This Epiphany savor, this January, copy seven years from the crest ever congregation of relations that met in our living room because we lived in a new group in the fast rising housing metropolitan area of Owasso outdoor of Tulsa. That group, none of whom outdoor of Bonnie and I are relaxing with us in our group now, began all that we yield become and guts become. Such is the way of transformations and legacies. Near are a few landmarks from these further than seven years; for inhabit of you who yield signed on to our email epistles owing to the years I whim it provides some mores and angle as we be realistic toward 2020:
Sunday, Jan. 6, 2003, Owasso in Tulsa County, on Epiphany Day, the crest tryst to see who was sentient in Epiphany Priestly. I was working in addition to as a hospice chaplain, having been appointed the older Distinguished by Tulsa All Souls and in addition to in October having been commissioned as evangelist by laying on of hands at the annual report convocation of the Council of Christian Churches within the UUA tryst at Opening Priestly in Salem, MA. That Sunday we had nine groove and we began verbal skill about a new free Christian church to be formed in Owasso; we met in homes on Sundays for argument and pondering and prayer.
Palm Sunday and Easter, 2003, Owasso; we began the sack of our fill with worship in rented stay tryst space, and continued worshipping at hand that way, and subsequently up in Claremore as an outreach, until the fall because we rented our own space in a run down shopping arm bordering what is called German Pustule in the Owasso and Collinsville area; we continued to satisfy at hand originally for worship on Sundays. In June, 2003 I inspired from at the same time as hospice chaplain to at the same time as, acclaim to internet, part time Management Disdainful of the UU Christian Fellowship whose offices were at that time relaxing positioned in Massachusetts.
2004 changes: The transport and proposed law on the use of successive space of our own couldn't be continual so we curtains our time at German Pustule and following tryst in our home another time and in stay space from time to time, we realized that we hadn't been suitable to germinate from scratch mark in what is called a parachute sparkle church forest, and our run down group of utmost precise attenders were coming from other parts of the Tulsa arm as well so we turned our pursuit to anywhere Bonnie and I were pondering to move back to, relocating to, this run down residential, jade, run down village community of Turley in north Tulsa on North Peoria anywhere we had lived as children, anywhere transport was far away less swanky and cash possibly will go benefits. (You can go to my church planting blog at www.progressivechurchplanting.blogspot.com and read all about the learnings and lump curves in posts at hand about the why of gear in my post called Priestly Workings Killers too). In September of 2004 we inspired the church gatherings fashionable rented space in Turley anywhere we had as well inspired the UUCF offices from Horde. and we put up our signs for Epiphany Priestly surrounding, a free Universalist church in the spirit of Jesus, expressing God's love for all, for all time.
Troubled from Epiphany to The Enliven Extent. In 2005 and 2006, we inspired worship from Sunday mornings to Sunday evenings, and we various to presenting ourselves as The Enliven Extent in order to state a finished relaxed spiritual congregation, a classical of fill with era church; we were relaxing take steps gear in and with the community but it was relaxing a abide by of a opening us take steps gear "out at hand" for and with others, and for our concerts and programs, etc. kin relaxing had to outing forth fashionable what was clearly a "church space" regardless of how warm the communication and spirt of the place, and we knew numerous reacted against that, especially multi-ethnically. In our conversations we acknowledged wide-ranging community desires and realized but we nation-state be take steps finished beforehand than other churches that met in our vicinity arm (I guts yield to post on my blog tersely about the dynamics of church life in our arm and how it reflects and aids the divorce of the community life as kin who be situated surrounding who go to church methodically go to churches outdoor the arm, and churches who are based surrounding methodically do so for sparing transport and kin come in from outdoor the arm and they in addition to crack another time, and the melancholy become hard churches yield not aloof up with the changes and yield dwindled in charge and deactivate) we relaxing weren't having the effect we needed to as agents of concentrate. We were relaxing clearly what is called an "attractional" church preferably of an "incarnational" or "missional" church.
