I had coffee this morning with a young church planter in Hamilton named Pernell Goodyear. He leads "The Freeway," a downtown community of the Salvation Army. The Freeway I think represents the future of the church. It is highly non-traditional, going against the grain of a denomination (SA) that sounds every bit as tradition bound as the United Church of Canada.
Their home is a former bank building at the corner of King and Wellington in downtown Hamilton. They house a fair trade coffee shop, which Pernell told me generates income to pay for the operation of the building. On Sundays at 6 p.m. there is a worshiping community that gathers.
The difference between The Freeway and most other churches is that it is deliberately and self-consciously a neighborhood church. It is part of a missional movement to reintegrate churches into neighborhoods, and to build churches around groups of people who engage in Christian practices with one another. Pernell says they have absolutely no interest in becoming a traditional congregation based on church growth principles. Their focus is on the formation of Christian community among people who live in the same area.
For that reason, he says they have actually discouraged what you see happening more and more, which is people driving long distances to find a church that "meets their needs."
He described their worship as "sacramental" (I have to ask him for more details about what he means by that) but I think they are expressing the contemporary suspicion of basing the church on marketing techniques or on rationalistic methods of persuasion. Rather, they seek to embody the church through their common life.
He also told me that they consider their building actually be the community's building. The church pays the bills, but the facility is available to the community.
I want to start exploring ways in which already existing churches (like mine) can reestablish a more deeply rooted community connection.
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3 comments:
It seems to me that The Freeway would be equally welcome as a United Church congregation. I agree completely that local churches should reflect and actively participate in their local community.
Good to hear your thought's about the Freeway, and my buddy Pernell.
Peace & blessings
J
Bill, I think absolutely this is a model that would be workable in the United Church. We'd have to loosen the "United Church ethos" control mechanisms that tend to dictate what is appropriate musically, for example. And we'd really have to break out of our staffing straightjacket and the fear we have of anyone not thoroughly indoctrinated in that "ethos" providing leadership. The United Church doesn't really equip people to lead this kind of congregation, so we'd have to be willing to learn from outside. But, the message I got from Pernell was that these are some of the challenges facing the Salvation Army as well.
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