Wanna help me with something?

Is it the time? Is it the place? Is it the people? Is it because there is no evidence? Is it because it isn't believable? Is it because it doesn't matter? Is it because it isn't worth it? Is it because it isn't good news? Is it because it is too hard? Is it because it isn't real?

(2 steps back)

Part of my job is trying to figure out what attracts and/or pushes people away from attending church. Along with that, I'm thinking about starting an alternate type of worship service at our church. As I sat down at my desk trying to figure out if/where those two things intersect, 2 more ideas thoughts came to mind:

*I better keep praying about this!
*Who would come to this service/how would I invite them?

"*" #1 seems to me to be obvious. "*"#2 isn't quite so easy. So, what better way to jump back into the blog than to ask some of my friends (and your friends/etc) the first set of questions above. What keeps you away from church? What would provoke or pique your curiosity enough to make you think about coming back?

Often we tell people to invite their friends to church. When they say no (creatively or otherwise) I think we forget to ask the follow up question... "Why not?" What is the real reason? What is their real answer? THEIR ANSWER, YOUR ANSWER, MY ANSWER IS SO VERY IMPORTANT!!!

I think corporate worship (oooh, I really dislike the word 'corporate') is a necessary part of the Christian experience. It fills a need, a desire which I believe God has for us to be in community... I think we need to be a part of a group that prays/learns/thinks/grows/serves together, and "church" seems to offer an opportunity to do those things.

SO, would you help me? Send me a note. Ask a friend. Why do people stay away from church? I'm going to spend time over lent trying to answer for myself EACH of the questions above with this blog. If you want to tag along, I'd love that. You should know, if you haven't read my blogs before, I'm NOT VERY SMART! But, I do want to find the answers...maybe you'll help me.

In the interim, I'm hoping to start a new worship service called "reCAP" at the CLC (the church where I work) on Sunday nights. It will be small and differently organized than our other worship services. We'll be quickly "recapping" the sermon of the day (3-5 minutes) in case you missed or chose not to come to church. Then, we'll attempt to "reCAPTURE" the essense/vision of the scripture used for the day (10-12 minutes). Think of it as the 2.0/next level version of the morning services, BUT with emphasis on PRACTICAL APPLICATION. There will be time for discussion, maybe an interesting video or 2, and perhaps some snacks.

WHY START ANOTHER SERVICE that perhaps NO ONE WILL COME TO??? (well, based on your feedback over the coming weeks, I may not!! :) ) My thought is that we need to better equip ourselves to not only SHARE the things we learn, but to LIVE the things we learn. We need to be better followers/disciples. This is just an attempt at digging deeper, and offering a new/different way to come together and worship.

If you're from around Ankeny, we'll start "reCAP" the Sunday after Easter and maybe I'll see you there. (unless you convince me otherwise!!) If you aren't from around here, but want to share your ideas, I'd love to hear from you! All ideas you have - even the ones which disagree with everything I've stated in this blog - are both welcome and appreciated.

Hey, I'll pray for you. Please pray for each other.

John