Dueber

After a few last minute changes to our tentative schedule, Hannah and I decided to switch the Chapel at Akron with the United Methodist weekend, and change actual Methodist churches. Extenuating circumstances led us to the discovery of Dueber United Methodist Church. Our curiosity piqued when we were first searching for a new church to attend this past week, and we incidentally stumbled upon the Dueber United Methodist Church's website, which is mostly bilingual. More commonly shortened to Dueber Church, their 11:11a.m. worship service fit our schedule needs for this past weekend (intentional wording—the irony of the consumeristic American church-goer), and we were eager to find out what God was doing at this little church in downtown Canton.

For those unfamiliar with the city of Canton, it was once a thriving metropolis. Decades of a declining need for factories and the rise of the American suburbs has left Canton a charming, but somewhat decrepit little town, with certain parts that are in desperate need of an economic face-lift. Dueber Church is nestled in one of these dilapidated neighborhoods and towers above the boarded- up one- and two-story houses around it; a nostalgic reminder of better times. Nonetheless, Dueber Church thrives. Hosting two services, several weekday activities and study groups, as well as constant community involvement, the body of Christ at Dueber has not given up on their calling to extend the body of Christ into the local neighborhoods of downtown Canton.

The elegant structure in which the church gathers is not to be understated. Like a modern-age cathedral, the church was built when Christians valued worshiping God through every facet of the gathering, including the architecture of the building that housed them. With lofty decorated ceilings and a vibrant crimson santuary, Dueber Church is the juxtaposition of the traditional with the contemporary. The golden saints were leaving as we arriving with the rest of those preferring of contemporary worship, which is to be assumed when the traditional service precedes the Sunday School hour. The new arrivals that filed into the pews around Hannah and I were dressed primarily in street clothes and seemed to be less-well-versed in the ways of 'church,' bringing a fresh vibrancy and truly awesome dynamic to the service. These seemingly younger Christians obviously valued the community at Dueber for reasons far beyond their own preference or taste. They seemed eager for the Word and eager to join the brotherhood of believers in corporate worship.

I always find it refreshing when a church is trying to gracefully bridge the gap—that uncomfortable switch between the traditional and the contemporary. The liminal space between such phases in the life of a church is awkward and often results in natural growing pains. Any church that has crossed the gap can relate to these pains: people leaving, new people coming, complaining, griping, lobbying for this or that preference, etc. But the grace with which Dr. Chet Harris and his staff seem to be handling this transition is beautiful. Though we weren't able to attend the early service, the amount of golden saints we saw exiting was demonstrative of the growing that is still happening in all aspects of the church.

My wife and I found it interesting that the senior pastor had his doctorate. Though it's not terribly uncommon, it's still something to be revered, and his twenty-some years of pastoring Dueber and pursuing further education is clearly seen through his "Bible-grounded, thought-provoking sermons."* This past Sunday, he tackled a topic that has the potential to be one of the most difficult and uncomfortable things on which to preach: Adultery, as a natural progression in his series through the Ten Commandments. Harris stood hard ground, refusing to waffle or compromise in any way when it came to dealing with a biblical perspective on adultery. The ability to present sound biblical, culturally relevant truth in a way that is engaging and thought-provoking is not something to be taken lightly, and Harris treaded difficult waters with acute precision and deliberation.

In this day and age of throwing away things that "don't work," or in some way fail to meet our expectations (cars, iPods, marriages, jobs, etc.), Harris serves as a model of true faithfulness, being true to the congregation at Dueber for over 25 years, through what have apparently been some less-than-stellar days (as all churches inevitably experience). I am excited that Dueber Church wound up on our schedule, albeit a last-minute, God-planned addition. Though the city of Canton is not the vivacious entity it used to be, churches like Dueber remain a constant source of life and spiritual light amid otherwise ever-darkening streets.

*http://www.dueber.org/content.cfm?id=304

Grace

Theology, denominations, heritage, preferences aside, there is one aspect of every Christian's life that is utterly non-negotiable. Without the concept of grace, this journey and everything any of us believes or cares about is entirely superfluous. 

Grace is essential, and a proper understanding of grace is equally essential to the on-going sanctification, or "making holy before God," for every believer. Grace begins with the onset: Christ's free gift of grace, a chance to start over, clean, brand new before God. But grace continues in the daily workings of our everyday. God gives us the grace to change and to stay changed. No matter what we have done, from whence we've come, God extends grace.

But God also demands change.

