What church should be

I love the Rochester Church. Last night our entire church family gathered in the Family Room to pray together as the school year starts. Students prayed for parents, students, and teachers. Teachers prayed for students. Parents prayed for each other. It was such an encouraging time and it reminded me of what church is supposed to be.

Church should not be something we do or somewhere we attend. Church should be who we are. Church should be a loving family of all ages helping each other along the journey.

Too often church becomes this ministry and that ministry, a collection of special interest groups who gather in their corners. Don't get me wrong. Different age groups and various parts of the family need time to sort through their own unique issues. But it must never stop there.

For example, if youth ministry is just teenagers gathering in the basement every week to sing their songs and talk about their lives, something huge is missing. They need the larger church body. They need to know they are loved by senior citizens, parents, teachers, young adults, and even children. They need to know that church is more than their youth group. They need to hear the words of those who have gone before them. They need to listen to the stories of those who are further along in the journey.

In today's world of "church for my special group"  I am afraid that gatherings like last night don't take place often enough.

Now I am the first to admit that the students in the youth group at Rochester aren't always excited about times when they come upstairs to gather with the rest of the church. Last night wasn't the first time I heard, "We're not downstairs tonight? Ugh!" I understand that feeling. But I imagine that years from now (and maybe even sooner) many of those students will appreciate and remember the night that their parents, teachers, and other adults, laid hands on them and prayed over them.

The church should be a place where followers of Jesus of all ages come together to experience life and help each other along the way. Let's work on getting out of our comfortable little special interest ghettos and strive to be the family of faith God intended us to be in the first place.

shine!
Jason