Celebrating Another Milestone

It's official, we have chosen a name for this new church: Storyline Christian Community.

Storyline is a way of referring to the plot of a story. An editor might ask how a detail in a story fits into the larger storyline--the greater plot. We believe this idea describes something profound about life: we each have our own stories, but is there a way they all contribute to something larger? Or to ask the same question differently, does life have a larger storyline appealing for our contribution?

We believe there is such a story. And we want our lives to count. We want our contributions to matter. So we begin to investigate what this greater story is all about, and how our lives might have a role in this storyline.

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Why Christian Community instead of church? We have several reasons. But first, please do not misunderstand: we are starting a new church. We love and admire other churches, and we consider ourselves a part of the universal Church (stretching across time and around the globe). We are not ashamed of being a church.

Today, however, the idea of a church has come to carry some meanings we do not desire. For instance, when we use the word church, we repeatedly use it to refer to a place, not a people. The most frequent question people ask me after I tell them we're starting a new church is not "what will you be about," but they ask "where will it be?" We sense Christian Community will communicate better: we are a people seeking Jesus.

Our decision also has to do with our mission context: central Dallas. There are tons of people here who grew up in church, but they no longer participate. Many of them have had bad experiences. And unfortunately, these poor experiences and perceptions get projected on to all churches. Now, I'm not silly enough to assume no one will ever have a poor experience as a part of this new church, but we do hope the striking absence of the word church from our name might serve to communicate that our community is unique from what others may have experienced previously.

And finally, this language is more true to our values. I believe the point of church is living in relationships with others--sharing life together. Our methodologies are built around this conviction, and we're designing our ministry structures to facilitate a culture of genuine relationships. We are about creating community.

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And we're so fired up! Our families celebrated yesterday with not one, but TWO dessert samplers at a great Uptown restaurant. I suppose next to this whole church planting idea, dessert might be our greatest passion. :o)

Bed & Breakfast...and Airport Shuttle

Claudia and I have joked recently that we're going to open our own Bed & Breakfast. Uptown, Dallas (where we live) is literally down the street from Dallas Love Field. Lately, we have had some family and friends come and stay, leave their cars, and we take them to the airport. We have really enjoyed it, because it's a great excuse to see people we don't usually get to see. And we enjoy having people in our home.

Be sure to read Charles' blog this week on justice (link at right). It will get you fired up!

This weekend, we're having our second big "connection event." We began inviting some of our neighbors last night. We'll be playing ultimate frisbee at the same park where we had the kickball game three weeks ago. The invitation is below.

Please pray this week that we would have the courage to stretch beyond our comfort zones to meet new people and speak boldly with regard to what we're about.

Connection Event Invitation

House Church has Launched!

I apologize for not posting for so long--the last couple weeks have been quite full. Two weeks ago, Charles and I attended the National New Church Conference in Orlando. It was super encouraging to spend time with almost 3,000 other church planters from all over America! While there were some typical reactions of attending any conference (feeling overwhelmed), Charles and I also experienced a great deal of affirmation and encouragement. We also stumbled upon some very intriguing ideas regarding community needs assessments.

Immediately upon our return, we had our first Hospitality Event (or “party,” for those who prefer the less technical language). We hosted lunch and kickball at a local park. It was an absolute blast! We had a great group of people show up, and everyone seemed to connect well. We invited everyone at the Kickball game to join us for the launching of our first house church, which was last night.

So, last week we were scurrying about in preparation for our first house church. We had a good number of people show up, and we had a great evening of fellowship and worship. We are so grateful to God for answering our prayers. We all feel the events of the last couple weeks have gone very well.

If you know of someone living in the Central Dallas area who you think might be a good fit for what we are about, feel free to give me a way to connect with them.