On a Mission

It is official, signed and delivered, sealed with my heart ... I am a member of a church. I have been a member of a religious order but never officially such a thing as a "church". They have been places I liked to visit for a while, like Synagogues and ashrams, and stir up a conversation to get a glimpse of G-d and the soul through other eyes, but never to call home, Churches have so much they need to be forgiven for I would tell myself. Yet this seems the church I never thought existed - but hoped it might. It is not perfect of course, but wants to be, and that being in alignment with the "Red Letters" and making Jesu available to all in a way they can receive his message and serve the unity of G-d, which also means receiving and serving others.

It is a radical congregation of both gay and straight people, made almost famous overnight with a billboard saying "we are sorry" - apologizing for the Christian fundamentalist backlash that defeated Proposition 8 in a recent California election, allowing gays the right to marry (Could this be a beginning for loves triumph over literalism?). It is a church that grew in spite of its intention not to be church, only a ministry for the needs of the youth. It became a grass roots transformation into a new vision. It was the youth that brought in their parents and their parent brought in friends. And it is now a growing body that would rather splinter into smaller congregations than become too big and loose the personal connection.

It is a gathering that has beauty as one of its core values, and looks for the inner beauty in all persons. It is a circle of souls that values truth and realizes it is a progressive realization, It is a meeting of individuals that values community and tries to respond to the needs of people locally and beyod, to the suffering around the world. It is a environment where the ministers are huggable and are real people; with blue jeans, human failings and wounds, and a meeting place where healing can begin for the disenfranchised of Christendom. It is a place that seeks to break down the barriers of otherness that separate us from one another - thus it van be hazardous to your comfort level. And it is a safe space where it is OK to question and find your own answers and change your views as you mature - even a controvecial old mystic like me.

It is a place I think Jesu would be proud of and thus I call it my church. I wish to be a part of its evolution and its evolution become a part of me. It is an experiment that needs supporters as it strives to be a pioneer of "Christianity for all". And it is unfolding a virtual ministry, because behind all the slogans, this message is to precious to be confined to a box. If you get a chance, I invite you to see for yourselves.

(Check out www.missiongathering.com - podcasts are available.)

© Arjay, 2009, All rights reserved.