One Month Later...

A month...a month since last I posted. Two months since the first post here...

With my first post came the weird feeling...notice was given to my friends and fellow-leaders at church that I would not be attending / leading anymore. Some confusion, some hurt feelings, some characteristic errors on my part - but with some temporal distance comes (a little bit of) clarity.

What has been happening? Externally, nothing. My family and I have been (ever) trying to understand our place in the kingdom of God...we are, ever-so-slowly, gathering steam. Let's spend a minute on that:

Externally little has been happening, but internally is quite the different picture. These past 2 months represent the longest stretch of not attending a traditional church gathering in the past 11 years of my life (if memory serves). Only 8-10 weeks into this and already I find profound changes & revelations within.

Firstly, what I consider 'traditional' church models make less and less sense to me. Not that I find myself disagreeing with organization per se (the fact that I can blog at all represents organization and structure) but I find myself questioning the WHY of particular structures and methods. What end does it serve? And is it effective? This is most likely an effect of taking a step back from where I have been...new questions arise and previous assumptions are challenged.

Secondly, the individual gifts that God grants each of us are lifted up more and more. When there is no system in place to provide for everyone's needs the responsibility is shifted to the participants...which is everyone. I find myself digging deeper to understand my own place in my small group, as well as thinking intently about the needs of the group and how each person can help all of us by bringing what they are naturally good at.

more later...