Firsts

I've been thinking of how many "firsts" we encounter in our lives. We have our first birthday, first tooth, first step, first day of school - even first blogs. Each of these firsts is historical. Each first is the beginning of a new chapter in the book our life becomes.

This past year has been a year of firsts in our family. The biggest first was the planting of a new church. My husband has had the dream of planting a church for years, but the opportunity did not present itself until one year ago this month. That was when a small group of people gathered in our living room and asked if we had thought about starting a new church.

It was only after several months of praying about it, examining motives and seeking wisdom, that we felt that the time had come to move forward. Even with the knowledge in our hearts that God was calling us to the new work, this was one scary first.

Neither my husband nor I are spring chickens (we've even moved a bit into the tough old bird category). We questioned whether we were too old to take on this kind of stress. My husband, after many years of pastoral ministry, needed to become a tentmaker to help with our financial responsibilities.

I don't know why this is called "planting a church." It really would more properly be called "birthing a church." Like childbirth - the labor is long, and painful at times, but also like childbirth, the living body that is born pushes the memories of pain away.

Early on in our examination of what this ministry would be like, it was determined that our fledgling church must be a place of peace and rest to those who have, for whatever reason, "dropped out of church", those who have been hurt by the church, and those who are new to the idea of faith and "religion."

Ours is not a typical church. No steeples or bells, high ceilings or marble, we are located in a business park. We have no pews, hymnals, or other trappings of the church. Instead we sit around tables, serve refreshments and do not formally take an offering. We sing, worship, join in Holy Communion, and love Christ and each other. We are a family.

Our church is now nearly a year old. We continue to celebrate many firsts... our first