So we continued to meet , and pray and read together. A friend invited us to look at Andy Stanley’s book- ‘Deep and Wide’. Eight books were handed out and shared round. We met and discussed the excitement we felt when reading of North Point church’s experiments in creating a church for the non-churched. We tried to work out which parts would only work in America and which parts would work in our community in the South East of England.
We drew out our ideas on big posters on the floor. We longed for a meeting without any jargon. We wanted there to be on pressure to stand up, kneel down, join in singing. Careful use of words when explaining the Bible, it is a collection of books, not just a book. Community is important, belonging before believing is possible. Grace and love should be far more evident than judgement and condemnation. nothing should offend the first time visitor, except the outrageous grace of Jesus.
The goal is for non-churched people to come along, love it and want to bring their friends the week after. We met and prayed and drew out ideas all together in one room. sometimes we broke off into smaller groups to dream about children’s work, food, music, themes for talks. Everyone had a voice and their opinions were valued. It was exciting, it was also scary.
Could we really do this? Where? How? The hunt for a venue began.
