I got permission to post this on our community blog by a guest who has been touring different churches recently.
Address: The Monte Carlo Inn – 8900 Woodbine Avenue (near Applecreek)
The one-room church, the homey church. For days after going to Mosaic, I was thinking and saying “small church, small church”. There was something rather attractive about this humble gathering of 30 people in the rented conference room. It reminded me of UTCCF, back in the old days when we were in Pendarves Room at the International Student Centre. You gotta stack chairs, u-haul the projector and sound equipment, and the quoted starting time doesn’t really matter. There are old folks, young folks, and even younger folks. The group wasn’t so small to be confining, but wasn’t so big that you wouldn’t know everyone on a personal level, eventually. Part of me was thinking — I know this setting. Different people, same church. Maybe it was because I ate breakfast, but I felt alive that day.
I enjoyed the expositional-style sermon. I don’t hear many of them anymore, for some reason. Can it be that the verse-by-verse analysis has gone on the wayside because it’s not catchy or exciting enough? I found it very refreshing to see the Bible through another person’s eyes, to glimpse part of the speaker himself as he pointed things out along the way. The message hit home on two fronts: the richness of Scripture (if we only take a long hard look, it’s there) and the small-group discussion/application time immediately afterwards. MCBC tries to do the sermon debrief too, but it’s not always effective… maybe it happens when the sermon doesn’t reveal real-life tension in holy callings. I suppose it is the same fine balance as there is in education: one cannot set a goal too lofty that we will give up before even trying, nor set a goal so low we dismiss it, thinking we have already mastered it.
The Eucharist (Holy Communion) was also an interesting experience. They had set up worship stations — tables with “stuff” on it — and it was a self-serve affair. “Stuff” included prayer box, candles, juice, bread. The physicality of having to stand up and move towards the table gave me the impression that while grace is totally free, you still must move to accept it and claim it. Grace doesn’t drop into your lap; some sort of “work out” of salvation is needed. I’ll admit I was fidgety and all distracted while waiting in line. Am I too used to instant service, in an instant society? Maybe it’s a picture of how the abundant life is received… slowly, impatiently at times, waiting, wavering between moments of focused reverence and mindless distraction.
Mosaic brought out the small-town charm of Christianity. A place where everyone knows your name, traditions are built indigenously, flexibility is in everything, and creativity has room to experiment.
Sounds like family.
Jason C Dukes does a great job in “Live Sent” sharing how every one of us ought to be living. We always need new ways of communicating our faith in a changing culture – and this one actually works.