Imagining a Church That Connects
It's great working with a church that is full of creativity and imagination. The College Church surprises me week in and week out with the energy and ideas I find here. Returning to this place is like a breath of fresh air.
But this brings me back to a question I asked months ago: Who is the College Church? This is not an easy question. There are so many ways of answering it. First, we have our perception of the College Church. And even that varies from person to person depending on how long a person has been here, what kinds of activities they've been involved in, etc.
Second, there is our perception of what people think about us. We all think that people on the outside have a certain take on our church. Of course, we may be right about what they think. But we may not be right. People often observe things differently than what we think they do.
Third, there is the real perception of people on the outside. Some know us only in passing. Others know us because of certain interactions they have or had with us. But most people have some thought about who we are or what we do -- it might be just because of the name they see when they go past our building. They lump us in with other churches they know or they see the name "college" or the sign for a "school" and wonder what this place is.
It's interesting to ponder all this.
Even more interesting, though, would be to find out more about who we really are. I believe that the College Church is great both because of who we are today and because of who we can touch tomorrow. If we can more clearly identify who we are, then I think we will be better at connecting with the world around us. We cannot be all things to all people. But we can be all things to some people, in order to bring the Kingdom of God closer to them.
So who are we?
But this brings me back to a question I asked months ago: Who is the College Church? This is not an easy question. There are so many ways of answering it. First, we have our perception of the College Church. And even that varies from person to person depending on how long a person has been here, what kinds of activities they've been involved in, etc.
Second, there is our perception of what people think about us. We all think that people on the outside have a certain take on our church. Of course, we may be right about what they think. But we may not be right. People often observe things differently than what we think they do.
Third, there is the real perception of people on the outside. Some know us only in passing. Others know us because of certain interactions they have or had with us. But most people have some thought about who we are or what we do -- it might be just because of the name they see when they go past our building. They lump us in with other churches they know or they see the name "college" or the sign for a "school" and wonder what this place is.
It's interesting to ponder all this.
Even more interesting, though, would be to find out more about who we really are. I believe that the College Church is great both because of who we are today and because of who we can touch tomorrow. If we can more clearly identify who we are, then I think we will be better at connecting with the world around us. We cannot be all things to all people. But we can be all things to some people, in order to bring the Kingdom of God closer to them.
So who are we?
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