ReThink
Welcome to Centre Church’s very first blog. I’m Jonathan and I am the Pastor of Centre Church. I guess it would be appropriate to tell you a little bit of who I am in no particular order. Hopefully this doesn’t sound too much like a classified singles ad.
- I am a husband (my wife is a drummer, speaker and author and a babe)
- I am a Father of two girls and a guardian of a third.
- I am a pet owner (two dogs and a cat)
- I am slightly balding (possibly completely bald)
- I am addicted to Diet Caffeine Free Birch Beer (with artificial coloring)
- I love God and people
- I like sports
- I ride a Vespa but I dream about riding a Harley
- I write and record music
- I watch HGTV and the History Channel
- I play Scrabble and Monopoly although my favorite game is Euchre.
- I have spent most of my adult life working with Jr. High and High School students and still have my sanity (that fact is debatable depending on who you ask.)
- I am a Church Planter.
That last bullet point brings me to crux of my first blog. For the last five years I have been rethinking and dreaming about Church. I have been meeting with a team of ten people over the last several months praying and creating what we call Centre Church. I guess the big thing we have noticed about ourselves is that it is so easy to get derailed from the mission. Jesus put it this way when He said, “the entire law and the prophets hangs on two things, Love God and Love Others.” That’s a simple concept but hard to accomplish.
There has been a lot of liberty to think outside of the bounds of ritual and “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” I don’t know a lot but one thing I do know is that as a Church our arrows must point out. We must be about loving others and in that we will love God. I am having a blast designing a new church that isn’t very churchy. I’m curious what you think. I’d love for you to respond to this question, If you could start a church what would be two or three things that you would focus on?
Hey if you ever want to chat and have a cup of coffee, I’ll buy.
Rethink,
Jonathan
7 Responses to “ReThink”
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Jonathan –
Love your first post! I’m so excited for this adventure. My socks are going up and down.
If I could design a church, it would focus on:
1. Helping those in true need – seems like the people that really need it get overlooked because they are, at times, tough to help.
2. Basking in God’s love. Helping each other to build an amazing relationship with God and to begin to understand just how much we are loved.
3. Humor. I don’t think everything has to be funny, but it would be nice to use humor in a positive way to inspire others to ‘Love God and Love Others’. Jonathan, I’m sure you can figure out how to do it with respect and reverence.
Keep posting…you’re bookmarked and I can’t wait until your next post!
Annie
I think Centre Church is going to be fantastic! I can not wait to see it in December!!!!
Hi Jonathan,
Great website– I like the way you are rethinking church and inviting input. I have great confidence in your capacity to build authentic community and I know this will be the bedrock what God does in Centre Church. I’d love to grab some coffee with you soon to hear more about your vision. I know a lot of people in SC who might be interested in a different type of church.
God bless!
Jonathan
So here’s my question. I spend my week doing whatever, knowing that ALL my life should be an act of worship, a living sacrifice to the Lord…but in the end sometimes I’ve just been “busy.” So when faced with a Sunday morning Sabbath, how do I give God what is his on this new way of having a Sabbath, and not just have it turn into an extra day to fill up with whatever I (read BIG “I”) wanted to do but didn’t get time to do during the week? (See Isaiah 58:13-14. Yes, I’m playing devil’s advocate here. Give me a good answer Pastor Jonathan!
i am totally jacked for the birth of centre church. i can only pray that it won’t be as painful as the birth my wife is anticipating on experiencing any day now (8 lbs with 2 weeks to go? insane!)
at any rate, to answer your question, here would be two things i would focus on if i were starting a church…
- community…that word probably doesn’t do justice to describe what i’m getting at, but when i read the end of Acts 2 the one thing i’m convinced of is that the early Church had a ton of fun together. they weren’t just devoted to being in the Word and praying together- they were devoted to hanging out and going out to dinner and making memories together. i think just about every human being craves being a part of a group of people who just love doing life together. and second to Jesus, i think it’s the Church’s most attractive quality.
- “being” the church…much like you said that as the Church our arrows should point out, i think we’re missing the point if the majority of time we spent together as the Body was happening “in church.” after we’ve come together as a body, let’s go and be out loving people and meeting needs…that’s just as honoring to God as a bible study or weekend gathering, if not more so…and yet most churches have laser-like focus on making sure their calender is stuffed with events, groups, dinners, etc…all happening within our building’s walls.
looking forward to keeping updated on centre church. y’all are in my prayers!
Leah,
Great question. As a Pastor I have had to learn to take a Sabbath on days other than Sunday. Doesn’t matter what day you take the Sabbath but I think it is important to be intentional about it and to have a plan for the Sabbath. Often times if I am willy nilly about it, I end up being more tired and fatigued than I was before. My natural state is to occupy all my hours with busy-ness. The Sabbath is about rest and worship. God gave us the Sabbath so that we can refuel and be able to live more missionally inbetween Sabbaths. When I read Rob bell’s book “Velvet Elvis” I was struck by his informal guidelines he had for the sabbath. These have helped me. Here are a few.
I remind myself that I did not make the world and it will continue to exist without my efforts
My work is done, even if it isn’t
My job is to enjoy. PERIOD
I am fully available to myself and those I love most
I remember that when God made the world, He saw that it was good
I produce nothing
I remind myself that I am not a machine
At the end of the day I say, “I didn’t do anything today,” and I don’t add, “And I feel so guilty.”
My phone is turned off, I don’t check my e-mail, and you can’t get a hold of me
Hope I got your point, I often miss the point.
btw
Anonymous Jonathan. Because I don’t see your e-mail address I don’t know who you are. email at jonathan@centrechurch.org and we will grab some coffee. Peace