Being collected by CollectiveMKE

Church this morning was like balm for my soul. I am tethered to the people of God that I walk through the world with in ways deeper than customs and tradition. In ways stronger than common ideology and history. In ways truer than programs and activities. It is not that they have replaced anyone or anything already significant in my life....it's more that they enhance and make clear the place that things of significance can and should have in my life.

It would be short sighted to refer to these gems as friends. Friendship seems ill equipped to explain the relationship.  They are not people that I go to church with because that is not even how we "do" (for lack of a better word) church.  I even struggle telling others that I "go" to such and such a church.  It seems short sighted to say I attend, or I am a member, or I belong to such and such a church.  There is not a building or address that is 'church' because that is not even how we "do" church.

We ARE the church.

Please understand. I know there are wonderful and honoring traditional church communities. I am not trying to promote or invite anyone to anything. I am simply trying to give explanation to what is in my life. It's possible you are feeling disillusioned. It's possible you are fearful and weary. It's possible.


Here are some things I know to be true.

We respect. I have no doubt that there are people in my church community who have different opinions about politics, who feel differently about policy or the how of carrying out laws....that there are different opinions about "hot" topics right now. BUT I know that I am in a community of safety. That I can cry out and voice my disdain, that I can have an unpopular opinion and it is taken seriously. It is not dismissed and it is not disregarded. Jokes aren't made about serious matters and difficult social justices aren't ignored.  It's not that everyone agrees and there's false unity. It's that humanity matters. And if humanity matters then the way that I experience my humanness matters. 

We love. Each other, the world, people, Jesus. Even in the midst of not all thinking, living, experiencing the same. Even in the midst of hate and despair all around us. Even in the midst of many of us feeling broken and wounded and forgotten by the faith community. Even in the midst of sometimes wondering just what it means to follow fast after Jesus.  We love.  I know that I can cry out in the middle of open prayer and it will not be met with criticism or even advice, but love.

We live. There is no pattern or right way to be. There aren't bullet points to check off and show what a good Christian we are. We mess up and sometimes get it right. We stumble and extend grace. We eat together, serve together, and pray together. We are not special nor do we have some special formula of the right way to be. We breathe in and out. We wake up in the morning and some days are just hard. Our heads hit the pillow at night and some nights we are just grateful we made it one more.

We knew about Collective before it became ours. We had friends and people we loved there. And we prayed for them. And there had been times they had reached out and helped.  I feel like it was meant to be.

What I am about to share is my own thoughts and ideas. NOT a CollectiveMKE endorsement. The idea of church being intimate and connected was a little scary. Just sitting in someone's living room? No programs or groups to hide in? No places to shine? No leader telling us how to believe? 

But what it became was more like...

Just sitting in someone's living room? So special. To share such an intimate part of each other. Our homes. Sharing a meal and then sitting together as we share and learn and understand. Simple. No pomp. No circumstance.

There are no programs or groups to hide in? We need you to be fully engaged, fully involved.  The programs and groups we need to be involved in aren't in the 'church', they exist in the community around us. We exist in the community around us.

There are no places to shine?  We ALL have shine. And your gifts and capabilities will be treasured and honored because your shine isn't about outshining someone else. If you aren't sure what your shine is, you may finally discover it, because it's there.

No leader telling us how to believe? The pastor is not God. And he does not have all of the answers. He doesn't recommend an author because they have the 'right' point of view, but he might because they spoke to him and he'd like to chat about if they spoke to you. We learn from each other.

Balm for my soul.

This morning I was feeling tired and broke down. My heart ached and I felt far away.  And while there was no magic potion to fully take those feelings away....I was loved and allowed to feel them.

Being collected by Collective....good bye traditional americanized way of "doing" church....I cannot imagine ever coming back.

That's what I got today.