Concept Church - CCV

We visited a very interesting church today, Christ Church in the Valley. It is a non denominational church located in Royersford, PA. In an age when many mainline denominations are dying a not so slow death, it was refreshing to attend a service that dared to shake up the status quo. When you drive up to the church, it actually looks like a movie theater. Out in front, there is a box office, which looks like a place where you would buy tickets to enter into an old fashioned theater...



Once inside, you feel as though you have entered into the lobby of a theater, and are ushered into the sanctuary, but not before you receive a program, study materials and an ink pen. Inside, the sanctuary looks nothing like a church. There is a media control center in the rear, and a stage at the front. The stage is lined with 5 electric guitars, drums, keyboards and mics. Just over the stage are 3 projection screens. As service starts, the stage fills with musicians, and a few very young praise and worship leaders. The music sounds like a rock concert, but the words of the songs are deeply theological and wholly biblical. As songs are sang, the words cascade across the 3 projection screens with picturesque images behind them. After a few songs, a brief word of prayer is shared, and the offering is taken. In an age of prosperity ministry, when the offering can take nearly as long as the praise and worship, the quick announcement and collection was refreshing. After the offering, the preacher for the hour came forward and shared a thoughtful message, which was bolstered by images from the Internet and pictures which were projected on the screens above the stage. There was also a video testimony played along with a video of a recent baptism service.

Although I liked the message, it wasn't well developed. It could have used a little more exegesis... BUT, perhaps that was the point. Maybe it had gaps because they wanted the people to go home and study the Bible passage on their own. My best teachers were the ones who didn't give me all the right answers, instead they gave me ALL the right questions... The right questions may lead one to find the right answers...

OVERALL, I thought it was great. I am becoming increasingly frustrated with denominational life. I find myself held in bondage by tradition that is stale and irrelevant. My love for God and service to God's people is choked by pomp and circumstance, and ritual rhetoric. Church often functions as a placeholder in believer's lives. At it's worst, church is just a group of people who meet at a particular time, in a particular place... devoid of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. At it's best, it is the power of God brought to fruition amidst the fellowship of believers, who dare to stand up and stand out for God. I don't know about you, but I want power today. I want the power of God to show itself in my life as never before, and I will not allow tradition to stand in the way of that...



Having said that... in addition to denominational boundaries, churches are still some of the most segregated institutions in America... This church was scantily multicultural. I would aptly describe it as a non denominational, mostly white congregation out in the suburbs... It lacked some of the cultural elements that are important to people of color, and people who live in more urban contexts... My feeling is that, with a little cultural adaptation, and a few traditional elements, I could do great things with this model in an inner city setting.

Ah!!! Pray for me!

Life

Life is such an interesting journey. I am in the most wonderful classes this semester. It's my first semester in the doctoral program, and I really had no idea what to expect. My first class is "Race, Ethnicity and Inequality." I was excited about this class from the moment I read the title, and it has not disappointed. It allows me to dialogue publicly about issues that have plagued me throughout my life; about things that I have experienced namelessly; about tension that I have felt, seen, and even touched. It has been a somewhat emotional journey, which has peaked my awareness of so many of my own tendencies and pathologies, as well as, those of others. A professor of mine once told me that I needed to understand my own pathologies in order to avoid harming others with them... So often we fail to treat people in a way that indicates that we truly have respect for the dignity and worth of the humanity that we all possess as God's own creations.





My other class is sociological foundations. I knew that this class would have serious implications for my understanding of the world and the communities that I will serve in the course of my life, but I didn't anticipate that the learning would come from a marvelously gifted, multicultural, intensely intelligent, highly stimulating mix of individuals....


...It was a true KOINONIA
It is difficult to say that there are few gifted and passionate educators left after you have experienced this group of individuals. While I fear that this was just a set up... something that God did to teach us all that His plan still supersedes ours... I know that there is purpose in it.




A mentor of mine once said,

"God has placed something inside of each and every individual we meet, something that was intended to bless our lives."

His goal, he says,

"Is to get that -something- from every encounter."

What a great expectation to have for humanity.
PEACE!