The Light and the Sea

Kim and I feel so blessed for the Core Group that we have developed thus far on this church planting journey. While the group is smaller than what I had hoped for (we are still looking for others to join us on this journey), I am blown away by their faith, their commitment to the church plant, and their talents that they bring to the group.

One of our core group members is our worship leader for Veritas and is an amazing songwriter. I have always wanted to find someone who could lead worship for us, and who wrote their own songs that we could sing in worship..and Matt is such a person. He has been such a blessing to our community (along with his wife as well).

Yesterday I was listening to some of his songs on his Virb page (www.virb.com/augusttooctober) and one of the songs called The Light and the Sea spoke to me in a deeply profound way. Here are the lyrics that stood out to me.

"When daylight fades and these fears rush in
I need your grace. Your whispering..

Don't forget in the darkness what
you found in the light.

Did I hear you speak to me or
was it only a dream?"

All too often in the middle of this journey..in the "darkness" of trying to raise
funds, gathering a core group, and praying that the church plant will "grow" I sometimes forget the times that God spoke to us, in the light, so clearly and so loudly that we knew exactly what God was calling us to. I need to spend more time "in the light" letting Christ speak to me, giving me faith, and meeting me where I am.

In the midst of this journey...I am so glad that I am not alone...God is there but so is the 9-10 people who have covenanted with us to plant Veritas in September of '09. I am so thankful for each one of them. And if you have a chance, check out Matt's songs on his virb page....they are all awesome.

Alan Hirsch

The above picture was taken on Thursday when I got to attend a seminar given by Alan Hirsch (co-wrote ReJesus and The Shaping of Things to Come with Michael Frost and wrote The Forgotten Ways) at Valley Forge Christian College. It was an awesome day which again convinced me about God's call upon our lives, and the kind of church Veritas will become.

Here are some thoughts that he shared that stuck out to me:

1. The problems in the church will not be solved by the same thinking that got the church into the problems in the first place. (I think that is a quote from Albert Einstein with church added in there)

2. Constantine is still exercising our imagination when it comes to the church.

3. Church= lack of imagination. We have lost the sense of imagination.

4. All truth equals subjective change. (Soren Kierkegaard)You are your truth. You must live out your truth.

5. Embodiment is important in the transmission of the gospel. We are the best chance of people seeing Jesus.

6. Discipleship must tackle consumerism.

7. We don’t think our way into a new action, we act our way into new thinking.

8. Action is crucial as part of discipleship.

9. Mission is not something that the church has to dream up. It comes straight from the heart of God. God is a missionary God. God is deeply redemptive. (Missio Dei- the missionary God or the mission of God.)

10. If you are a Christian you are a missionary.

11. Enter into the community. Be a part of the community. Listen to the community. Then we ask two questions: What is Gospel for these people? What is church for these people? Church follows mission.

12. If you can’t imagine it, you can’t do it.

13. What we need are missionally responsive, culturally adaptive, organizationally agile, multiplication movements.

14. Don’t plant churches…plant the gospel.

These thoughts have been running around my head since Thursday. Take time to chew on them. Wrestle with them. I know I am and we at Veritas will be as well.

Missional Communities

Last night I was on Shapevine, which is a missional resource website with articles, videos, and a ton of other resources for the missional church. I started watching a video about starting missional communities (mostly on campuses, etc..) The speaker started off talking about why he calls them missional communities and not house churches. The funny thing about this is that it is exactly the reason we at Veritas have changed our term House Church to Missional Communities. In the previous incarnation of Veritas, we had 2 House Churches a month, but when we plant Veritas we will have Missional Communities. The Missional Communities will do a lot of the same things a House Church would do...like eating together, worshipping together, studying Scripture together, and building community. But the piece that is sometimes missing from House Churches is the Missional Component.

This video is a good resource for those of us who are interested in building missional communities. Take some time and view it...I think you'll be glad you did.


Spark 2008 - "Missional Communities" from Aaron Snow on Vimeo.

Labyrinth at Millersville University

The two pictures above were taken at Millersville University yesterday. The University is hosting a Wellness week this week and yesterday was Spiritual Wellness day. The campus ministries had tables set up and I was asked by one of the Campus ministers to come and set up the Labyrinth.

