On Sunday, we had an extended community conversation to talk about worship at six:eight. This was an opportunity to be in conversation with each other, and to listen for God’s leading in our developing community.
I started with a sermon called “Making Room for God,” which looked at the story of the disciples choosing a new 12th apostle. I saw in that story that the disciples made that decision by setting up some boundaries, and figuring out some options, but then making room for God with prayer (and casting lots) to make the final decision.
After that, we thought about and shared what is going well with worship, and there were a lot of good things. People like the music and creativity in worship. The community conversation and other interactive parts of worship help people feel a sense of meaning. Also, there is a strong feeling of welcome in the group, and more than one person appreciated the smaller size, since that encourages people to talk to each other. Other folks mentioned the genuine feel and the informality – perfection is neither expected or required.
Next, I shared about my concerns with our current space – there are ten or fifteen of us on most Sundays the past several weeks, but Mobtown holds about seventy people. I suggested two options – to put a strong emphasis on inviting new people that brings us to a bigger group, or to move to a house church-type meeting with a smaller space (like someone’s house) in the evening once or twice a month, followed by a potluck that would allow us to have more time to get to know each other.
There were some questions about the original reason for being at Mobtown, and I talked about the parking, the lounge and stage area, accessibility, and how it’s close to Hampden. Hampden is important since the vision is for starting up a church geared toward people in their twenties and thirties.
Finally, we talked in groups of 2-5 about those two options and then shared together in the bigger group. There were many different threads.
- As a group we do want to be able to grow, which meant that being in someone’s house, while appealing, probably wouldn’t be a good way to grow. Instead, we’d want to find a more public space that people could more easily happen upon – like a restaurant or a park.
- Even though it might mean smaller gatherings each week, at least a few people felt like the weekly gatherings make for more entry points for new people coming in.
- Folks did like the idea of eating together, though, and suggested we pick a Sunday for going out to a restaurant, or some other time to get together and eat as a group.
- There were also some exciting ideas about doing outreach – tabling at Honfest, for example, as a way of getting the word out about us to the community.
We finished by singing a song together, and praying and writing down where we see God calling six:eight, and what part each person might commit to for the broader vision. There were a variety of commitments – I’ll be following up in the next few weeks on those. Thank you!
Thanks so much to everyone who has been praying for us. I feel very blessed by this conversation and confident that God is doing good work here among us!
Best,
Amy
