church regrouping

So, I know I have some people out there who have been waiting to hear more about this whole ReGroup thing that I am hashing out, so I guess I have a bit more worked out that I can share. So I'd like to share 2 things: how does one introduce the concept; and when I say ReGroup isn't church but at the same time it is church, what exactly does that mean?

For those who might have heard Paul and I speak at the ACU Lectureship, obviously the final day was one way that the concept can be shared. Essentially, I read an abridged version of my post, the time of regrouping. However, as some have expressed to me, that explanation really only whets the appetite for more information. Because of this, I've been working on a flexible agenda that I can use to kickoff the first ever meeting of a ReGroup community. As I've seen, sometimes the best way to start something is to make sure everyone understands what defines the mission. The first and most important items on my kickoff meeting agenda are: What is ReGroup? What is ReGroup NOT?

So what is ReGroup?

• A community where one can safely explore issues of life and faith.
• A community which supports one another in the face of great joy and terrible pain.
• A community that accepts people for who/where they are in their journey.
• A community which stands ready to help each other take the next step in their journey.
• A community who welcomes in those hurting from the abuses of today's society.
• A community that values who you are and who you want to be, more than who you were.
• A community that can change and adapt to meet the needs of the group.
• Whatever you want and need ReGroup to be...
  

(Catching a trend there...)
Obviously, in order for a lot of that to work in practice, a ReGroup community probably can't grow much larger than say 15 people before it starts to compromise the intimate dynamics that a smaller group can offer. Also, when I say ReGroup can be whatever you want/need it to be, I mean exactly that. Which leads me to the next question...

In that case, what is ReGroup NOT?

• A Bible study.
• A church small group.
• A discussion group.
• A book club.
• A devotional.
• A social outing or event.
• An informal counseling session.
  

However, at the same time, it can take the form of any of those should the need arise. One thing that ReGroup can never be though, is an exclusive group of friends. Building friendships is core to the growth and success of ReGroup, but exclusivity will stop it dead in its tracks and undermine everything it stands for. I suppose one other thing ReGroup can never become is some form of a 3/6/12 step program for fixing your faith. If there's anything I've learned through my own spiritual wrestling, it's that there is no single, guaranteed way to find and build a faith that works for everyone. There are common threads, but weaving those threads into a living faith is different for everyone.

So, now that the basic idea has been laid out there, why is ReGroup not church and yet still church? What makes this community a new and different kind of church? Honestly, I make no claim that this idea of mine is some kind of new and revolutionary form of church that I alone invented. There are threads of ideas that I have taken and woven together into a vision of a community built on faith that meets a need that I see being overlooked. Take the idea of organic church for instance, the concept of taking the kingdom of God into places where life happens and culture is formed -- instead of taking people out of those places. There's a book on the topic that I've heard quite a bit about that I want to check out: Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens by Neil Cole. Then there's always a favorite book of mine, No Perfect People Allowed: creating a Come As You Are culture in the church by John Burke, which describes how Gateway Community Church came about in the Austin, TX area and began building bridges to cross the cultural divide between church and life in a "postmodern" world. Now think about the terms that have also floated around about liquid or fluid church, wherein the idea is that church flows out and fills into new spaces that it couldn't get to as a "solid" church -- it's flexible. Then there's the house church movement, which at times can look exactly like a mainstream church in form and function, but located outside a stereotypical church building, typically in someone's house (or rotating amongst the homes of the community members). Lastly, I suppose I reflected on how youth groups and college groups typically interact within existing church communities, and I asked myself the questions: "Why is it that in most churches only the teenagers and college students have organized activities beyond Bible studies and devotionals? Why are the youth the only ones who gather on a regular basis outside the walls of the church building for friendship building activities?"

Those are some of the church related ideas that lead me to believe that ReGroup is a form of church, albeit a very different form. After all, I doubt very much that ReGroup will ever have anything that resembles a worship service, at least in the traditional sense of the term. Then again, nothing says ReGroup couldn't have a dedicated time of semi-traditional worship, if that's something a ReGroup community had the gifts, resources, and desire to do. However, the principle that I think drives ReGroup is the understanding that you are gathering together in order to share and express your faith, while helping each other live out the Way and the Life that Christ's message painted for us.

Cheers! And thanks for reading...