It was a good opportunity to talk with college students, get on the campus, and get out of the office, so I agreed. In the back of my head I knew that not too many students would take advantage of the Labyrinth but even if a few did and we challenged, encouraged, and blessed by it, than that was enough. I believe we had 6-7 people go through it.

The one that stands out in my head the most was a girl that only walked around briefly looking at the narration that was at each station (normally we just use the CD's..but that takes 1 hour..so we copied the narration on paper and put it at each station). This girl that came back to talk with me, letting me know that she appreciated the narration, that people of all walks of life and beliefs could get something out of it, and that she wasn't a religious person but appreciated what we were doing. I gave her some information about the Labyrinth, told her she could do it on-line, gave her the web address, and then she also took a brochure about Veritas.

Overall it was a good experience being on Millersville's campus. I got to talk with some students, talked with some Campus Ministry leaders (University Christian Fellowship, United Campus Ministries, and Reformed University Fellowship), and spent the day out of the office among "normal people". So it was a good day...and one I hope I can do again sometime in the future.

Michael Frost

A year ago during a Veritas House Church we were watching a video by an author named Michael Frost and he was talking about where our word “church” came from. He said back in biblical times older men (40 and older) would retire from their work, give their business to their sons, and then go and spend their days at the city gate talking, discussing, and having people from the city come and ask them questions about life and other important issues. Michael went on to say that if you were to somehow magically go back to that time, and remove the elders from the city gate, the city would go into a profound sense of mourning and loss. The elders gathered at the city gate brought value to their community. That gathering of elders at the city gate was called ecclesia, which is where we derive our word church from.

So that got me thinking. If our ecclesia was somehow removed from our community, would anyone grieve the loss? Would anyone who is not connected to our church miss the ecclesia? What kind of value has this ecclesia brought to our community and if we disappeared from this place would people mourn the loss for themselves and the community? What can we do as an ecclesia to bring value to our community?

I know realized just how much this idea of Ecclesia and bringing value to the community has driven what Veritas is to be about. When I talk with people regarding Veritas I talk about this idea. I've attached a link to the video on YouTube that we were watching on that night. It's an awesome video and one that has pushed us as Veritas on to plant a church that will seek to bring value to the community that we will plant ourselves in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77ndCFSv47g

Anabaptist and Worship

I just got a link to an awesome video regarding Music, Worship and Anabaptist (mennonite in the video). Shane Hipps, author of The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture is sharing a lesson that he gave at his church (Trinity Mennonite in AZ). I think the video speaks not only to the culture of the Mennonites but also to the Church of the Brethren as well.

Take time to view it...you'll be glad you did.

I've posted it above.....

Vacation

My whole extended family spent a long weekend together in Deep Creek Lake, MD. We spent time hanging out, eating, skiing/snowboarding, playing on a Wii, and just being together. We got home yesterday in time for house church. But something stuck out to me last night while we were talking about Jesus calling the disciples to be fishers of men.

Kim spent a lot of time this season helping teach Kaiden to ski. He did amazing this weekend. But we began to see that we are very much in the same position that Kaiden was in this season. Our divine parent knows whats best for us, knows when we need a little push, knows when we need to hold onto "his poles", and knows what is over our heads.

In this church planting adventure I realize that God has more faith in me than at times I have in myself. He won't let me go down a "double-black diamond" until I am ready. I need to trust my divine parent that he will be there for me when I get out of control. When I fall down, he will help pick me back up, dust the snow from me, and help me to continue down the "mountain". He will teach me one step at a time how to "ski" (live, plant a church, etc...) I just need to trust him.

There are a lot of parallels between learning to ski and planting a church....

Veritas Prayer List

As I get set to head to Deep Creek Lake tomorrow on a little vacation with my family, I thought I would share with you the latest prayer requests for our Veritas Church plant.

I want to start off this e-mail thanking each and every one of you for the prayers and support and most of all your friendship to Kim and I over these last few months as we continue to prepare, pray, and work on the launching of Veritas as it's own missional community of faith in September of 2009. Here are some prayer updates, some related to Veritas and some personal.