He forgives our sins. Those that occurred once, and those that have become a lifestyle of wickedness and debauchery. But the Holy, Redeeming Savior of the universe requires a grace-filled, radical, abandoned lifestyle alteration upon the acceptance of such grace. We aren't allowed to keep on sinning. We are allowed, and in fact commanded to judge and be judged according to the Word of God when we claim to have accepted grace and are refusing to live in the life-changing grace God extends.

A changed heart and life, however, does not automatically wipe away the natural, physical consequences of a life previously lived in sin. God doesn't promise to wipe away our rap sheets upon salvation. Getting saved in prison doesn't get you out of prison. Allowing God to change you doesn't automatically fix a relationship you ruined. Or get you out of debt. Or get your name off of any lists. He doesn't promise to erase human-instilled labels. 

But when that change occurs, it is total and complete, and God does promise that a life lived out for him from that point on will be more powerful than we could possibly fathom, as seen in Paul's testimony. One young man I know has recently turned a complete 180-degree, from a life of pot, drinking and girls to a life sold out to Christ. It's radical, it's real and it's entirely and unmistakably by the grace of God. 

As we are tempted to judge churches or individuals based on what we hear, what people say, or what one man writes about in his weekly blog, we must never forget that no matter what preferences, perspectives or opinions drive us apart, we are united under grace. If it was, perhaps, diluted and tossed in at the end with a "repeat-after-me" prayer, it's still grace. If over-zealously presented in a threatening sermon on hell and eternal torment, it's still grace. It's the once-for-all promise of God, as well as the "be holy as I am holy" empowerment of God. 

From God to us, from us to each other. This simple post is reflective of my week, the things I'm personally going through, and a reminder to myself and all of you to never stop living in the grace of God, and extending that grace to those around, no matter how disastrous their offense.

Welcome to Faith Family

As this journey to explore the local church continues, I constantly find myself having to entirely reevaluate what I post and why I post it. I want this to be something exciting, yet, perhaps, challenging as well, but I can't let myself fall to the temptation to write what I know will gain me readers over what I believe is truth or what I feel called to really convey. Last week was the first time I posted against a local church in any way. While along the way there have been preference issues on my part, I hadn't had to point out sound biblical err until last week. And while, without a doubt, all these churches are doing something right and are, in fact, a beautiful, unique part of the body and bride of Christ, there will inevitably arise issues that I cannot in good conscience ignore. I promised to bring as an accurate picture as possible—based on one short experience—of these churches into this celebration of the body of Christ, a body that consists of human beings, rendering it entirely imperfect, albeit beautiful. That being said, welcome to week five of 15 Churches in 15 Weeks.

Making our way through the snowy landscape in out little Chevy Cavalier, Hannah and I, along with one of my good friends, talked about what to expect. Anyone who lives in the Greater Akron-Canton Area has some sort of preconceived notion about Faith Family Church. For those of you who don't, perhaps you have visited the area sometime in May for Malone University's graduation ceremony at the airport-esque church located just off I-77 north of Canton. In short, Faith Family embodies everything that is mega-church.

I cannot do justice to how welcomed we felt! Clear out at the end of their driveway—a solid quarter mile walk from the building itself—we were smiled in by the first of the welcome brigade; from being coaxed into the perfect VIP—first time visitor—parking spot and ushered into the VIP room where we got briefed about the goings-on and given a free mug,to the smiles that graced our entry all the way to our seat, we knew that we were a welcome, valued part of Faith Family's mission.

Shortly after being seated, the welcome package came on-screen, explaining what to expect from the service and making a few incognito announcements. A time of worship followed. Any time I'm worshiping in a setting like this, my heart is immediately redirected to and taken up in the text of Hebrews 12:22-23, where the writer describes the Holy Gathering to which we have been invited. Thousands upon thousands of voices, all praising God in unison. Professionally orchestrated lighting, stellar video cuts of the band, soaring vocals, a choir; all designed to create a worship experience unlike any other.

Pastor Mike Cameneti takes the stage, and within minutes the congregation hears about how effective Faith Family is being in the community. From the booming prison ministry to their founding of Turnaround Community Center, a not-for-profit organization downtown Canton that provides meals, clothing, and advocacy services to those living in poverty here in the city (more here). Faith Family also raised $42,000 dollars last November to buy body armor for the Stark County Sheriff Dept. It goes without dispute that Faith Family is concerned about the Kingdom and making a difference here in the Canton community.

