Welcome to the first chapter of our story. It took close to ten years from the time we discerned the Spirit to completed development. Truthfully, our story is still going strong and the lessons we learned along the way continue to shape our future.
chapter 1:
first steps
Rooted versus Grounded
What does it mean to be rooted or grounded? How does our history influence or impede our future? Moving forward requires us to look backward. Standing on solid ground gave us a firm foundation to step into the future. If you are thinking about doing what we did, then...
Speaking in Tongues
Speaking in tongues may seem like an odd place to begin. We’re Presbyterian, and we don’t do that. However, Paul devotes better part of this chapter in First Corinthians to three things: speaking in tongues, interpretation, and prophetic imagination. All of them have...
Prophetic Imagination
Prophetic imagination is risky for the church. It threatens our security and stability. Prophetic words shine like light seeping through boarded up windows. It illuminates our hearts and spirits. Prophets see the light and want more. They move to rip down these boards...
Interpretation
We imagine Paul was tired of hearing from the Corinthians. In both letters he reminds the church that faith is not a competitive sport. There aren’t winners and losers. There aren’t hierarchies of gifts and talents. Speaking in tongues is no exception. Paul says, if...
What We Learned: Listen, Interpret, Communicate
Despite how it ended we were still excited. The creativity of our conversations overshadowed hearing “no”. We still had a lot to learn though. We'd like to share some of the lessons we learned. Listen In the months leading up to our congregational meeting we listened...
