Home Church

Happy New Year everyone!

I'd heard of home school and thought, hard work, lots of mess and absolutely no peace and quiet. I love my children dearly but the occasional quiet moment in our house is golden and I do not have the patience or the knowledge to impart the entire National Curriculum to our children in a calm and nurturing way!

Well this year has brought "Home Church" - I prepared in anticipation for last Sunday for the arrival of several families and their various offspring at 1030 for a meeting to decide how we wanted to "do church" in a small group setting in a home environment. Lasagne, mountains of garlic bread and numerous puddings prepared we were ready.....

The men coalesced around the Poole table and the testosterone started to flow, before long the Poole tournament had started. With lots of "helpful advice" from their wives and children the men battled it out.

Coffee/tea started flowing with lots cakes (Homemade of course because we are Christians!) the women started to talk as the children were siphoned off for some very loud and boisterous singing and bible stories in another room. By the time I emerged covered in paint a little dishevelled from hand painting with ten under 8's the other parents had arranged rotas for preparing bible studies with / without worship songs, food rota for eating together after every meeting and cake rotas for coffee time. It was all so organised and grown up. Several of the group announced they had done "home church" for all their younger years and guided everyone through the concept. We all ate dinner together, there was a flurry of activity and my kitchen was cleaner than when we had started , more coffee and tea, a girlie Poole tournament (all games took a great deal longer and provided much amusement for the males) and everyone slobbed and then wandered home just in time for tea.

So...... all my fears were unfounded, I was imagining long painful silences or worse still expressions of discontentment at being forced to change the format of "church", there was no lack of direction, there was no need to organise and delegate, there was no need to "encourage" involvement in the rota's it just happened.
How awesome is that, it challenged me that I say "we are the church" and then I'm amazed the things we can achieve when we are left on our own. People who normally sit on the sidelines emerged as efficient organisers, shy but gifted bible scholars and excellent hosts!

How many of us have criticised "the church" for not providing what we want and not meeting our perceived needs when we have felt not part of the group? now we have the chance to discover what we want and how we can make it happen. We have been released to find out what being part of the church really is and we find ourselves naturally drawn to meeting together and sharing everything from burnt garlic bread to intimate counsel!


AWESOME!