I am excited! Today has been an exciting day. Today we had the first gathering at our house of a group of people that, I hope and pray, will become a new Christian community, or fresh expression of church, or emerging church, or whatever terminology we may wish to use.

Today we met to eat together and to chat together. There were 13 of us in total, which included 6 children, and we chatted about what we felt was important if we were to learn as church and grow in community. Inclusivity was near the top of the list, with the children being able to be included or feel able to opt out out if they wished. Being at a home, rather than building or space, makes this a lot easier.

As we chatted we started to imagine what the community could start to look like, discussion and sharing ideas, people bringing worship activities with them, eating together so we get to know each other as central to what we do. We agreed to try and meet monthly to start with but acknowledge that belonging to the community did not depend on attendance alone.

It was amazing to hear of peoples dreams for what we could be doing. I am totally amazed by the whole experience. I am in awe of how God has brought us all together and the real sense of respect and excitement that was evident in our garden this afternoon.

The journey starts here! …. the really exciting thing is that none of us know where the road is leading. As in the picture, we cannot even see to far along the road as there is a ‘holy mist’ out there that we need to walk into. As we journey together we will learn more and understand more and maybe more things will start to make sense.

As for now …. we just walk forward slowly together.

If this story is all new to you and you want to know the background, you can read more about this at a previous post here.