The Ragamuffin Church - Part 1

“I contend there is a place for unique local congregations. Churches not based on any one camp’s values. Groups that discover their identity listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and evaluating the makeup of their unique communities.” - Ragamuffin

You broke the bonds

You loosened the chains

You carried the cross

And my shame

You know I believed it…

But I still haven’t found what I’m lookin’ for…
- (U2)

The debate surrounding the validity and effectiveness of the local church is one that rages on, and quite frankly confuses me. I’m confused because of my own conflicting emotions on the subject. Some of the very best times of my life have been in a local congregation, and some of the very worst times in my life have been experienced in a local congregation. So, based on my own history, and reading and listening to the widely conflicting views of so many people’s own experiences and opinions, where does one discover balance, and more importantly, truth?

What adds to my confusion is the apparent presupposition that you have to join a “camp” that you believe in – and then be prepared to be labelled as one its adherents. There’s the emerging church camp, the purpose driven church camp, the seeker sensitive church camp, the fundamentalist camp, the list goes on and on. Out of the bunch I probably identify most closely with the emerging church. But to be perfectly honest, I cannot identify with all that they stand for. In fact, I can’t identify fully with any of the camps. So where does that leave me? A vagabond schmuck out in the wilderness? Frankly, I don’t think many identify fully with any particular camps’ values and beliefs. For example, I might identify with 90% of a particular groups values, but when it comes to the gay and lesbian issue, we’re miles apart. Within the perimeters of their values, if I declared my church to be gay-friendly, I would become an instant outcast. But when I check out the websites of the self-declared gay friendly churches in our country, I find certain values that I cannot subscribe to. And not subscribing to those values would probably make me unwelcome there too.

So where do I go? What do I do? I have an inherent desire to “belong”. The fact is that I generally love the values of the emerging church. But there are some aspects of Rick Warren’s philosophies, and Max Lucado’s views, and Kobus van Rensburg’s opinions, and Joel Osteen’s style that I think SHOULD be incorporated into the local church. Particularly mine – knowing the needs, values, culture and history of the community in which I live. I LOVE the worship at Buckhead Church, but there’s something about the majestic worship at Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral that hugely appeals to me, as much as Vineyard’s values concerning worship resonates with me.

I contend there is a place for unique local congregations. Churches not based on any one camp’s values. Groups that discover their identity listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and evaluating the makeup of their unique communities. What and who is their target group in that community? Then go for it and set your own values, working within the confines of your own conscience regarding remaining true to Scripture.

Mike Housholder, pastor of a Lutheran church once said in a sermon that the local church is a broken, often sinful entity – but at the same time, it’s also the very best answer for encountering the living presence of Christ on earth.

So yes, I DO think that the local expression of church is valid and still has a divine role to play in the world. With all it’s issues and politics, I do love the local church.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to explore several aspects of local church – sharing some of my own successes and failures, and sharing some of the insights I’ve discovered and found useful. I’ll also share some of the resources I’ve stumbled upon. Just maybe there is a ragamuffin out there that find a bit of inspiration and usefulness in my chronicles. I want to speak about attitudes, values, worship and whatever else is important to local church.

In keeping with the theme of my blog, I’m going to refer to it as The Ragamuffin Church. No, it’s not a NEW movement that I’m starting! It’s simply an exploration of how ordinary people (ragamuffins) in ordinary (ragamuffin) churches can explore their individuality, and become something that it valid, highly effective and relevant to many people.

I still believe in local church. It’s just its mechanics that confuse me. Ragamuffin Rambler quotes Nouwen – I think it’s apt for me to conclude with these wise words.

"The Church is an object of faith. In the Apostles' Creed we pray: "I believe in God, the Father ... in Jesus Christ, his only Son … in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting."We must believe in the Church! The Apostles' Creed does not say that the Church is an organization that helps us to believe in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No, we are called to believe in the Church with the same faith we believe in God.Often it seems harder to believe in the Church than to believe in God. But whenever we separate our belief in God from our belief in the Church, we become unbelievers. God has given us the Church as the place where God becomes God-with-us." (Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey)

I’d love to hear some of your views on local church, and particularly some of your experiences in local church. Please let me know what has worked for you, and what you’ve discovered in your experiences of local church.