Friday 2 October 2009

Breakfast Church?


An array of cereal, smoothies, fruit juice, yogurt, fruit, croissants, pancakes, muffins and not a rasher of bacon or fried egg in sight.

Numerically (do numbers really matter) we were more than last week even though two from last week couldn't make it, so we're up to eight in total.

We enjoyed the food and conversation. Interestingly the Bible study I'm leading this session is focusing on Luke's gospel and the accounts of Jesus sharing a meal with a variety of people in their homes, often at their request. So, there we were sharing breakfast, enjoying conversation, making plans for the card making "fun" next week, I wondered what Jesus would have said to those gathered?

In the back of mind I have the question is this church, can this be church and at the moment my answer is - all depends on how you define church. Church should be rooted in mission, and this is very definitely mission. Fresh expressions are defined as listening first, then loving and serving, creating a place for the unchurched. So there's a lot of listening going on. Maybe I'm just impatient, maybe the listening will take longer and need to be ongoing? Yet we can't make church happen. Roxborough and Romanuk comment
"we do not plan its emerging future; we do not define it in a vision statement that can be realised through a controlled and managed strategic plan .... God eludes our systemising; God's ecclesia cannot be mastered or managed or made"


I'm also wondering does the fact that we meet weekly help or hinder? Will it just become another weekly programme? will the enthusiasm diminish?

Breakfast and card making in the morning .....

3 comments:

Virtual Methodist said...

croissants in the Braniel estate!? What sort of strange sub-culture are you working with?

MinisterMoo said...

I love that you're doing this, and look forward to hearing more of your insights!

Emergent Carrot said...

Very healthy choice of breakfast! Well done for thinking of physical as well as spiritual wellbeing. Glad its going well for you. Hear what you're saying about the danger of it becoming 'a programme' something to be fitted in to a busy life. The way to avoid that surely is to let it emerge so it centres around those who come. If they want it every week thats ok.