Imagine Church

I used to think about starting a church. Or "planting" a church, depending on if I could convince someone to give me money. It's never went beyond the conceptual phase; my friend Geoff and I would discuss the things that made us most excited but never the challenges or steps we would need to take to get there.

In all of my/our conceptualizing, there was one idea that always stuck with me, something that I reflected on after Monday's post linking immaturity and creativity. It was simple - the idea of imagination.

It's even a cool tagline - Imagine Church. It's a name, but it's also a statement. It's a verb.

Imagine church... where we replace barriers with open arms.

Imagine church... where we swap exclusivity for diversity.

Imagine church... where people are more important than tradition.

Imagine church... where creativity is our worship of God.

It's that idea of emphasizing creativity and imagination over stodgy traditionalism and sentimentality that appeals to me. The idea first started percolating in my head when I read a book by Rick Bundschuh - Don't Rock the Boat, Capsize it. It's mostly a discussion of how Rick does church (in Kauai Hawaii).

The key thing I remember from the book is Rick's quest to make change a tradition of the church. After all, change is inevitable. Resistance is futile, so to speak. And if we can't resist something, shouldn't we embrace it and use it for the glory of God? Routinely, Rick's church reorganizes everything from the structure of the church service, the time of the church service, even the way the church sanctuary is designed, decorated, or oriented.

I don't want to work for or in or with a church that's is rigid and inflexible. The church I imagine is one that is willing and able to move and change - to become all things to all people. What do you imagine in a church?

(There appears to be two Imagine Church's already - one in San Bernardino CA and one in Westfield IN)