Open Church

[This is a flier that I made for Open Church.  The flier attempts to explain everything about the idea for Open Church.  For more about Open Church, see here.]

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Open Church: Because Church is more than listening to sermons

Do you ever feel that church has become a passive activity for you?  Do you drive to church, listen to the sermon, and then drive off?  Is Church where you sit down, shut up, and listen to some old guy tell you how to live your life?  Than Open Church is for you.  Open Church allows you to take an active role in the church, instead of just sitting by the sidelines.

Sunday Morning:   (10:30 A.M.)  Have you ever thought to yourself, “The time I spend talking and getting to know people after the service is probably the most valuable part of the whole service.  Why does the church treat this as if it is the least important part?”  Welcome than to Open Church, where fellowship is put as one of the top priorities.  The Sunday morning portion of this church is nothing more than hanging out with other Christians.  That’s right, just hanging out.  Instead of sitting next to people, you interact with other Christians, and work to develop a Church family that actually knows each other.

Sunday Evening:  (6:30 P.M.)  This is a time for bible study.  Instead of listening to what someone else thinks about the Bible, read it together with a group and than tell us what you think.  I hope that this focus on application of the Bible to our lives instead of debating the finer points of theology, but I will bend to majority will.  This is also a time for prayer and worship.

Location:  Do you ever feel like your offering every Sunday is going to pay the salaries of ministers and the upkeep of the Church building, instead of going to the needy?  One of the great advantages of Open Church is that it has no building to keep up or staff to pay, so you can give your tithe directly to the poor.  As a consequence of this, there is no fixed location where Open Church meets, it varies every week.  Weather permitting we will meet outside.  (In case you ever thought it was ridiculous that you spent all Sunday morning in a man-made structure instead of enjoying God’s creation).  Never be afraid to call me if you want to know where the church is meeting on a given week.  (If you leave a name and number, I will call you back).  Otherwise, you can request to be e-mailed weekly about what the church is doing.

Structure:  Open church has no hierarchy.  There is no one in charge of the church.  (I am the contact person, but I have no authority).  There are no elders or ministers, just ordinary people who run the church.  Everyone has equal say.

Accountability:  I think accountability partners are also a cool idea, and a way to support each other.  This is encouraged by Open Church.

Service:  I think ideally Open Church would be very involved in serving the poor.  However, I am not going to bite off anything until the Church at least gets off the ground.  If you have any ideas about ways in which we can serve the poor, please let me know.

Questions, Comments, Suggestions:  Call me at 954-4133