Several of the unfortunate stereotypes surrounding mega-churches were validated in the sermon, however, as Cameneti talked the congregation through how to prioritze relationships properly. Using sporadic biblical support, he championed our relationship with God as priority number one, which makes sense, but in doing so, I got the impression that to him, this meant involvement at a local church—specifically, his—and incidentally juxtaposed this with an obvious disdain for the arising model of missional communities—or house-churches. There wasn't an incredible amount of depth to the sermon itself, but he spoke truth, nonetheless. Cameneti taught on paddling children, loving a spouse, honoring your parents and loving your children, to name a few. Family is not just a part of the name; it's an unmistakable part of the DNA of this church.

Faith Family appears to be an extremely tight-knit, full-sized, Kingdom-oriented body of believers, and while my impression of the teaching was that it didn't go as deep as it could have, they offer dozens of opportunities to connect and go deeper in small groups and are clearly making a lasting impact on this community. While the mega-church may not be preferable to some, they are, without doubt an invaluable part of the body of Christ. If next spring, 18 tornadoes rip through Stark County and leave hundreds displaced and disoriented, Faith Family will be leading the charge to aid those in trouble and to provide a home-base of relief efforts. We, the local church, are, together, a gargantuan, imperfect, minuscule, preferable, thriving, dissipating, living and breathing organism; the body of Christ.

On Giving

Our attitude toward giving must not be unlike our attitude toward our faith, toward following Jesus Christ, in general. There is so much to say on this issue, but I am not an expert, and, honestly, since I don't have time to do much research to figure out others much smarter than I have to say, I plan on this being a short, yet hopefully challenging blurb bout giving and stewardship based strictly on what God has done in my life recently.

I recently finished Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman, which, as a good friend of mine pointed out, is a book written every year or more, simply by a different author with a slightly different angle. Essentialy, what Idleman and Platt and Claiborne and so many others are reiterating in their books, sermons, and lives is that faith is not a list of do's and don't's; it's a radical self-denial resulting in abandon-free followship of Jesus Christ. When this happens, Timothy Serafino ceases to be Timothy Serafino, but slowly becomes more like Jesus Christ; He does what Jesus does, how Jesus does it, when Jesus does it; He says what Jesus says when and how Jesus does; He walks, talks, interacts, loves, judges, forgives, challenges, calls-out, extends grace, moves, lives and dies like Jesus. Idleman exegetes Luke 9:23 to demonstrate this point, that as we decide to follow Christ, we move, and lie down our own lives, our own rights, our own preferences and priorities, in pursuit of Jesus Christ.

Laying down our lives... we have nothing. No money. No gifts. No cars. No houses or clothes or food. No talents. No rights. Nothing. Everything belongs entirely to God, bar nothing. When the Spirit has this kind of life-transforming effect on a life sacrificed to God daily, selflessness is the natural bi-product. Not unlike our discussion on community, our discussion on giving needs turned on its head. It's not about giving or stewardship. It's entirely about letting the Spirit take over our lives and change our mindsets toward "our" possessions. It's not enough to give ten percent. It's not enough to give ninety percent if your mindset is religious obligation, legalistic checklist-fulfilling (not that you'd really admit it if that were the case, naturally), or that God now owes you His promised blessing, directly deposited into account XXXXXXX3223. 

Giving is the natural result of realizing that we owe God everything, and He owes us nothing at all. Giving with the expectation of financial or material return leads to bitterness, resentment and disappointment. Giving because the Spirit has overcome your life, and you can't help but return to God what is God's, brings joy and security, even when moths destroy and thieves steal, when cancer rots our bodies, when eyes stop working like they should or when jobs and sources of financial income are gone. When we abandon all to follow Christ, He is always faithful to meet our needs.

Living In Full Expectation

Just around the corner from my apartment, a congregation of 200-250 gather to worship every Sunday morning at 10:30a.m., and Hannah and I had the wonderful experience of worshiping with them two days ago.

It was intense.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't already have some impression of the demographics of L.I.F.E. Ministries International Church going in. A good friend of mine, Rev. L. Randall Heckert, is close with the pastor of L.I.F.E., and he and I had talked about the church months ago. What I learned in that conversation was the very reason it made the list of churches we plan to visit in the first place; I knew we could expect, yet again, a distinct style of doing church. L.I.F.E. is an entirely African-American congregation.

Hallelujahs echoed through the sanctuary as Hannah and I sat at the end of a pew near the back waiting for the service to begin. Worshipful music played over the buzz of greeting and milling, and two or three women stood down front, clearly moved by the music, shouting, "Hallelujah" repetitively until the service began.

