Visible Community: Where Are We?

It's June. I have begun my 5th year here at CHEM officially. How time flies when you're having fun! This has been the longest stay for me at any church and it's been feeling more like home lately. I guess it's a good thing.

A lot of good things are coming into fruition; our plans and visions are falling into place, including the KM's plan to build the new sanctuary. Our move to 1st floor will inevitably follow. The merge between EM and college seems to be solidifying and the EM staff along with ED staff are geling together more. I guess these are good things....

But what of our theme this year? How are we doing? What are we doing to become the VISIBLE COMMUNITY we have set our course to be? I ask mainly because Chris, our newsletter editor asked me to write an article on it, but I realize that this is a needed evaluation for us. Originally, the idea of "visible community" came from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book "The Cost of Discipleship." In it, he dedicates a chapter on what it means to become disciples living in a visible community together. He reasons that because of incarnation, Christ becoming "visible," the Church must follow in his footsteps in becoming the visible community. Without this effort, becoming a genuine disciple of Christ is futile. So, I ask once again: how are we doing in becoming that visible community God calls us to be?

In answering that question, I could go into details about how I feel we are becoming a visible community, but pastor's perspective is always biased. While majority of congregation might feel that we are not doing well, pastor could feel like we are and vice versa. So, this question really needs to be asked to the congregation, instead of me rambling on and on about how we are becoming the visible community or not. One thing for sure though. Becoming a visible community is not a 1 year project. It will take a lot of groundwork building up the relationship between departments (college, young adults, family, high school, etc.) that's been absent for so many years. The key is building relationships; friendships. The key is discipleship; to raise Christ followers who care about people; who loves one another as Christ loved us (John 13).

So, I've been putting all my eggs in one basket; our discipleship groups scheduled to begin this Month. I believe that even though we're calling it "discipleship" our agenda is to build relationships more than anything else. At least, it will begin with that before we move on to really learning how to follow Christ. Actually, we're hoping that these things will happen symbiotically. We have 6 leaders in place along with people who are interested in joining this effort. It's not too late to get on board because officially the discipleship will begin in July. So, going back to the original question: How are we doing in becoming the visible community that God calls us to be? If you are asking me, I guess I'll let you know in couple of months.