The Church of Lucy and Ethel

"So we feed the ecclesiastic furnaces our burned-out wrecks: tired leaders, disillusioned ministers, fatigued congregations- marshaling them to dance longer, march faster, pray harder, cry louder in earnest for God to come...We must be brave enough to stop if we are to see change... Our structures must serve us, not us serve them." Kester Brewin, Signs of Emergence



The signs of the industrial/factory church of the last century:

1. Strategies are tied to organizational control, market share, and the efficiency model.
   
2. Better metrics or measurements provides an improved Body of Christ.
   
3. Spirituality is nothing by itself, but is one variable among many.
   
4. There is no such thing as "overflowing cups," as these are a dangerous waste of scarce reserves.
   
5. Motivation is fear-based- since we engage ministry in order to survive.
   
6. Heavy emphasis on explanatory process of statistical and trends analysis.
   
7. Vision is connected with deficiencies and needs, not gifts, strengths, or abundance.
   

In the closed system of assembly-line production, like Lucy and Ethel, you're pretty much on your own! Do you think Jesus of Nazareth would waste time sharing God- presence with two or three believers? Or breathing out the Holy Spirit for his close friends to receive? What about the water welling up in Jesus' people with life- now and forever? It's the Spirit, the Holy Wind of God, that pushes us out into new mission, not different to the story in the Acts of the Apostles. That Source, not the results, make it worth our time to listen, to discern, and to go.