“This Church” by Ann Weems
We don’t pretend to understand the mystery
of what goes on in God’s Church.
We just know we feel a pervading spirit of love
that reaches into the niches of all of us
and pulls us out into the open,
free and alive and belonging.
We believe this spirit of love exists because
God’s spirit lives within this Church,
this unity of persons trying to be the Good News.
We see this Church as a circle of persons
holding hands... and dancing...
Supporting each other, accepting each other,
loving each other.
Each person in this dancing circle
is facing outward....reaching into God’s world,
listening for the whimpering,
watching for the hurting,
willing to offer a cup of cold water in His name.
Sometimes they need the water;
sometimes you need the water;
sometimes I need the water.
Being a part of the church
means knowing that the cup is always filled in His name.
[Ann Weems is the author of a number of books of poetry including Kneeling in Jerusalem, Putting the Amazing Back in Grace, and Psalms of Lament. She has served on the National Committee of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship]
-Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way, p.91
Below, I quote former Episcopal Priest Eddie Gibbs (whom I've spent some time with in my days in Los Angeles), and Ryan K. Bolger in their book Emerging Churches:Creating Christian Community In Post Modern Cultures .
Emerging churches utilize the kingdom as a tool to deconstruct all aspects of life, including virtually all church practices. They understand that the kingdom gives rise to the church, not the other way around. Forms and structures of church are variable in emerging churches, especially in comparison to new paradigm, purpose driven and seeker churches which keep most of the traditional structures intact. These older movements maintain an emphasis on paid senior pastors, the Sunday service as what constitutes church, outreach that focuses on lapsed suburban professionals, and the idea that Christians come to church, primarily understood as the church building. Utilizing the kingdom of God paradigm as a tool of deconstruction, emerging churches dismantle many forms of church that, although viable at one time, increasingly represent a bygone era. (Page 96)
Emerging churches believe that the church should shape its corporate life in accordance with the practices of the kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated in his ministry. Their understanding of the Christian life is strongly Christocentric, drawing much inspiration from the Gospels. Emerging churches create a space for the kingdom to enter their midst. They commit to the community that follows this King and let their other loyalties take a back seat. An unchastened consumerism and anonymity are not options within their ranks. They display a willingness to abandon old church forms as they dramatically restructure their communities. They abhor the idea of church as a meeting, a place, a routine. Clearly, for these communities, church is a people, a community, a rhythm, a way of life, a way of connectedness with other Christ followers in the world. These communities are small, missional, and offer space for each individual to participate. Emerging churches form tight communities. It is through living as a community that emerging churches practice the way of Jesus in all realms of culture. (Page 115)
--Quoted from John Killinger, The Tender Shepherd (Nashville: Abingdon, 1985), 199.
