forging ahead: mission and buildings

Tonight the core group of the new church got together to begin charting our next steps. It's already great to see how God is putting this group together. I am continually reminded that this is his work, we are his people, he is leading us, and he will see this thing through.

It was particularly cool to hear the people sharing their hearts, talking about what they are looking forward to being a part of. And it was so great that I wasn't pulling this stuff out of them; people were spontaneously bringing up values and ideals that they would like this new church to have. It was great.

A recurring theme was our desire to be more about our mission in Helena than about bricks and mortar (that is, getting a building). We discussed how it happens that a church turns from being outward-focused to focused on having a building.

My answer to that? I think it's a product of the church's vision that gets established on day one. We can aim toward getting the building and settling down, or we can keep our focus on the mission and let the building be a secondary issue. If the building doesn't drive the ministry, it becomes less critical whether we own or rent. If our goal is to grow and multiply our influence—to not only grow, but reproduce—then the building question takes a back seat to our mission. Where it belongs.