Engaging

Most churches in America are built like theaters: a stage, a performer, and rows of people facing forward. You can attend for years and never do anything but watch. We think that's a design flaw, not a style choice. The Bible describes the church as a body, and a body works best when every part is doing something.

An engaging church is one where every believer is engaged — where you're expected to bring something, not just receive something. Not because we need volunteers. Because the Holy Spirit has given you a gift, and the rest of us need it.

Paul is emphatic about this. "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal" (1 Corinthians 12:7). Every man. Not the clergy, not the talented, not the extroverts. Peter says the same: "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10).

We believe in the fullness and continuation of all the gifts of the Spirit, and we believe Scripture tells us to pursue them (1 Corinthians 14:1). So we will. Part of what a church is for is helping you discover what the Spirit has given you and then getting out of the way so you can use it — grounded in the Word, tested by the Word, and for the good of the body.

It looks like Ephesians 4: leaders whose job is "equipping the saints for the work of ministry," not doing all the ministry themselves. It looks like a congregation that sings, not a crowd that listens to singers. It looks like people teaching, serving, giving, showing hospitality, praying for the sick, and encouraging — each according to the grace given to them.

It also means there will be a place for you. Not to fill a slot, but because the body isn't complete without you. If you've spent years in a church where your only job was to show up, that will feel different — we think in a good way.