Falling in love

Picture, if you will, a small warehouse next to the highway in a little South Carolina town. A swing hangs from the big oak near the front door, and a large grassy hill sits behind it and patiently holds back the local lake. Inside, the warehouse holds, not stacks of boxes or reams of paper, but rows of brown-painted folding metal chairs. A few dozen people are gathered expectantly. Something is about to happen. Change is in the air.

On that late summer evening in 2002, the elders of Downtown Community Fellowship, a small church predominantly made up of college students that met in a warehouse across the highway from the local university campus, announced the end of the church's popular night service. Instead, DCF was being re-imagined as a "church of house churches." It was a bold move, a decision arrived at only after much prayer, and it changed my life.

I can remember the excitement I felt as the elders explained their vision. As soon as they were done sharing, I approached one of the elders, Chad Clarkson, and asked how I could be involved. Very soon, I was attending one of the newly formed house churches that met in his home. That fall, my senior year in college, was incredible. I learned firsthand about the transformative power of community, the joy of sharing life with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and the beauty of individuals using their unique gifts for the benefit of the Body. Like a young man who suddenly realizes that the girl he has grown up with all his life is now (and has really always been) a stunning beauty, I fell in love with the Church.

As a natural outpouring of that love, I began to serve my house church and the DCF body in any way I could. That eventually drew the attention of the elders and deacons, and sometime toward the end of the next spring I was invited to join the deacons as an "official" servant of the church. The only problem: I was about to graduate, and I had no intention of staying in Clemson, SC. But true love (and a complete lack of interesting jobs) can lead to some crazy decisions, and I decided to accept a research assistantship at Clemson and stick around for another two years.

Once again, this was a decision that would change my life. It was during this time that I took my first steps as a leader in the church. My ideas on leadership come primarily from the successes and failures that I and those around me experienced. My theology, too, was formed in the midst of community. Any knowledge I gained from books or scripture was filtered through the church that surrounded me.

This story only sets the stage for what is to come, but it is still important. The "big" ideas that I will expound on later make the most sense when placed in their proper context. Most importantly, as I begin to speak of the Church you must always remember that I love her. I don't just love the idea of the Church or who she could become; I love her now, despite her shortcomings. I love her dearly, deeply, and with all my heart.