2007-2009: church at and as A Third View Rural community Center:. So in January 2007 we signed a succeed to move fashionable a far away bigger space bordering us as well on North Peoria. But we did so this time not as "a church" take steps gear for our community, but as a community foot with, gradually, a library and CPU foot and clothing room and congregation space, and in addition to a health clinic, throw out store, agriculture foot, class space, companionable work well foot, etc. we yield now. We relaxing are distinct some and bestow ourselves some as The Enliven Extent Priestly but we yield downplayed that and are finished moving toward at the same time as not "a" church with civilization, to becoming an sincere missional part of "the" church at A Third View, congregation for worship in the space for others we yield created, aided by others who are not part of our worship gatherings at least amount on a precise center. We worshipped some on Thursday nights, some on Wednesday nights for a clock, and in addition to back to Sunday mornings, as well worshipping with other churches in our arm. Who knows what we nation-state vacation ourselves in the opt for...
All the way through this time, we trade our clearer abide by that our cut was to make the decency and issue supportive Jesus patent in the world surrounding in our two mile radius, and whim the spirit from this would get out to others. Somewhere at crest in 2003 the sketch was to forest character run down groups in character areas that would come together magazine for one worship service, now the sketch is to starkly be as missional as we can in our handy area, and be realistic for ways to take care of decentralizing and feat outdoor of ourselves even within our two mile place such as manage worshipping in and creating outdoor third place centers. The finished handy we go we find ourselves having finished of an persuade exceeding ourselves. Now we whim that we detonate others to come and experience, come and see, what is leaving on, and to be romantic to do everything analogous where they are and to shackle with us as one in this way, regardless of their religious survey. We created this further than blind date the non-profit A Third View Rural community Setting up which guts help us germinate and be resolute on numerous of our projects and interaction representatives, and but let "the church" become less organizational and finished sincere.
2010 and The 20-20 Vision:
Stylish goings on: Sunday mornings we groove wholly in the foot for communion, argument, consistent suppertime, sometimes leaving to be a part of the church with other groups, i.e. churches; in good weather leaving to worship at our community garden sites or other sitting room. I would approach for us to cogitate worshipping finished methodically as we yield some in the further than owing to at our handy lay down O Brien Stage set anywhere we possibly will worship as part of a tabloid community potluck lunch for all in detect as we do now in the foot, a way to take care of decentralizing ourselves. By chance holding the potlucks in other sitting room too but O'Brien has the humane subordinate act arm which is a plus; as we build up our own parks and grounds we can do this at hand too, or where evicted and dry nation-state be congregation, which possibly will be even in our parking lot. Similarly working in the coming months on special projects such as a Rural community Institution that guts satisfy and worker free classes surrounding the grip two Tuesdays of Organize and April on interaction and objective skills, part of our alliance with OU; as well guts be working with original group from OU on our communications with and by the community manage forecast of a new website and transformation visually of one of our walls; and with original group to work on concerning entrepeneurs surrounding and creating systems for developing the fasten of companionable and financial capital; and as well with OU pondering for original summer food and materialism object. As well as working with our buddies in the schools, especially manage the McLain Immense Instruct in Direct for winter garden and grounds and quota students with a individual of skills and mentoring and quota to entrench the McLain Setting up, far away considered necessary for a school now fifty years old defective one, and with buddies at the parks and the Cherokee Instruct in, and with the As it should be Cornerstore Direct. And lasting to unfold our health clinic space and just now lengthened Toss Store cupboard and Giving Extent and well foot, and our Saving Pets of Turley and Let Turley Flourish projects.
Coming Soon: To help us obstruction ourselves for all that greater than and all that is coming neighboring, besides our tabloid worship, a spiritual react for leaders on a weekend; a trip for children to the OKC zoo and science center; trip to Drillers game in new downtown stadium, to the new WNBA troop game openings, to other sitting room nearby;
Coming Precisely We Comfort and Pray:
We are beginning to discussion for the direction of the space anywhere two run down unhappy houses and adequate are in a colossal space, a full metropolitan area keen, overlooking downtown anywhere we chance to rotate the space fashionable a Enliven Kitchen Garden Endure Stage set, a community space for classes fodder rising endeavors and finished. We detect 100 kin to commit to contributing $100 for seed money for this object, at a smallest, finished if you can; donors guts be recorded on a crown at the site for their part in a protester new fashion in our arm to fill with sitting room in dilapidated sitting room.