1. Cheryl, Harrison, Sarah, and Gracie Hipple- Cheryl is Kim's sister (my sister-in-law). Sunday afternoon we found out that Cheryl who was expecting, was going to have twins. But they found that out because she had a miscarriage. Please pray for Cheryl and her husband Harrison, and their daughters Sarah and Gracie. Pray that God would comfort them in this difficult time. Pray that God's Spirit would be evident through prayers, relationships, and a sense of the Spirit's presence.

2. Steering Team- At this point we have 4 people who have agreed to be a part of our Steering Team. The role of the Steering Team (as I understand it) is to act as a liason between the district and the church plant. Thank God for the 4 who are willing to help us wrestle with some tough items (finances and how they will work, W-2, Employment issues, Legal issues, etc...). We are looking for probably 1 more person. Pray that as I seek that one person that God would go before me and we would be able to find that one person who would be right for the team. Pray for this team as we begin the work of preparing for the launch in September.

3. Mission Support Team- The Mission Support Team had it's first meeting monday afternoon. I am so thankful for those who were there. They are amazing and I am so glad for their support and their wisdom. We are looking for 2 others (One from Veritas and one from Hempfield). So pray that we would be able to find those 2 people and that the work of the MST would be beneficial. Pray for the meetings that the MST will help to set up with potential "investors". Pray that the right contacts will be made.

4. Finances- God continues to be faithful and continues to provide resources that we didn't plan on from the beginning. We have been given a generous gift from the East Fairview congregation. Thank God for East Fairview and for the head of their Evangelism and Social Ministry Team- Gail Carson. Pray that as we continue (with the help of the MST) the hard work of finding funding streams that God would provide individuals, businesses, churches and other avenues who are willing to contribute to the work of building this mission to be a missional community of authentic worshippers. If you know of a church or an individual who might be interested in partnering with us, please let us know. If you are interested in partnering with us financially, please let us know that as well.

5. Core Group- We continue to look for people who would be interested in joining the core group of Veritas- to help us plant this church. We have had some people show interest through the wonders of the internet website meetup.com (which Ray Creveling put together for us). We had a meeting on Saturday with an individual (who then showed up Sunday night for Veritas game night). We are waiting to hear back from him. Also Gail Carson is hoping to introduce us to two couples who might be perfect for our core group and we are hoping to meet with them on March 27. Thank God for those who have already said that they will be a part of the church plant (7 total people). Pray for others to join. (We are hoping for 15-20). Pray for connections to be made with others. Pray for the two couples who Gail is hoping to introduce us to. By the way- if you know of someone who might be interested in joining our Core Group or if you might have interest, please let us know. Pray for our Core Group as we begin to meet together weekly in April. Pray for solid relationships, a missional heart for the group, and wisdom as we move forward.

6. Sunday Gathering space- We had a great meeting with English Presbyterian Church two weeks ago about the possibility of using their space for our Sunday gatherings. But we continue to search for other possibilities (so as not to put all eggs in one basket). Pray for wisdom and discernment regarding finding a place to hold Sunday gatherings. (If you know of a place in the Marietta, Mount Joy, Columbia area- especially a church building that might be a possibility for us...don't hesitate in letting me know. Ideally we would love a space that has an ancient look and feel to it...you know Stained Glass, High Vaulted ceilings, etc. Though we will entertain any ideas.)

7. Missional Opportunities- Pray that we would continually look for missional opportunities. Pray that we would begin to work on a series of Random Acts of Kindness events starting in April and running through September and then into the launch of the church plant. Pray for the opportunities to spread the word about Veritas possibly at the Purple Door Festival and the Bridge Bust.


Thanks so much for your prayers and your support and your love.

A Missional Community of Authentic Worshippers Part 3

For the past two days I have shared two out of the three core values/visions/dreams of Veritas and why we are planting a church in September of 2009. We have focused on the core values of Community and Missional and now we are going to take a look at the last core value, that of Authentic Worship.

