Over the past few years I have had repeated conversations about Church. The themes of these discussions are as follows;

What is it?
Not a building? (But they are useful- particularly in our climate!) Not an institution? (But we easily organise and concrete ourselves into one.) Is it a movement? (And if so- where is the movement?)

What does it look like?
Not a club that exists for the members interests? (But what energy is left for others because of the demands made to service the club?) Do we all have to look the same? (And if not, why do we?) Not a Lecture hall/concert hall? (Where we gather mainly to receive pieces of knowledge, or to worship from afar?)

What should it look like?
Family? Community? Revolutionary cell? Monastery? Soup Kitchen? Therapy centre? Light on a hill? Circus act?

What is it for?
To defend the faith, and nurture the faithful? Or to does it exist solely to bless and serve those who are not members? Is it to make disciples of Jesus and set them loose on the winds of the Spirit- or is it to control and make safe the flock so doctrine and practice remain pure and unsullied by error or heresy?

What should be it’s priorities?
Preaching and teaching of truth- and the moral yardstick for culture? Social justice and looking after the poor and needy?
The Kingdom of God, in all its glory and majesty- in the future tense, but also NOW?

Mixed in with this talk are a load of sub themes- the death of Christendom, and the winding down of the modern age to be replaced with something fluid and undefined called ‘post-modernity‘, and the desperate need to find both old and new ways to bring refreshment to our communities of faith, so that we might be a blessing to others.

Any of you who loosely wear the ’emergent’ label will be well familiar with these debates- in fact you may be heartily sick of them!

I have spent hours deconstructing Church as I have known it. Through circumstances- geography, theology, difficulty and (I hope) following after God, I now find myself outside institutional church. This position is a gift and a burden all at the same time.

The gift is freedom. Freedom FROM a lot of the things that I have come to reject within churches, and freedom to choose new ways, in small community, looking to the the Holy Spirit for guidance.

The burden is isolation. A need to find new disciplines because the structure given by a wider organisation is no longer there. What about the kids?

I am also aware that at times I have been too keen to reject and harshly criticise what I have found freedom from. There is such a danger of arrogance and pride. As if they were wrong, and I am right- which is clearly nonsense.

So-any conclusions? Perhaps none- but a few working hypotheses…

Church happens when people follow Jesus. It dies when we follow institutions.

Church is seen in the visible marks made by the imperfect agents of the Kingdom of God.

Church is fluid and moving, like water. Place it in a pond and it stagnates- no matter how much is spent on artificial aeration projects.

Church is not me, it is us. It is never mine, always ours. Always HIS.