Mushroom Taster

I have a closet full of clothes. I am pretty much a clothes junky. However, I have a problem. I have no cool place to buy clothes. This is the same situation many church's are in. They love ministering just as much as I love clothes. The church also has the same problems as me. They have no cool place to get ministry......... Whoa! That is not the church's problem! Let me explain.

For me to get cool clothes I have to go Jackson, Memphis, or (when I save up enough money to visit my friends) New York. But for the church to get ministry ideas they only have to look around and pray for god to open their eyes. Who is in need of ministry and who is God sending to the church. How though are we to ministry to the unchurched and the dechurched? We are to be "relevant" right? Well of course we are! We are to be relevant first in the message we present to people. We are to present to a gospel so that it actually has bearing on their lives. Moreover, we are to be relevant in the way we present this good news. How do we determine what methods are relevant and which ideas are "so last fall." Is pink still the new black or is brown? Can we still do church in a Starbucks? What about places that still don't have Starbucks? (Yes, those places do exist. The closest Starbucks to me is two hours away.)

I think when we measure the relevancy factor of something we look to MTV or ABC then we adopt that for our churches. But to be honest by the time we realize that the mass media outlets are one to something, it is not cool any more. For example, the church might be looking to MTV while right now it should be looking to Current Television. Maybe this is still wrong. Maybe we should not be looking anywhere to see what is relevant. Instead of having our finger on the pulse of culture, maybe we should be like the pacemaker and regulate the pulse.

This is where I need help! Emmanuel Church is looking to reach the unchurched and the dechurched. But to be honest I am at a lose on what to do. I am thinking in terms of a new worship experience. How can we structure this gathering so that its beating in rhythm with the culture. I know many of you are not from Mississippi and many of you live in worlds where the culture is completely alien to us down here. What I need from you is ideas.

In his book The Barbarian Way, Erwin McManus talks about the mission of Mosaic. He says it is their job to taste mushrooms. He likens being innovative to tasting mushrooms to see if they are poisonous. Most people are going to let someone else taste the mushroom. If the brave soul kills over, everyone knows the mushroom is bad. If he lives, then everyone eats mushrooms. It is the same with the church. We let other people be innovative. If they are successful, we adopt their methods. Mosaic's job is to eat untested mushrooms. I want to try some mushrooms. I want you to send me your ideas. I want to east some mushrooms. E-mail your ideas on how to reach the unchurched and dechurched. Again I am thinking in terms of a worship experience. I am already sold on the servant evangelism method of meeting people, but I want to come up with a "church service" that will meet their needs.

No idea is too far fetched and nothing is too crazy. e-mail me jcardinell@dixieconnect.com