Does the Journey of St. Clair County really need to exist?
Over the last couple of days, I have been seriously thinking through this idea of whether or not we need this corporate/non-profit entity known as The Journey of St. Clair County and would appreciate some serious reflective feedback. I personally have a lot of emotional attachment and time invested in The Journey but the Kingdom is not about my attachments. I will give you my thoughts on this as well as some questions to ponder.
First of all, what is the purpose of having this entity known as The Journey of St. Clair County?
My initial thoughts on this, we have this organization to give us an identity, an association with people who think along the same lines. But one of the things I have noticed with having an identity with an entity like this, it becomes a separator. We belong to this particular group that has this particular set of beliefs and we meet on these particular days. If we truly believe that the church is made up of people who follow after Jesus, why would we want to add one more group to the mix of already divided groups? Can we simply say to people who ask what church we are a part of, "I am a follower of Jesus." Do we really need to be identified with a particular brand or group of believers?
Second, there is a growing corporate entity known as The Journey in St Louis right now and when we even tell people our name, we begin to be lumped in with them (not that there is any negative result of the association). We have to tell people not that Journey. We are really losing our identity right now. So, do we want to keep differentiating ourselves from the other group each time someone asks? This just goes back to the first point, we have to tell people what makes us, our brand, our group, our organization, different.
Third, as with all groups that have an identity, we begin to separate ourselves from the world we are tying to influence for the Kingdom. For example, we have been participating (some of us) in a community volleyball league. We joined the league as The Journey. How many relationships have we built with members from the other teams to advance the Kingdom? Have we not separated ourselves from others by having our own team rather than just joining in with a group of people and building relationships? Are we viewed by the other teams as being members of the larger corporate Journey(taking us back to point 2, which takes us back to point 1)?
Finally, I think that we can still maintain a means of utilizing what we have established as a resource for those seeking Jesus and being the church. Perhaps our websites can become more of a connecting hub for groups and resources. We can utilize our social networks(FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.) as a means of connecting people to us. We can create pages, links back to blogs, whatever means necessary to help people understand our call to simply BE the church. We can still support the causes we love like Compassion International, Project Compassion, Casas por Cristos, but it just means we each will need to take on a little more personal responsibility in helping them out. We can still organize group blessings by just communicating with each other.
Perhaps the biggest issue we face and I may have just stumbled upon it, is this: do we really know how to be the church without an association with a particular group? Do we need to learn what it means to simply be the Body of Jesus? And that's okay if we do. Perhaps we need to come together as one whole group for a time and learn the depth of this truth. Another possibility would be to just gather in groups of 2 or 3 and learn to come into the presence of God and Jesus.
I would really like some good honest feedback on this. Just because my thoughts are posted here, doesn't mean that I am proceeding with closing down The Journey as it stands. Afterall, this involves more people than just me. Thanks.
First of all, what is the purpose of having this entity known as The Journey of St. Clair County?
My initial thoughts on this, we have this organization to give us an identity, an association with people who think along the same lines. But one of the things I have noticed with having an identity with an entity like this, it becomes a separator. We belong to this particular group that has this particular set of beliefs and we meet on these particular days. If we truly believe that the church is made up of people who follow after Jesus, why would we want to add one more group to the mix of already divided groups? Can we simply say to people who ask what church we are a part of, "I am a follower of Jesus." Do we really need to be identified with a particular brand or group of believers?
Second, there is a growing corporate entity known as The Journey in St Louis right now and when we even tell people our name, we begin to be lumped in with them (not that there is any negative result of the association). We have to tell people not that Journey. We are really losing our identity right now. So, do we want to keep differentiating ourselves from the other group each time someone asks? This just goes back to the first point, we have to tell people what makes us, our brand, our group, our organization, different.
Third, as with all groups that have an identity, we begin to separate ourselves from the world we are tying to influence for the Kingdom. For example, we have been participating (some of us) in a community volleyball league. We joined the league as The Journey. How many relationships have we built with members from the other teams to advance the Kingdom? Have we not separated ourselves from others by having our own team rather than just joining in with a group of people and building relationships? Are we viewed by the other teams as being members of the larger corporate Journey(taking us back to point 2, which takes us back to point 1)?
Finally, I think that we can still maintain a means of utilizing what we have established as a resource for those seeking Jesus and being the church. Perhaps our websites can become more of a connecting hub for groups and resources. We can utilize our social networks(FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.) as a means of connecting people to us. We can create pages, links back to blogs, whatever means necessary to help people understand our call to simply BE the church. We can still support the causes we love like Compassion International, Project Compassion, Casas por Cristos, but it just means we each will need to take on a little more personal responsibility in helping them out. We can still organize group blessings by just communicating with each other.
Perhaps the biggest issue we face and I may have just stumbled upon it, is this: do we really know how to be the church without an association with a particular group? Do we need to learn what it means to simply be the Body of Jesus? And that's okay if we do. Perhaps we need to come together as one whole group for a time and learn the depth of this truth. Another possibility would be to just gather in groups of 2 or 3 and learn to come into the presence of God and Jesus.
I would really like some good honest feedback on this. Just because my thoughts are posted here, doesn't mean that I am proceeding with closing down The Journey as it stands. Afterall, this involves more people than just me. Thanks.
Posted by Greg Zander at 7/4/2009 7:10 AM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: simple church house Journey Kingdom St. louis
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: simple church house Journey Kingdom St. louis
I think having a name and identity hurts more than it helps - there is only one name or identity as far as I'm concerned and that is Jesus Christ.
Honestly I've always been more interested in what Jesus is doing rather than what the Journey is doing -- such as when Jesus built a couple of houses in Juarez.
We are ambassadors of Christ - not ambassadors of a denomination.
These are some of the questions that Andy and I have had over the past year or so in our prayers and discussions about the direction of our group here. With each group there is a time to nurture, water and prune. Perhaps we do need to sit down and discuss what changes we need to make to truly serve God in the manner that He desires. I do not know what that will mean or look like, but where we gather, God will meet us and direct us. Perhaps our next "big church" meeting should center on these questions where we can pray and talk together about this.
I was driving south on 159 and saw a church sign that said something to the effect of "There are many great churches in the Metro-East. Join one today" or attend one today, or something along those lines. And I thought, No, there's only ONE church in the Metro-East, and it's the same church as that in the greater St. Louis area, the same church as that in Los Angeles, or Boise, or Poughkeepsie, or Vienna, or Brisbane.
And then thinking about this, the term "halfway house" came to mind w/regard to The Journey of St. Clair County.
As much as we'd like for all Christians to start practicing pure organic, simple church, it's a process, and it's a process for me as well. Maybe the JofSCC can become not a Christian group per se, but an educational, networking resource.
Just a few thoughts here and there, so I don't forget to bring them up the next time we all meet.
Quite honestly, I never think about the name, "The Journey, etc." I just think of my group of Christian friends. In fact, I only use the title when I have to fill out forms for programs that ask what church affiliation we have (like Awana forms that the local Baptist church want filled out). I end up listing the Journey as the church name and Greg as the pastor, even though I view the church as where Jesus is, and each of us as friends of Jesus. I use the title so rarely that I usually have to look it up online to get the name right.
I do, however, think that establishing an individual organization tends to separate and divide instead of bringing together. I wish it were easier to explain what we all are trying to do, but there is is.
"Half-way house" is an interesting concept. I like where Kathryn is heading with that thought. I don't want to say that we should get rid of the organization because it can be used as a forum for thoughts and ideas. But we do not necessarily need an organization to do that.