I tend to work by fits and starts, and so putting together identity and vision statements for this new church is going to be especially hard work. I thought it might be better to write some, add it to the blog, ask for comments, and repeat. Better to do that than get discouraged. Here’s part… Continue reading Thoughts on Christian identity
Category: Church development
Formerly “Conceiving the church”.
Gathering a prayer team
I know that I am going to need the prayerful support of many people, and this is something I will need particularly of those people who care about this project but do not live in the area. Please pray for the success of this new church start, and for the people whose lives it will… Continue reading Gathering a prayer team
Vineyard
I like Vineyard websites. Simple, full of positive expression of who they are, and riddled with practical, ready-to-download resources. Look at these sites: don’t you get a sense of warmth and vitality? There’s a lesson in all that. Vineyard USA They stay on message. You find the sentences “Our Web site can connect you to… Continue reading Vineyard
Background on space: The post-reformation English chancel
What do Quaker pews and Elizabethan chancels have in common? Certainly not that big altar-table, but there’s something about “church in the square” that makes me thing that these two English-born communions have in common. But first, go and look at two pictures, and come back. Deerhurst Parish chancel (not set up for communion) Hailes… Continue reading Background on space: The post-reformation English chancel
Small can be beautiful (and not even as small as you think)
You know that the Unitarian Universalist Association is a fellowship of small churches by its large number of small churches and what it considers large: churches with memberships over 550. That ain’t huge. Part of what troubles me about Unitarian Universalism is (a) it adopts one model to accomplish something and (b) that model is… Continue reading Small can be beautiful (and not even as small as you think)
Polity quandries and the UUA Bylaws
Disclosure #1: In my hypothetical church planting exercises, I believe that UUA membership would be desirable, but not essential, to the welfare of the church. Disclosure #2: Rules — in this case the UUA bylaws — are not made to be broken, but imagination must be applied to them, so as the negative parts of… Continue reading Polity quandries and the UUA Bylaws