Friday, May 20, 2011

Church planting: the funny, ironic and absurd

By Jonathan Kindberg

Some funny, head scratching, and bizarre recent anecdotes and factoids that confirm, in the words of one of my friends, that there aren’t any easy answers and models to base my ministry on:
-One of the kids has started bringing his Muslim Eritrean refugee neighbor to our primarily 1st and 2nd generation Mexican church. One of the youth has started bringing his caucasian, unbaptized, unchurched girlfriend to church with him.

-In one week I spend half of my conversations with parishioners explaining the dangers of Jehovah Witnesses and the next performing services at key rites of passage: quinceanos, vow renewals, first communions, house blessings.

-Of the adults in my congregation I am the youngest and the most pale of skin. Of the whole congregation, the children outnumber the adults (a great blessing) and yet often threaten mass chaos.
-Somehow we try to blend the catholic, charismatic, evangelical and social action streams of the church: the same week we have a (liturgical) healing prayer service followed by a workshop on the rights of immigrants.

All in all, you never know what to expect from one day to the next and there are no clear steps to follow! Lead us Holy Spirit!

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