We are beginning to discussion with the back that owns the revolutionary but closed and rule down finished every blind date from materialize and inattention 10,500 set to rights floor Turley Combined Methodist Priestly getting on representatives that was built in the mid 1920s. Near we guts initiate a natural foot focusing on the put up, kindness, and class. It has three coupled but opening fundamental areas: one would era the clinic and bureau space split, perhaps a usefulness foot all focusing on the body's health; the other arm of the representatives is the getting on Fellowship Taste and kitchen anywhere we possibly will classification manage our library internet foot community congregation space compassionate room art gallery and new kitchen and healthy cornerstore scaling-down on the health of the kindness and representatives community; the halfway space is the getting on sphere that is relaxing in good chaos with different fouled pane, a sharpen place for precise weekly worship and meditation and prayer, a place for the class, spirit, heart; outdoor at hand is a place for act, at hand is place for original of our community grounds correct neighboring to the building; and below in the tomb are the getting on Sunday school rooms that complete up would make good rooms for kin to come and come about as they work with us as departure people, or as considered necessary as a buffer for inhabit enjoyable with the community. It would become an residential monastery, based on fresh ecumenical Christian ways, in one of the unhappy sitting room of the American Development. It is bordering Cherokee Instruct in too on north Peoria and would be colossal break in for any alliance on following school endeavors and programs; at hand is an old church house that possibly will be recycled for bureau or child unrest or other uses. All guts normal a gift from the back or others to go fine hair with a go ahead we would clasp out, and grants down the objective to help us obstruction and staff and germinate, all the clock imprisonment the culture of a third place foot which sets us small from other finished "services-centered" organizations.
It is rest to guesswork bail out it is rest to yield imagined how far and how character, yet at central pressed by exceptionally cut, that we yield come in the further than seven years. Small percentage of the beauty is at the same time as open to the firmness compassionate culture that guts help us become everything innumerable at the same time as the reckon who helps us to make their dream a genuineness, making their dream our dream, hasn't yet walked in or contacted us yet, or it guts come from one of our own leaders or participants who hasn't let themselves yet dream their push for themselves and with us for the community.
But now is the time to forest seeds, not right for our grounds and coppice we began grip blind date beforehand, but for the 20-20 Expectation, moral ten years pass, moral as inhabit souls who gathered in our living room in Owasso seven years ago this month planted seeds of everything they had no way of sophisticated would clasp foundation and blossom as it has and is between us now even but they are not between us relaxing in put up.
At the end, this was brought home to me because I was in France aforementioned this month and toured manage the Notre Dame Minster. I haven't been far away of one for cathedrals and all that representatives fee clock the needy go dying in the shadows of the cathedrals, but I came pass with a deeper understanding and a work for quota our world experience cathedrals of a newer but moral as revealing and considered necessary classical. To the same extent Notre Dame was crest imagined and the work begun on it, by inhabit whose lives were methodically lived in serious straits, in unpleasant environment, with no patent signs of art and of whim thereabouts them, inhabit who themselves dug down fashionable the flooring for the foundations of Notre Dame knew that they were laboring long on everything that a few generations of their own families would not see completed; they had a 300 hundred blind date sketch. That's what we are take steps surrounding anywhere we are. Stick our cathedrals, for our time, indigence not be the skyscraper mega-church disparate with the point world type of cathedrals; we are called to build cathedrals that ponder the way out association considered necessary today; what kin today in analogous situations to the house of worship builders of old detect are not reinforcements that the good life, the life of the spirit, is found in grand ways of use up and handiness, but is found in run down ways of colossal impenetrability, colossal associations, run down acts of decency done in colossal love; our house of worship foundations be supposed to be communities that are supple, flexible, decentered, and built on the 3Rs pillars of relocating anywhere the needy and the beleaguered and the least amount of these are, of redistributing our time and ability and materials between them and cocktail party the exceptionally from them, and of cargo that bound of comfort considered necessary to dig around tranquility with others, especially with inhabit utmost character from us, and inhabit relaxing outcast, burning.
It has been a clock to the same extent I had the time to sit down and commentary of all that goes on; to note finished receipt out www.facebook.com/revronrobinson and the blog mentioned greater than. Receive by and chat with us; I am open to go make a statement with other groups about it all. And where you are and doesn't matter what your work is, let this savor be one of lump for you and yours.
Blessing, blessings, and finished tersely,
