Well, we may actually MeetUp with each other more often than most other “churches” ever do.
That’s because we consider “church” to be virtually anything that people normally do together; from watching a ball game together, visiting a friend’s mother who is sick, helping to repair someone’s garage that may have gotten damaged in a storm, having a barbecue on someone’s patio, or taking in someone who became homeless until we are able to help them find some more suitable living arrangements. The original word that was used to define “church” was a Greek word – ecclesia – which basically just means “joining together.” Ancient texts reveal that early “churches” would gather together to do whatever they enjoyed doing in their normal living experiences. So, we join together… in a myriad of ways and places and do things that are a natural part of our everyday lives.
We get to know each other much more than you will likely find among other so-called “church goers.” We don’t believe in a one-day-a week meeting for a single hour where people sit in neat rows staring at a single person who is expounding upon only their particular point of view. We would seriously question how t=such a practice would produce any sort of meaningful community experience. But, instead we believe doing things together and sharing our lives, beliefs and needs with each other is a much more effective way of becoming a vibrant, caring community of people.
In addition, we also see the social media communities of our age as one of our modern society’s normal means of connecting with and sharing life’s experiences with each other. In fact, online social media is one of the most common ways that most people begin relationships today. In point of fact, the recent COVID-19 outbreak has sometimes been the sole way for people to be involved in any sort of “church life” experience. The fact that scientists are now telling us that we may continue to be battling the effects of this virus – which will affect social gatherings for the foreseeable future. Therefore, we are committed to using social media as a valid “church” experience – both now and in the future.
There has always been spiritual groups who have utilized new forms of connecting with people who could not or did not wish to be involved through other means; such as people who may be ill, informed, or otherwise homebound, those whose work schedules would not permit face-to-face participation, and those who simply did not wish to participate more directly with other people for a myriad of reasons, Therefore, we acknowledge and affirm that any means of participation in our organization to be valid, acceptable, protected, and affirmed by our community.
More importantly, we acknowledge the fact that online resources have opened up new horizons for “church type” interactions which our “church communities” will always be utilizing in the future. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? We wish to be always searching for and open to the next advances in this regard. For that reason, the use of online resources will always be one of our primary means of participation, as well as a completely valid means of “connection” for our participants.
We also sometimes do something we call PopUp’s which are simply unscheduled Meet-and-Greet times when we do something fun together. Some of our so-called participants spend time with each other on horseback, some on rollerblades, some jogging together, others sharing cooking events with each other and even many who never connect with others any other way than to share social media contacts with each other.