we are experiencing right now.

1. We have signed a lease for one year with English Presbyterian Church in Marietta for only 400 dollars a month. I believe this will be an amazing partnership with English as we begin and develop and grow. I still feel that in the future we would love to inhabit a place where we can develop a third space (whether business or not..I’m not sure…) much like a previous post.

2. We are having many conversations with people about joining our Core Group. I had a meeting on Monday night with a great couple that we connected with through setting up a time to go visit a church in Bucks County called The Well. I also have a dinner with a couple on Saturday night.

3. The Pastor of the Well also let us know of someone else in Lancaster county who was part of the Well and is now in Lancaster county…we’ll see where that leads.

4. Finances are slowly coming together…to a point that I think we can make a go at this on a part-time level, and I won’t need to work full-time and work on the church plant as well.

5. Saturday morning we are doing a FREE Car Wash to bless the community.

6. Monday night we are having dinner with Jonny and Jenny Baker from Grace in the UK while they are here teaching at Lancaster Theological Seminary. I met Jonny when he was here 2 years ago, and then again when I went over to London 2 years ago. I am looking forward to that.

7. Visiting the Well on July 5 and looking forward to the experience and talking with the Pastor.

All in all I am really excited about the journey that we are on, and what God will do in the future in and through us. That doesn’t mean I don’t get nervous, scared and worried at times, but I do know that God is in control and he will take care of us.