I'm Timothy. I grew up attending a mid-size (2-300s) middle class, primary caucasian, suburban, semi-rural church in Osceola, Indiana. This church is a part of an international network of churches and organizations known as the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches.
My wife, Hannah, grew up attending a similarly-sized rural church in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, which is also a part of a much larger network of churches and organizations known as the Evangelical Friends Church Eastern Region.
We both attend Malone University in Canton, Ohio, where we met. She has her Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Education and is working on finishing a second major in History. I am working on a Bachelors in Liberal Arts focusing on Ministry, Education, and Writing. We love God and we love the Church.
After praying through the implications of an undertaking such as this, and after seeking wisdom and guidance from others with much more experience and life behind them, we have decided to begin this endeavor together.
What are we doing?
The thought began a few months ago within my own heart, and was originally designed to be a 52-week survey of 52 different local churches (which, let's be honest, could be done in most modern cities without venturing to far from one's own doorstep). The beginning of this brain-child looked like a church-reviewing blog, relating relevant facts to people perhaps seeking a church body with whom to worship.
This concept had several noticeable weaknesses and overwhelming biases (i.e., How can one truly 'review' a church body in one visit?). Furthermore, the last thing I wanted to become was "the church critic." We (the local church and the universal Church) take enough flack from countless critics and by no means did I want to be a fellow contributor to such propaganda.
We have, therefore, stricken out to become champions of local churches, and the Church, at large. My lovely wife and I want to break through the trimmings and the glamour, the lights and sounds, the pews and the hymnals, the demographics, the ethnicities, and find what God is truly doing through his body, the Bride of Jesus Christ, the Church.
In essence, we are looking for Christ in his Body.
What can you (we) expect?
Good question. We'll figure that out together. Every week, we will do our best to relate as accurate a picture as possible of whatever church we attended that week. These will span as many 'genres' of local churches as we can in order to experience and learn the most we can. We will share our observations and opinions which you may gracefully take worth approximately two-thirds of a grain of salt.
Expect to provide feedback. My wife and I have our opinions, but we want to hear yours too! If you like what we write, let us know. If you disagree, wish to counter, complain, or build upon something we write, by all means, feel free to do so.
Furthermore, I want us all to have fun. Hannah and I are excited about this journey, and we want you to be as well.
We are, obviously, human beings in constant need of refinement by a Holy God, so you can expect errors and flaws, from the tiniest misplaced comma to the poorly worded sentence that comes across wrong. You can also expect our opinions, such as they are, and our perspectives that have been shaped by our own individual upbringings and experiences of the world in our short years of life thus far. Whether you view these perspectives as wrong, right, different, absurd, immature, etc., we will strive to be as biblically and academically sound as we can.
For any potential offenses, we apologize in advance, and we welcome confrontation on these issues. The last thing we want to do is damage a brother or sister in Christ, a local body of believers, or our own reputations. Please be open and honest with us, as we will strive to be as real and open with you as we can be.
Alas, the inevitable: The contents of this page do not in any way reflect the thoughts and opinions, the perspectives or positions of The Osceola Grace Brethren Church, FGBC, Gilead Friends Church, EFC-ER, Malone University, or any of the other entities alluded to herein.
Personal disclaimer: I am 23, my wife is 22. I am working on an undergraduate degree, partly studying ministry, but partly studying the very mechanics of writing such as we will produce these next several weeks. My wife has a B.S. in Education, and is pursuing a major in History as well. I reiterate these facts to emphasize the point that we are not experts. We have zero credentials. This is merely an exploratory endeavor, birthed by curiosity, developed by a sense of personal calling to experience a realm beyond our own combined 45 years of life.
We hope you enjoy this journey with us!
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