Just beginning

So, it’s been almost a week since we had the grand opening of our new location in Elliot Lake. I figured I should share an update, so here it is.

It took just about a year from the date of purchase to the date of occupation and there were times, I have to admit, when I doubted it would happen. Red tape and regulations can wear you down after a while. But all of that is behind us now and we are finally in the place. The above sign greets you as you enter the building and it is our hope that people will stop referring to our space as the church or God’s house. Our old building had a sign that said ‘Welcome to the House of the Lord’ above the door and I hated it, but, for reasons that don’t really matter now, we were not able to remove it. So instead it remains where it is and has not followed us to the new place.

The place was buzzing last Saturday, beyond what we hoped or imagined, and many people from the community of all ages came to check us out. Quite a few came back for our worship celebration on Saturday evening, as well as having a few new faces for our Sunday lunchtime gathering. We decided to make some major changes to our Sunday ‘thing’. We now gather for lunch at 11.30am and get into some worship round about 12.45pm. We are hoping that this will help people get to know each other and lead to a better sense of community. We are also going to use our space during the week as a drop-in centre/cafe/hangout kind of spot and we’ll see how that develops as we encourage people to think beyond ’Sunday-go-to-church-Christianity’. We’re finding that lots of people from other fellowships want to be part of the drop-in/community thing, so we’re stressing that our building is more about community than SA building, so everyone is welcome to come and be part of what is happening without having to give up being a part of their particular fellowship.

Our biggest challenge now is not to fall back on the patterns of the past, but to keep on the path down which we believe God is leading us. We’ve been here almost 8 years, but it seems like it’s all just beginning. Looking forward to the next 8!

P.S. If you are interested in seeing some pictures from the opening click here.

And now for something completely different

It probably doesn’t look like much yet, but there’s real progress happening here. Our new gathering place is really coming together – walls are being put in place, the plumbing is all ready and the electrician is getting on with the wiring. Every time I drop in I get quite excited about what the future holds.

This has been so long coming now that it’s not funny. There were times in the last couple of years that I thought it would never happen. Some of the obstacles in our way seemed insurmountable. But we always had the vision God had given us before us to keep us in focus. Our main prayer is that we don’t fall into the old habits of ‘going to or doing church’. It’s time for us to just be the church. The building is just the place that we hang out and encourage/develop relationship. We’re glad to have this new place, but it’s not the focus for what we do or, more importantly, for who we are.

And so, the countdown begins…

And now the end is near…

…and so I face the final curtain. I think I can hear this ‘old’ building singing that song now. Sunday 29 March will see the final worship service, gathering, get together, whatever you want to call it, in this building. It’s probably not a moment too soon. Although we won’t have possession of our new and renovated location by then, it has been decided not to drag out the end for what has been any longer.

The above building really has become a bridge to nowhere, a time machine, a self-serving structure, with no relevance or effectiveness in the vicinity of where it is situated. There may have been a time, probably about 20 years ago, when there was vibrant ministry taking place here, but as the world has moved on, what takes place here has withdrawn itself into a safe cocoon.

The past few years have been difficult as I have become painfully aware of the disconnect of what this has all become. It is hard to put your heart into something that doesn’t make sense any more, into something that glorifies program over relationship, into something that looks nothing like the community that God intended for His people. Over the last year or so we have been attempting to transition to something new and different, but that is always hard when you are surrounded by the ghosts of the past. It will be good for all concerned to move out from here to something new.

However, that’s not saying that by just moving everything will instantly be better and more effective. That is why the old and ineffective has to be shut down with a break before commencing the new. The break could be as long as a month or as short as two weeks. But when we finally get back together it will look nothing like the old. Those looking for a traditional Sunday-go-to-church experience will be very disappointed, but it shouldn’t be a shock to their system as we have been explaining and talking about the day this would come for over a year now. The worst thing that could happen to our new location is that it become a Sunday church in new clothes. What happens on a Sunday will only be a small part of what takes place there every day of the year. We have no idea what it will all look like in the end, but we are stepping out in faith to only God knows what. It is both exciting and scary at the same time. One thing is for sure – once we step away from what has been, there is no returning to the safety of the past. To do that would show a lack of faith and trust in the vision that God has given us for Elliot Lake.

If you are in the vicinity on March 29 at 10.30am then drop by and say goodbye to something that has had its time, but is now making way for a fresh expression of community. Come and say thanks for the faithfulness of the past and join the journey of stepping out, with God, into the future.