I used to pray a prayer all the time when I first started dreaming about planting a church. I kept on praying that God would give us something “fresh” and something “new.” I prayed that we would be able to “stick out of the crowd” and “be different.”
Of course, I still want whatever is next from God. New things. Fresh things. Different things. I love the idea of creating something that has never been seen or done. But my prayers have changed recently.
I am praying that the same elements of the first church found in Acts 2 would be seen in our church. Something old. Tried. Tested. Something that is still standing after thousands of years of change.
Sitting under teaching. Fellowship with friends. Sharing meals together. Prayer.
All of these are timeless elements of the church. And it’s something that we saw around five years ago when we visted a church in Pasadena, CA called The Junction. Some dear friends of ours started this church after moving to America from South Africa. They brought with them a way of doing church that I had never seen. It valued people more than stuff. It is a church filled with artists, musicians, videographers, etc. But it was a church that valued community more than performance. And it was beautiful.
The things that we are experiencing at Center City Church cannot be labeled as “new”, I suppose. But it feels great. It feels right.
I want more of this. More of people doing their part to experience the community they want for their lives. It takes each of us doing something for all of us to see community formed and spread.
I want something old and timeless. I want community.