Six or seven vocalists, including Pastor George Dunwoody himself singing and playing the keys, led us in several lengthy, Spirit-powered and soul-felt worship songs. Members of the congregation made joyful noises, shouting and crying out to God and banging on their own tambourines and other instruments. As clearly out of place as I couldn't help but humanly feel, the unity in the sanctuary, within the presence of a Living God, was palpable. We were brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless the tones of our skin.

February is Stewardship Month, and though the majority of the preached message wasn't necessarily grounded in the Word, the members of L.I.F.E. were reminded that "Giving is the engine that pulls the train-load of blessing."  Unfortunately, the majority of his message sounded like God is "the Great Mutual Fund in the Sky," and we all need to give to the church so that we get something (hopefully, more) in return. Pastor Dunwoody brought up some good points on stewardship and our mindset toward our possessions, but in the end a lot of what I heard (me, one person, a human) was that God won't bless you, or heal you, or prosper you, or get you out of debt until you give to his Kingdom (which, if that was where it ended, might not be all bad), and that when you do, He will. If that is the mindset we have toward our relationship with God, especially toward giving, I'm afraid we are in for some massive disappointments. I promised to be real with my readers as we journeyed together through various styles of church, and this is one instance where I feel compelled to observe that though the Body of Christ at L.I.F.E. is passionate and unapologetic in their worship of a Living God, the way they portrayed His promises and blessings was less than accurate.

I will probably talk more about stewardship and giving later this week.

God wants to bless us and help us in our times of trouble, all he asks us to do "push the reset button," which was a phrase repeated by a woman at the beginning of the service on Sunday, which I gathered meant something to the effect of "changing one's entire mindset, remembering our salvation, and claiming/calling on God's power." There is so much to be said of the power of this medium-sized congregation like L.I.F.E. living in full expectation that a Great, Holy, Powerful, Living, Loving God is on the move* and doing great things in his Kingdom. For more about L.I.F.E. Ministries, visit their website here.

*These five words should be credited to Bono and his speech/book "God is On the Move," just because Bono is Bono.

Here we go again...

*
Anyone who has graced the campus of a small Christian institution (whether here in the Midwest or out on the West Coast, and everywhere in between) has heard the word, probably in gross excess.

Painted on Student Development office walls, discussed in our humanities courses, or ministry courses, pasted up in the hallways of residence halls in colorful fonts propagating this abstract, undefined concept.

The buzz word, community, and the man behind the curtain, Bonhoeffer, are so entirely misused, overused, misunderstood at large in contemporary, relevant Christian circles.

Anyone who has breached the topics of campus-life, Christian community, or authenticity with me in the past twelve months has probably gotten a much larger earful than they signed up for upon entering the conversation. It's something I'm passionate about, and I want to continue to discuss and challenge this concept and the status-quo understanding thereof in modern Christian society. I wrote an angry essay about it once, but that was in a former life when I was quite bitter about the "community" in which I was living. Since then, my understanding of this concept has matured slightly, though, like many of us, is most likely still in need of development and deepening.

Ekklesia, the church we attended on Sunday morning, explains their value of community on their website. They call it "Authentic, Accepting Community," and begin by claiming that "Ekklesia exists as a community." The house where I lived a year ago championed their community and how much like the Acts 2 church we were. Student development meetings on campus strive to create and develop community.

These perspectives are all quite valid, but seemingly incomplete at their core. Community, as idolized by Christians in America today, is really nothing more than the bi-product of Christian living. It's a fruit; it's not the tree. Community can't beget more community. Community is the transcendental, incalculable, immeasurable, ideal and inevitable result of, well, the active application and implementation of the principles taught by Pastor James at Ekklesia out of Matthew 5.

"You have heard it said [insert external behavior here], but I tell you [love, purity, perseverance, integrity, selflessness, and grace]" are the internal, Spirit-filled attitudes and lifestyles that Christ requires. Go back and look through Matthew 5:21-48 and you'll find those themes in Christ's specific examples.

When we, all of us, simultaneously, together, at the same time, are moved and matured by the Holy Spirit to the place where those mindsets naturally pervade our entire existences, then our gathering will become a place of community. Community is the result of Spirit-filled living. Much in the same way that the fruit of the Spirit are... the fruit... of Spirit-filled living. The fruit isn't the focus. Community isn't and can't be the goal. The Spirit is the goal.

