Some of the churches on my schedule raise preconceived notions within me, whether it be regarding the music, style of worship, the people, the building, etc. Driving to Living Hope Church of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, I was utterly impression-less as to what I might experience. There are several C&MA churches in the area, and many of my peers at school have mentioned them once or twice, but I had no idea what to expect.
The two-room white building that stood at the far end of a gravel parking, though quaint, housed a small congregation more filled with living hope than many churches I've attended, big or small. Walking to the front door, I noticed that through the four large windows spaced down the front of the building, I was looking into the sanctuary, and could simultaneously see a majority of the congregation. Upon entry, I smiled, accepted the "Welcome to Living Hope" and the perfectly folded bulletin and made my way to the far end of the room to find a seat near the back. Before my coat was on the back of my chair, the pastor approached me, introducing himself and personally welcomed me to Living Hope. His wife soon followed and we chatted for several minutes as the 6-member worship team—which made up a sixth of the congregation—meandered toward the stage to begin the morning's service.
The juxtaposition of the old upright piano on the right hand side of the stage with the digital projector on the left spoke of simpler times in the not-too-distant past of the local church. I wondered how long Living Hope had been using a digital projector, because it has been within my lifetime that many churches I know have gone from navigating overhead projector slides to the novelties of the digital age. The aesthetics were mirrored by the song selection of the morning: An acoustic version of "Holy, Holy, Holy" followed the contemporary praise chorus "You are Holy," both entirely absent of lighting effects or graphic backgrounds on the projector, marked off the beautiful liminal space through which many churches have already traversed into the modern age. But this liminality, this time of transition, of change, of evolution, though often marked with awkwardness and growing pains, is essential to the continued growth of any entity, especially to a body of believers. It's within these spaces of change that God can really fill us and show exactly who we are, in Him, who He is, in us, and what He wants us to do in light of it.
Indeed, God is moving amidst the vulnerability of liminal space to send this little church, filled with living hope, in an entirely new and wild direction.
Apparently, the Sunday before, the pastor had done some vision casting, and though I wish I could have been there for such an exciting time in a church's life, I was equally as excited to hear how passionately and confidently he spoke of the direction in which God was calling him, and the church. He mentioned how seemingly crazy it is for them as, "a little church with no money, no people, no how," to be called to plant and raise up four churches in the area. This unimaginable goal of a congregation no larger than thirty-five people,—many of them teenagers and children—though seemingly unattainable, is precisely the kind of goal that a church—whose heart beats with living hope—can strive to accomplish, through "Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine" (Eph. 3:20), and to Him be glory in the church, in Living Hope, and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations worshiping him simultaneously as one body, for ever and ever!
That is the living hope to which we were called.
I find it refreshing to hear of a church that, by the standards of typical measurement, should focus on themselves and outreach and yet, instead, have received and are implementing a God-sized vision for planting churches! When we let God set the pace and we follow Him the results are amazing! What is exiting is that as they see victory they will only be able to give glory to God because without His power and intervention what they are trying to do is impossible! Exciting stuff!
ReplyDeleteWe left a church last year which was around 300 people. That church had seen it's annual budget drop over the last couple years. They kept cutting ministries and programs to meet the declining budget instead of making goals and relying on faith to provide the funds for growth in those areas. So, it's great to see such a small church like this Living Hope Church with so much faith and wonderful goals.
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