As I seek to understand the changing wineskin of the church and to grapple with what the emerging structure looks like, I have begun a series of articles which I hope will lead to a better understanding of what type of church structure will best serve the purpose of the church and what type of leadership structure will be needed in this context. It seems appropriate to begin with something of my own journey, accompanied by notations of major influences or shifts in my thinking throughout the timeframe described. Along the way I summarize lessons learned… so far.
Toward a Structure for Church
by Brother Maynard | Dec 28, 2004 | Articles, Ecclesiology, The Sojourn | 3 comments
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As one of the “radicals” that was privileged to meet and bond with you during those college years, I have to say taht it ‘s refreshing and challenging to re-read your story and see the intersections with my own — even beyond college.
It’s also a challenge to me to continue dreaming and pursuing “what church COULD be” — which is the one pursuit that really hasn’t changed since those college days, regardless of the highs, lows, glories and scarrings that took place along the way.
Perhaps the biggest challenge is how to build something healthy and positive out of many wounded dreamers. Wasn’t there some verse about God building a temple using charred stones? I think “charred stones” might be a good metaphor for those who are feeling the need to step out of the machine and get back to being a movement.
But I ramble… Happy New Year!
Thanks, R. This was an interesting exercise, and one which forced me to think a little. As you will recall from your moves from one church home to another over the years, each one is sparked by something that we’re striving for… as I considered my “Lessons Learned” for each period, I realized that there is a theme, one which has me longing for something we haven’t experienced yet. On the other hand, being able to outline it this way and explore what it might look like while I feed from other like-minded bloggers out there is proving invaluable and building up hope and faith for the environment I didn’t even know I have been seeking all along. It sure is good to have solid journey-mates (that’s from one ex-AGC-er to another).
One of the articles I have in my mind as a part of the outline for this series is an exploration of various metaphors for church – I’ll have to dig up the one about “charred stones.” I know that Peter talks about “Living Stones” (which is a metaphor I love) and Jeremiah iirc talks about “building on the ruins” (which eventually got to be Nehemiah’s gig).
Gratia Vobis et Pax,
Dear Brother Maynard,
What fun to read the history…I laughed out loud with the Holy Hand Grenade, my favorite part (five IS right out)!
And your story was very interesting. There are many similar threads between your story and mine…no wonder there is resonance.
I look forward to having time to wander through the past two years of posts…
AbiSomeone, Abbess at The Abbey