an experimentation in ecclesia

Last night was the last "official" Satellite gathering. It felt something like a two sided coin. On one side, the end of Satellite has been vague and frustrating. On the other, the end is taking us to a place of excitement and adventure. The end of Satellite has been vague because there has been little communication between the leadership of the church and myself. I received a letter yesterday that was supposed to be sent to me two months ago that had the details of the end of my position. Two months of not knowing when my last day was, and when I asked the response was that it would be March 4, but the letter says February 28. I haven't been pushing for the continuation of Satellite because I desperately want the church to have a passion for the generation that doesn't feel welcome in any church. This church has been my home church since I moved out to Colorado; it was the reason I moved 2000 miles across the country. My heart is burdened for this church, yet at the same time my heart is excited for the community of Satellite.

The future of the Satellite community is exciting to me. I feel as though we are moving into an experimentation of what we think church is supposed to be. An experiment of ecclesia, if you will. I don’t know if everyone who is currently apart of Satellite will continue with us. That is an aspect of the current expression of Satellite that I wish would not we would not have to deal with, but I realize that it is a reality of change. In the same way, change will draw people to us. Within Satellite’s history there have been moments of change that show this reality. We originally met on Saturday nights, and when we switched to Sunday nights we experienced the shift in people. The same thing happened when Donnie left; people who were drawn to Donnie left and there were some who were drawn to me that started to come. I’m certain that there will be some of the people who we care very much for that will choose to be a part of a different community. I’m at peace with that.

There was a small group of people that met last Tuesday to talk about what we desired to see happen with our community. We didn’t have any great revelation of where we were going, but something very significant happened. At the beginning of our time together we spent time in prayer, and several people prayed that GOD would give us unity of thought as we moved forward. I believed that GOD answered this prayer. As we all shared our thoughts and hope we all seemed to be on the same page. This, I believe, is a huge blessing to the start of something that we are able to see yet. As we continue to meet and dream and plan, I’m going to ask that those who want to be involved with this experiment will continue to pray that. I’m convinced that the only way for us to move forward with any form of “church,” is to be united in our thoughts. I know that there will be times that we will disagree on things. But I’ve been praying that GOD will bring people around us that have a heart for what is going on and who want to be fully involved. I’ve also been praying that GOD will protect us from people who don’t share the vision. I think that if there will be one thing that will harm us as a community is people who are apathetic about what we are doing. Apathetic people can be a distraction from the purpose of the group. Also, apathetic people can offer subtle comments that cause dissention with the community. I don’t think it’s too bold to ask that GOD protect us from that.

I’ll end with a quote from a book I’m reading. The book is called Houses that Change the World and is written by Wolfgang Simson. I found a draft copy of the book in a PDF format. I printed it off and I’d like to pass it around to people a section at a time. I think it would be cool for everyone to read it, make notes on it, and then pass it on to someone else. Cuyler, you’re up first. No pressure. Here’s a paragraph that Simson starts the book of with under the heading “Too good to be true?”

Being brought up in ”Christian” Germany with churches everywhere, I have always felt that there must be something exciting about the Church which Jesus started and about which I read in the New Testament - but somehow I have yet to discover what it is. I dreamed - together with many friends and colleagues, of a church, that is as simple as One-Two-Three, yet is dynamic; an explosive thing, able to turn the world and a neighborhood upside down. The church as a supernatural invention; endowed with God’s gift of immortality; the way to disciple each other, and to transfer the life of Jesus to each other. An experience of grace and grapes, love and laughter, joy and jellybeans, forgiveness and fun, power and - yes, why not, paper. A church, which does not need much finances, rhetoric, control and manipulation, which can do without powerful and charismatic heroes, which is non-religious at heart, which can thrill people to the core, make them loose their head for joy, and simply teach us The Way to live. The church which not only has a message, but is the message; which spreads like an unstoppable virus, infects whatever it touches, and ultimately covers the Earth with the glory and knowledge of God. It’s power stems from it’s inventor, who has equipped it with the most genius spiritual genetical code - a sort of heavenly DNA, which allows it to transfer and reproduce Kingdom values from Heaven to Earth, and transform not only water into wine, but atheists into fascinated apostles, policewomen into prophetesses, terrorists into teachers, plumbers into pastors, and dignified village elders into beaming evangelists in the process. It is like a spiritual family - organic, not organized, relational, not formal; it has a persecution-proof structure, matures under tears, multiplies under pressure, grows under the carpet, flourishes in the desert, sees in the dark, and thrives on chaos. A church that can multiply like two fish and five breads in the Hands of Jesus, were the fathers turn their hearts to the sons and the sons their hearts to the fathers, were it’s people are it’s resources, and which has only one name to brag about, the Lamb of God.