We've been thinking...

Some of you might have noticed we've been a little lax in posting lately, but while we haven't been writing we have been doing quite a bit of thinking! Two topics have been on our minds this summer: 1) the 219th PCUSA General Assembly and 2) the question of what we - and you - want the church to be.

But what does this mean, you ask? Well, here's the rundown on how these topics will impact The Church is Alive:

Firstly: The 219th General Assembly - a.k.a. "GA" - of the Presbyterian Church (USA) - a.k.a. the PC(USA) - kicked off 2 days ago in Minneapolis. This is a big deal for us at CiA (that's our fun acronym - use it :D) as many of us call this denomination home, but it is also a real-world example of a group of people deciding what they want "church" to be. To clarify: GA is a gathering of people who want to keep the PC(USA) alive and well by deciding on its future endeavors. This, of course, affects all of us, including other denominations - we all pay attention to and learn from each other!

Naturally, we here at the CiA wanted to be at the center of this actions. As such, we placed a few friends of the CiA on the ground at GA who will be sending us updates and reflections from the GA floor for the next couple weeks. (Hopefully we'll get a few of those up soon! Check back!)

Secondly: We don't want to just hear from the PC(USA) General Assembly - we want to hear from YOU! We'll be posting a whole slew of blog posts on this topic all summer (and, if you want to submit a blog post yourself, click here and let us know!), but we encourage all of you to check out the right side of the Church is Alive homepage. Just click on the question mark and send us a few words on what you want church to be. We really hope this will generate some great discussion about different aspects of the church and the ways in which 'church' can be experienced. You can put your name on your submission or respond anonymously, and we'll periodically post responses here on the blog. In fact, we've already received a few awesome responses. Have a look see:

"A community of faith that embraces, emulates, and empowers others to live as disciples of Christ."

- Dan W. Boles

"Home. For all.

A place of peace love, and justice, personally as well as communally and globally."

- Anonymous

"A place where difference is valued and isn't used to divide or oppress one another."

- Anonymous

"Church: Anyplace Christ's Body gathers to
Worship Him
Fellowship together with Him
Serve others with Him
Grow together in Him
Tell others about Him
In the power of the Holy Spirit"

- Laurie

"Church should be home. It should be an atmosphere in which you are welcomed home like the prodigal son (whether or not you ever left the church in the first place). It should be a place and atmosphere that you can pour out your heart and soul in. Finally, it should reach out in christian love into the community. This can be applied to local congregation, the Presbyterian (U.S.A.) denomination, or the entire Christian Church."

- Anonymous

So, what do you think? Do you agree with these folks? Disagree? What do YOU want the church to be??

Stay tuned - there's more to come!