Back during the summer, several of us started talking about the next step in our ministry to the poor and homeless, and one thing that kept coming up was what to do with the increasing need we felt for some sort of discipleship in the communities we serve. Finally, several of us decided we needed to throw a gathering of sorts, where we could meet, hold each other accountable and work out what following Jesus looks like in our world. Here is the original concept, cut and pasted from the August newsletter.

One recurring problem we have in our mission to work with and minister to the poor and homeless population of Raleigh is that of how to disciple those who have decided to follow Jesus. I know many of you represent various churches that would be more than happy to have these people attend your Sunday worship services and, in some cases, that has happened. However, we have to face the fact that many of them have had bad experiences with the church in the past, many are not comfortable surrounded by people who are obviously from a different class than they are and some are “pre-christian” – you cannot take it for granted that they have heard of the Sermon on the Mount or The Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Because of this, we have decided to put together a weekly gathering of sorts, where we can build some structure, begin to build relationships across class boundaries and build some accountability with each other as followers of Jesus. We envision a time of bible study and discussion, followed by community time where we discuss our prayer requests, our struggles and triumphs. Monthly we plan to eat together, each bringing items as we are able. While many of those who gather with us will be homeless or poor, we envision the participants being from a variety of class backgrounds and ethnicities. In fact, we are committed to it, celebrating the diversity found in the Kingdom of God. You may be homeless, an accountant, a pastor or a banker, but we are all equal in the Kingdom of God.

Last Sunday, we had our first Gathering, the result of a long time of planning, praying and talking about what it could look like, who would come and so on. Well, it happened, and we think it was a smashing success!

Our Motley Crew (minus Greg, who is taking the picture)

The Make-Up

In the last few years, I have come to understand that in the kingdom of God, everyone has a seat at the table. We all decided that if this was something we were going to invest our time in, we wanted it to be diverse, to cut a swath through a cross-section of people; young, old, rich poor–we are all welcome at the table.

There were 10 of us, meeting in a way too big room (it can seat up to 120, we are told). Of those in attendance, some of us are penniless, some of us are very comfortable middle class and the rest of us are somewhere in between. Occupations represented included an engineer, a school teacher, a nurse, a grass cutter, a some-time auto mechanic, the unemployed and two folks on government disability. We ranged in age from mid-fifties to mid twenties. We were evenly divided between men and women.

The Program

This is very fluid (by design), but we decided some structure, even if we change it later, is better than no structure. Right now, it will look like this:

• A time of greeting and talking amongst ourselves
• An opening prayer
• A reading from scripture, probably dealing with a specific Jesus teaching
• A short intro to the text, giving context and setting up the big questions
• As a community, we will discuss the specific teaching we saw in scripture, discussing how this is relevant in our lives and what doing this in the 21st century looks like. We will discuss it as equals, with all of us having an equal voice.
• A time of sharing, where we enter prayer requests, concerns, things we are rejoicing over or worrying over
• A time of prayer

Like I said, this is the program we are running with right now. Yes, there is no music, but that is subject to change, largely depending upon if God sends us someone with talent and skills (or at least a healthy interest) in that direction.

The Subject Matter

As we are still in the formation stage right now, it seemed right to discuss what we want to be centered on, what our values and core practices are. We wanted to focus on practices as a community rather than doctrine, because a focus on doctrine will divide us, while we can all participate in the practices.

Taking a hint (OK, it was a strong hint) from the most excellent book Body Politics by John Howard Yoder, we have decided to focus upon five practices found in the early church:

• Group discernment and discipline
• Open Meetings–a community of equals
• Everyone has a gift and can contribute to the kingdom and the community
• Shared meals as a community (Lord’s Supper, communion, the Mass)
• Baptism as entry to a new world

These seem to us a good set of things to be focused around. I explained a bit about each one and when needed, used some examples. Over the next five weeks, we will spend time on each one, trying to figure out what that could look like in our community, and why this practice could be beneficial in our journey of following Jesus.

Well, that was pretty much it. What is harder to describe was the vibe, the intensity in the room, the desire for this to work, the hugs and joy that went around the room, the passion among the participants… I just have not the words or the ability to describe it. In short, we all feel good about this. The biggest discussion was on the subject of sharing this with our friends. When you enjoy something, inviting others is a natural reaction. We decided, however, for the first several weeks to work on building our connection with each other and to focus on putting the practices in place before we open it up to the world at large. However, we also agree that opening it up is critical to do, lest we become a group of people who talk to ourselves and congratulate ourselves on being us. Lord knows, the world does not need more Jesus followers doing that.

I will keep all of you updated on this as it progresses. In the meantime, pray for us, would you? After we decide to open it up, we would love to have you come work out what following Jesus means with us.

By the way: It costs us $65 a week to hold these gatherings. If you are able to help us with the rent, it is VERY appreciated.  Just drop us a check in the mail (for whatever you can afford) to the address on this page.