Common Ground Christian Community

Today we worshiped at Common Ground Christian Community, our second visit. The first was several weeks ago, and then we had two snowstorms that kept us home, and then we were away for the holidays.

It is a small church — perhaps fifty people or so. It feels about the same size, maybe a bit smaller, than New Life Presbyterian, our church home in Ithaca, NY.

The building is a store front, comfortably shabby — no dazzling decorations, architecture, furnishings, etc, but no old and musty orange shag pew cushions either. No pews — just cushioned chairs arranged in rows. There is no cross. Up front there are flags of various countries hanging on the walls — I recognized Israel, Japan, and of course our own, plus there were several others. There is a smallish platform for the musicians; the drum set and the keyboard were on the platform, and the guitarist and singers (and, today, three brass players) stood in front of it. It’s all amplified, but not drowning-out loud, and not flashy or overly polished / slick. There is a small table for the communion elements. A nursery and another open room are upstairs, and there is also a small kitchen and one or two other rooms in the back.

We arrive on time and people are chatting and having coffee and donuts. Someone sees us entering and greets us right away. People also greet us during the official greeting time and after the service as well. This is nice and annoying at the same time. Sometimes I wonder if churches who emphasize making visitors feel welcome realize that some visitors want to just slip in and observe without having attention called to them. I suppose it’s tricky ground, because you can’t tell just by looking which kind of visitor is which.

The service begins with singing. The songs are all contemporary — nothing as rich and meaty as the best hymns, but nothing as simpering and meaningless and theologically questionable as the worst choruses. Some I like. Some I don’t care for. I find myself missing the music of previous churches.

The liturgy is limited; there’s the greeting time, a sermon, communion, an offering, and dismissal. Communion is not called communion or explained in any way, other than that it’s a time to celebrate Jesus, and instructions for how it’s done in this church (bread cubes and juice cups are passed, and each individual takes, eats, drinks, replaces the empty cup, and passes the elements down the row). Likewise I don’t remember any explanation of the offering. And it’s dismissal, not benediction. And a worship gathering, not a worship service, and a community, not a church.

I understand the desire to remove obstacles — church lingo and liturgy can be confusing to folks who don’t have the background. And they can remind people of bad or empty past church experience. But to me it makes so much more sense to clarify, explain, properly model these things, rather than hush them up or eliminate them.

I won’t discuss the sermon, since it was by a guest preacher and therefore not representative. The first time we were there, the pastor was finishing up a series relating biblical truth to the Lord of the Rings. It wasn’t as silly as it might sound.

Looking at the sermon notes, the brochures, the website, and reflecting on the service, I think about the Emergent movement and wonder to what extent this church considers itself part of that movement. The language is somewhat counter-culture or postmodern. The lingo is minimized. Mission and inclusion is emphasized. Perhaps doctrine is simplified.

The denomination is technically Church of Christ, but the pastor explained to us after our first visit that it’s “the non-denominational denomination.” Still, I’d like to know more about what this denomination is about and what its history is.

I have questions I want to discuss with the pastor at some point:

They practice immersion baptism, and the pastor at Grace Reformed Presbyterian in Walkerton says that Church of Christ might be one of the churches that believes baptism saves, whereas Reformed folks believe baptism is a sign, a work done after salvation is accomplished and not a work necessary to obtain or complete salvation. Will they accept our baptisms and Amy’s? Do they believe baptism is sufficient and / or necessary for salvation?

Mission and service are emphases; so are inclusion, welcoming. But to what extent is acceptance really offered? Are you only accepted as long as you are on “the right path,” making progress in faith, etc? Is there room at this church not only for seekers and “pretty” Christians, but for real Christians who struggle with real issues? Is there any emphasis on growing as Christians, not just in external focus and service and mission, but in personal depth of faith and knowledge and love? Is “community” such a banner cause at this church that individuals are lost?

I remember reading something about a discipleship process. Some kinds of programs, official structured things, make me nervous. I don’t want anything that makes discipleship a cookie-cutter event, a set of meetings and exercises that can be completed in nice linear order and then you get your disciple certificate. And I don’t want anything that solidifies discipleship into a list of concrete objectives. I want to know more about this process and what it means, how they see it, how they use it.

One of Mark’s comments this evening was how amazing it is that one can go to so many churches, even obviously believing churches, and yet hear so little of the Gospel — so much about what we need to do, so much about topics and surfacy exposition, but very little about the center of it all, the grace by which God comes after us to love us and to offer us righteousness in exchange for our sin.