This is the second in a series. To read the entire series, click here.
Years ago, there was a professor at a local university who started a Bible study. Quite a few zealous college students started attending. Before long, they had formed a tight-knit community as they sought out God individually and corporately. I won’t lie, the next part is a little weird when I say it out loud, but they all started living together on a farm. Yes, the word “commune” comes to mind. Eventually they started marrying (mostly to each other) and having kids.
I was one of the kids.
By the time I came along, the group had formalized into a small, non-denominational church. I use the word “church” loosely. While we met on Sundays to sing and listen to a sermon, the service was more informal than most I’ve attended since, and we spent a good part of our existence without a single paid staff person. Instead, there was a group of teaching elders who shared the responsibilities of shepherding, teaching, and discipleship. Additionally, we were all like one, big family, and I loved it. There was never a rush to get back out the door on a Sunday morning, and it was not unusual for kids to go home with a different family to spend the day with friends. I still get the warm fuzzies when I think about that chapter of my growing up years.
Eventually God called all of us away to new adventures and the routine meetings ended. However, my parents still consider the people from this season of our lives close friends. There are even connections within my generation that are still going strong.
I never felt as lost as I did in the years after changing church communities for the first time. Looking back, all the proceeding institutional churches I was a part of never felt like home. Whenever I would communicate what I desired in terms of community, I heard people tell me that didn’t exist. However, I knew it could. My heart longed and still longs for it.
Patrick’s not really hijacking the blog. We’re in this together, and we’d love for you to join us.
What has your experience with “church” been like?
After being in a close knit “home” church, it was very hard for me also. I was so used to connecting with each of the families in their homes and being a part of each other’s daily lives. I guess with bigger corporate churches there are just to many people from to many different locations to have that closeness. That was 15 years ago and I still miss it at times. However, the church I am attending now I am feeling more a part of, as I see a core group of people several times a week. I am the only one from my town that attends there though. I do a lot of driving.
Liz,
That seems to be the common thread–you need a small, core group if you are part of a larger corporate body. God has challenged us to think about if that larger corporate body is necessary. It’s definitely a HUGE paradigm shift! Thanks for sharing.
I am excited to read the articles that follows. My husband and I grew up with different levels of church “attendance” with each of our parents. My husbands family was more involved and regular attenders but his parents marriage ended in divorce after an affair came from his mother working at a church with the pastor of that church. This created many “religious” (my husbands words) wounds and negative thoughts on church and God. Which my husband then ended up letting those things lead him away from church, his thoughts of God, and being angry and bitter. I never had a strong church presence in my life growing up. The irregularity of church is what I was use to. As adults God pulled us back to church. We found a church we liked then moved 6 hours away but found a church there the same week as my husbands interview, we loved our new church and the people in it, we felt we were in a safe church to grow in, started serving and started learning how to disciple others. Then…..we came back to our home town, our previous church, and ready to share all God had been teaching us. Now we have been living back in our home town for 2 years, my husband is one of the pastors on staff, we have three children (with our fourth on the way) and we both feel beat down by others in the church. Most things seems to be a challenge, needed change unwanted by others and we are starting to feel a lack of improvement for the future. We both think, is this what God really wants? Effort to be put into “church”. Are we some how watering down God and all he intends for us because we are battling almost seemingly endless, nonsense battles? We ponder and pray about is it our perspective or is it time to move on…to another church…to another area? I would have to say our current church experience is confusing at this time. It is hard for me to see God working in the people at the church we attend in the way I know He can. I don’t believe it is God lacking, just that it is their lack of willingness and determination to experience God on a deeper level. Is the current day church really modeling the early church?- is a question we were discussing this pass Sunday.
Thanks for sharing, Janell!