Our Third Core Value is An Authentic Worship Expression: A community where people create relevant worship experiences. We see Jesus at the multi-sensory Last Supper—the smell of bread, wine, and disciple’s feet, the taste of the meal, the touch of the disciple’s feet, hearing the words of Jesus gathered around the table. We see the “sinful woman” anointing Jesus’ feet with her tears and perfume, responding in devotion and worship. So we picture creating regular opportunities of relevant worship experiences, not as consumers but participating in and creating the worship that is taking place. We envision people connecting worship on Sunday with their worship on Monday through Saturday. For this to happen, we will create multi-sensory worship experiences at a rented facility (Marietta?) that use creative arts (painting, drawing, poetry, sculpting), and media of all kinds (popular music, movies, cultural references, and videos). Worship/Prayer Stations, Creative Art Stations, Offering Stations, and Sacred Space will allow for people to be actively and creatively involved in the worship experience. A worship planning team (artists, musicians, leaders, etc..) will make the worship time as creative and relevant as possible. Every 6-8 weeks, we will gather around a table and partake in food, community and communion and several times each year, a “Love Feast.”

These three things are what drive us, what pushes us forward, and what we are striving to be as a community of Christ Followers. If you have been reading these posts and have been thinking, "Now this is the kind of church I would want to be a part of"- then get in contact with me. I would love to sit down with you and talk with you about Veritas and being a part of the Core Group.

A Missional Community of Authentic Worshippers Part 2

Veritas aims to be a Missional Community of Authentic Worshippers. That is our dream, vision, and the core of what drives us to plant a church in September of '09. Yesterday I focused on the core value of Community. Today I will focus on the core value of Missional.

Our Second Core Value is A Missional Kingdom Life: A community where people are blessing others in practical ways. We see Jesus serving and blessing people in real and practical ways, healing people of all kinds of illness. “The Word became flesh and moved into our neighborhood.” Jesus took on human flesh, spent time in homes, marketplaces, and in villages and towns. So we picture people spending lots of time in the neighborhoods and places where people are, hanging out at coffeehouses in order to get to know people. We picture the team having meet-up groups (Board Games, BMX, etc.) to be with those who Jesus misses the most. We envision random acts of kindness, service and social justice, some that will be shared projects with local organizations (some Christian-based, and some not). For this to happen, service, social justice and blessing will be evident throughout. Our Missional Communities (House Churches) will each adopt a regular missional “project” involvement. Every 6-8 weeks our worship gathering will include participation in a “service event.” Random acts of kindness can include giving out water at Elizabethtown College and cleaning up roads and parks. Blessing others may include tutoring, after-school program, financial “seminars”, creation care, and disaster relief trips through the district.

Either later today or tomorrow I will share our last core value of authentic worship.

A Missional Community of Authentic Worshippers Part 1

Over the next several days I want to use this space to put down the driving vision and core values of Veritas- the church plant. The title above is our Vision: to be a missional community of authentic worshippers. Today I will focus on 1 core value that is describe in the word community.

Our First Core Value is A Safe Spiritual Search: A Community where people experience genuine love and care. We see Jesus with the woman at the well, showing her love, grace and acceptance. Despite what society said about this woman, he cared for her in a very real and profound way, which changed her life for all of eternity. So we picture Christ-followers loving each other and the world around them. We picture safe places to seek truth where questions, doubts and struggles are okay and something to be shared, not hidden. We picture Christ-followers and those who are yet to be Christ-followers in close relationship with each other. We picture a community full of love, grace, compassion, and mercy, following in Jesus’ footsteps. For this to happen, we see people gathered in homes in the Marietta, Elizabethtown and Columbia area on a weekly basis. We see gathering around tables during these gatherings to eat together, pray together, share together, and be in relationship with each other. We see open and honest dialogue centered around the Scriptures. We see people gathering together not just once a week but throughout the entire week. We see people exercising together, going out to movies and dinner together, hanging out with each other, and spending time together.

If you are interested in learning more about Veritas, please don't hesitate in letting me know. We are continuing to look for core group people..if you are interested or know someone who might be....please don't hesitate in letting me know.

Tomorrow I will focus on another word in our vision statement, the word missional.

Risk

I know I have written about risk in the past but I found a quote that I resonate with. I am writing a sermon based on the Parable of the Talents (from the Message version) and the sermon title is "Quit Playing It Safe". So as I am writing this I come across an amazing quote which I love. It is by Teddy Roosevelt.

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt.

So whatever happens with this church plant...whether the end is triumph of high achievement or failure while daring greatly....at least I won't be with the cold and timid souls who didn't risk anything in their lives.