Something I was just thinking about as I was driving through the dairies and fields of Wendell today. How can churches in rural, small towns build unity? When we invite other churches to our events, the other church can react with questions (why are they “really” inviting us?), fear (what happens if we end up “losing” our students to this other church) and competition.
But I have not found that to be true of .bE – our alt.worship (alternative worship) gathering we’ve been having in Wendell. We’ve only done it twice at my church in Wendell, once at a summer camp, and once at a retreat. But the two times we’ve done it in Wendell, we’ve brought together about 40-50 people from at least 13 denominations and from 8 different small towns around the Magic Valley. Something feels right about that. And perhaps it is alt.worship that will help breed unity and ecumenism among small town churches. When planned right, an alt.worship gathering can occur on a night that will not be seen as “competition” with other churches (we do .bE on Tuesday nights). This will also help with the church that is hosting the worship gathering – it will not be seen as an “alternative” to one of the other services – but “in addition to” the regular church services.
Or perhaps this is just my experience here in Wendell and it wouldn’t play out the same in other small town areas. I just know that .bE has put me in contact with and dialogue with 2 Reformed pastors (from different towns), an Orthodox priest, a few non-denominational pastors, a Calvary Chapel youth pastor, a Baptist pastor, a few Nazarene pastors and some others.
Any other thoughts on alt.worship and ecumenical ministry?