Last week I made some open statements about liberal and conservative Christians. I said we divide the church around things that we shouldn't. That doesn't mean we should never disassociate with rebellious people. But where there's a common heart, we can and should engage with people of different minds. This week I tell a couple stories that illustrate that. As long as we practice kindness over assertiveness, and invite the scriptures to judge us, rather than us sitting in judgment on them. If we will stop protecting ourselves and others from the discomfort of reading the scriptures for what they say, we will experience mutual redemption and restoration in our microchurches.
00:00 Introduction: Continuing the Thought 00:13 Microchurch and LGBTQ+ Compassion 00:53 Journey to Dover, Ohio 01:11 Inclusivity in Microchurches 01:59 Scriptural Integrity and Compassionate Conversations 04:06 Engaging Liberal and Conservative Views 05:04 Kindness in Confrontation 07:24 Scriptural Authority and Truth 08:53 Conviction and Unity in Faith 10:22 Final Thoughts and Encouragement Mission Update: Berlin, St Marys and Shipshe![]()
I wrote last week about a conversation I had in Berlin, Ohio about one man's dream of a place where foster parents and single moms could live in community with others -- and how my recent experience with the Bruderhof might give some guidance to the implementation of such a thing. Please help us by praying for clear leading. And feel free to speak into it if you have a similar interest.
After my lunch conversation with that friend last Friday, I met another local pastor for coffee. He pastors a megachurch that started out of a house church. He brought a friend who was visiting from Davis County, Indiana, who has been leading a house church for the past 18 years! It was such an encouragement to meet him. And he told me about another house church he had recently been introduced to in Bryan, Texas, about an hour from where we plan to stop on our way back in October. God is good. When I say the conversations are incredible, I mean not just the conversations themselves, but the connections God has been orchestrating. From that meeting I had dinner with an elder of another church who remains interested in our X242 way of being church. It was good to mutually encourage each other. Sunday, I went to LifeBridge, a conventional church in Dover, Ohio pastored by another friend of mine. I'm not sure how to say this, but it was delightfully messy. I mean, even though there was a program that followed the basic line up (welcome, worship set, announcements, sermon, closing song), it felt like a house church in someone's living room. They had a 14 year old read the scripture. They took time for prayer requests. Some people told stories. Everything felt conversational. Kids walked around. God was honored. And then we all shared a meal afterward. It was such a wonderful example of how God is calling people to something more personable and restful than the church machine that continues to exhaust so many. Praise God. We left Berlin Friday and drove to St Marys where we connected with people who moved from Sarasota several years ago. It was good to catch up and share inspirations from our travels. Again, there's a stirring around the stories from our time with the Bruderhof. Then we came to Shipshewana, Indiana. Sunday, I drove 45 minutes to That Church Downtown in South Bend. I first met the pastor nine or ten years ago, and reconnected with him and his wife early last year. He told me "services starts at 11-ish." I got there a little early and the room was dotted with people silently praying. By 11-ish, there were twenty or thirty people there, talking and getting things ready. Not long after that we were praying, then singing, then sharing. A man asked if he could give a little witness at the end because he didn't want to take time from the service. The pastor had a child pray before the kids went to their classes, then he had me bring a greeting from X242, and then he preached. It was nice. And I kept thinking some of our house churches are this big, if not bigger. After church they had me over to their house across the street for lunch. I learned that several years ago the church was running 135 people. But then, about the same time I was being challenged in my own church setting, they were also being challenged. They realized that they were good at having worship services, but bad at discipling people. And that was confirmed when they made changes. People left. And yet they still believe that was the right decision. I hear there's pastors in the area talking about starting a house church network. I'm trying to connect with them. I have other meetings as well. Please pray, remembering the above, and asking God to keep opening doors for ministry. I continue to pray for all in our X242 network of tiny churches.
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AuthorRoger Shenk is the pastor of X242, a network of microchurches. Archives
August 2024
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