"that's not a church . . . "

As Joe and I have been seeking to follow the vision God has given us, we have had a few very frustrating meetings. One of those was our first assessment interview. When we shared some of the 'outside-the-box' ideas for our potential church plant, we were told, "That's not a church, its a ministry." We were frustrated, confused and a little bit ticked.

Yes, it is a church, it is also a ministry, and a Kingdom work, and a community.
How are those other things not a church?

See, when you tell a 'regular church-goer' that the main thing you will focus on is not the Sunday morning assembly with 3 songs and a sermon -- well, its a big stretch for them to see how you could de-emphasize that and still be a church. By definition, church has to be 30 or more people meeting every week to listen to a preacher, collect an offering, in a room with a sign that says 'such-and such church.'

All the other stuff - like praying together, sharing meals, serving the lost and broken, discussing how the Word and the Spirit are transforming us, having meaningful conversations with people who don't know Jesus, creating beauty, seeking justice, loving people. . . well all that stuff is good, but it is extra, "it's not church!"

Not that they think that this is a bad idea: a storefront art gallery with live music and a prayer space, right in the middle of an urban community - where un-churched people can connect with grace-giving Christians - and Christians can gather to worship and learn and create and be a community. They say, "Great idea, go do it!"

BUT they also say they won't support it as a church plant, because it won't look like church the way they do it. "It's just not our DNA." Which feels rather like: "Sorry dear, it won't look like the rest of the family, so we don't feel comfortable helping you give birth to this baby. Go ahead and do it on your own; maybe we will adopt it later on."

So after months of hoping for support and blessing from what has been my church 'family,' and despairing to the point that I've seriously considered aborting this vision - I've realized that maybe they are right.

What God has conceived in my heart does not look like "church." It doesn't have the same desired outcome as most church planting models. I can't force this dream into a process that is designed to produce a 'normal' church and expect it to become something else. I'll be fighting to fit in and stay true to the calling - and I can't accomplish both of those. So we can either let go of the dream - or let go of the desire to be accepted within a limited definition of 'church.' Guess which one God is asking us to pursue?