The members of Waterfront Community Church attend weekly services in a high school auditorium. Their contemporary Christian music rock band practices at someone’s home. And the pastor relies on a laptop and Starbucks for an office.
The nondenominational suburban Chicago church operates on a shoestring budget and under an unusual financial setup so it can stick to a mission: Give 100% of offerings gathered from the collection plate to those in need.
“We found how little we know about the people around us. We started asking around, ‘What are the needs of the community?”‘ said the church’s pastor and founder Jim Semradek. “When you present that need to people, they’re very responsive. People have very generous hearts.”
We often have an “edifice complex.” This is especially acute in (P)ECUSA, where, over many decades, many attachments have been formed to some beautiful buildings.
I firmly believe in the power and importance of associating beauty with worship. I also believe in the importance of setting aside a place devoted to God. However, people like these should serve to remind us that we should wear our attachments to a building, a location, lightly. When the edifice ceases to serve God, and becomes instead an impediment to that service, we need to consider alternatives to our own “edifice complex.”
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