Bonhoeffer explains that "He that loves community destroys community. He that loves the brethren builds community." Building community is the after-effect of Christian-living. Let us not misunderstand the champion of Christian community. Life Together is about Christian-living, which begets Christian community.

I have more to say, but this has gone on long enough. I want to know your thoughts on this issue. I'm one man and in no way the source of all wisdom. Let's talk.

*gotta cite the photo http://www.ubfriends.org/2012/05/02/community-life-together-dietrich-bonhoeffer/

Coffee, couches, and the Word.

"Coffee, couches, and the Word."

In three words, my good friend Andrew summed up the experience we all had on Sunday morning at a small, casual church here in Canton. He joined Hannah and I on our journey this weekend, a journey which led us to this relevant, hip, yet personal gathering of believers. Assembling in the renovated end of a seemingly dilapidated strip mall, the congregation of Ekklesia can be summed up in one word: Real.

They like coffee, so they have it brewing from the time they get there to practice until the time the service is over and beyond. It doesn't get put away after the morning "meet-n-greet" time, because he morning is filled with meeting, greeting, and enjoying one another's company in the presence of the Living God. 

Prior to Sunday, I had only ever attended one other church (in downtown Los Angeles) where sitting on a couch for the duration of a worship service was not merely acceptable, it was encouraged. Comfy couches and several arm chairs lined the walls of the small, one-room church facility, where its 25-30 member congregation was able to relax, be open and real with one another and listen to teaching from The Word."

Pastor James spent the morning's teaching hour walking through part of Matthew 5, Christ's Sermon on the Mount. Throughout verses 21 to 48, Christ challenges old ways of thinking and presents the truth from the principle of the Law; "You have heard it said... But I tell you..." Christ wasn't interested in external behavior; He wants our hearts to be full of love, purity, integrity, submission and grace. 

I can't help but draw the parallel between the passage chosen for this past Sunday and my own first impressions of Ekklesia. Often times, and I say this hesitantly, knowing that it's not a blanket, across-the-board statement, our churches become a breeding ground for external behavioral modification. We want to be sure our clothes are acceptable, our music is just right, our facilities are contemporary, etc. But do we miss the heart of what Church, of what ekklesia was intended to look like? Ekklesia is an actively challenging people, both in word and deed, to return to the heart of the issue, to know God deeply, to be changed from the inside out. While Ekklesia is marketed for "those who've given up on church," and could be misunderstood at a first glance, it's real. It's genuine. It's authentic. 

Anyone up for a relaxing, welcoming environment of coffee, couches, and the Word would find Ekklesia refreshing and uplifting. For more information on Ekklesia, see their website here.

Worship in Simplicity, Beauty

Tonal chants of "Our Father" floated like strings of incense throughout the high rafters of All Saints Anglican Church tonight, as close to 100 people gathered in a borrowed sanctuary where the leaders of a small local church plant led us in a Candlemas service.

Candlemas is a term used in the Anglican tradition for the "Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple," or the Feast of the Purification of the Saint Mary the Virgin."* Having begun with a candle-lighting across the entire sanctuary, the service progressed into a liturgy dating back to the 16th century, accompanied by music from the time written by Thomas Tallis for the royal court and performed tonight by the Malone University Chamber Choir, under the direction of Dr. David Donelson.

After the decalogue (a chant of the Ten Commandments, each succeeded by the phrase, "Lord have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this law"), we heard from the Word of God. A priest read from the Gospel of Luke about the encounter Mary and Joseph had at the temple when a man named Simeon saw them and immediately knew that this beautiful baby boy was the Messiah, Immanuel, God Incarnate with us. The homily, delivered by Father Brian M. Chase, called us all to reflect upon the beauty around us; each element of such beauty in creation, art, music, and otherwise is reflective of God's presence in our lives. Beauty is not the end in itself, but it points to, as does the beauty of the liturgy itself, the Creator of all beauty, Beauty Himself Incarnate, God Almighty.

Albeit an impromptu contribution to this fifteen week journey, tonight's Candlemas service gave Hannah and I an intriguing experience in simple worship of Jesus Christ. We don't often get to enjoy the simplicity of worship in this manner and came away refreshed by the beauty of true sanctity. The pleasant stimulation of the senses by candlelight and incense, along with the brilliantly presented worship experience by the Chamber Choir, complemented Father Brian's homily gracefully.

Take time this weekend to worship God through acknowledging him as the Creator, the Source of the beauty all around us.

*This definition is taken directly from the program I received upon entering the service tonight.