https://www.chrismorton.info/2014/04/24/five-unexpected-joys-in-church-planting/ Growth and Mission Mon, 24 Oct 2016 18:04:09 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.32 https://www.chrismorton.info/2014/04/24/five-unexpected-joys-in-church-planting/#comment-9770 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 14:10:42 +0000 http://www.chrismorton.info/?p=5538#comment-9770 The following is not meant to discourage you, but to keep you from falling into the trappings of the institution.
Hi Chris,
My husband and I live in Michigan and follow your blog.  We left the institutional church almost a
year ago.  My question to you is:  Do we need another church?  It seems churches are planted with great
ardor and then, after a few years, they seem to become business-as-usual
establishments.  We were part of a church
plant some years ago.  We had the same
enthusiasm, the same mission, small groups, outreach, etc, etc.  Years later, the pastor had become a one-man
show and it was discovered that he had been engaged in an extra-marital
affair.  His wife left and the church
split. Another church was planted with the refugees.  The original plant is still there, yet the
newcomers are clueless as to what is going on with this guy.  Frankly, we finally got the message that
Jesus did not come to establish an institution. 
No matter how hard one may try to espouse the idea “our church will be
different”, one will still fall into the trappings of the institution…money,
power, and hierarchies.  Church people
will eventually live to serve the organization (youth program, kids’ church,
coffee bar).  There is a loneliness outside
the institution. Jesus experienced that loneliness. He found himself on the outs
with the religious figures of his day and “had nowhere to lay his head”.  My husband and I have been meeting in a local
coffee shop on Sunday mornings for fellowship and Bible study.  We buy strangers a cup of coffee and have
conversations with the owners.  I
volunteer at an at-risk elementary school where many of the kids are broken and
in desperate need of love.  My husband
works with youth who have aged out of the foster care system.   The days of in and out church ministry are
gone.  We are in with both feet and
staying in.  The institution and
traditions of Christendom are no longer a part of our lives.  Everyone we called “friend” from the churches
we have attended are now our friends on Facebook, but that’s about it.  We are making new friends with the broken of
this world; people unlike ourselves.  I
think that’s what Jesus had in mind.

]]>