Read Responses
What is a weekly gathering like?
We gather at the host’s house.
We center ourselves by spending some time in silent prayer and reflection.
We start the meal by blessing meal.
We eat the meal and share thoughts about what we’ve read.
We finish the meal and conversation and return home.
What if I'm too busy to meet?
Yep. We don't take attendance but we expect each other to make daily readings and weekly gatherings a priority in their life - for at least a full year. It's sacred time. We try to find a best time for the weekly gathering but know things come up — and that's ok.
Unless you already read your Bible every day, this new commitment will require a reevaluation of what is currently prioritized in your life. We feed what we want to grow and starve what we don't - if this is something you'd like to grow in your life, you might have to say "no" to other things. If that is not possible right now, we look forward to when it can be for you and your family.
How long does a gathering last?
A few hours.
What about tithing?
No tithing will be accepted. One reason for not having a building, staff, programs, or affiliations is that it frees us up to directly meet the need in our community. Instead of spending $100,000 to repair a roof or $1 million for extending a building, we think that money could be put to another use.
How big is the group?
We don't expect the group to be big...but if we grow to over 20-30, we'll look to having another house to host half of the group.
What do I need to believe?
Anything, everything, or nothing in particular. All are welcome and accepted into full fellowship.
What Christiany things do you do?
Three activities have distinguished the church from the beginning: Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Word.
Baptism. We will baptize those who commit to being transformed into the likeness of Christ. This practice was started by John the Baptizer in the first century and has continued throughout church history. It is an outward expression of an inward reality.
Lord's Supper. We will start every meal together by blessing bread and wine/juice to remember how God's presence is always with us. Then we will continue eating the rest of our meal.
The Word. We will read and think about Scripture every day so that we can contribute to the discussion during our weekly meal. We hope these conversations will help us grow in all areas of our lives.
No sermons? How do you learn?
Yep, no prepared sermons. We learn through the experience of reading and wrestling with Scripture and from the discussions that it generates. The idea is to stop passively consuming and to start actively pursuing.
If you enjoy sermons, there are plenty of great teachings to watch online — perhaps an insight from one can be shared in the discussion when we get to that passage.