My Church : My Life In The Church

In the Introduction section of the book, The Hidden Lives of Congregations, Israel Galindo states that a congregation is a “corporate relationship organization” (3) and is not an organization. He points out that the hidden life of a congregation would depict the “nature” of a congregation. This further identifies the relationships and faith of the congregation. According to him, the universal principles are followed by the congregations so that “systemic relationships” can work. The leaders learn the roles that they have within the people who are the congregation. The journal will focus on Dr. Fowler’s question “what is the purpose of this gathering we call the church?”

I was attending a chapel service and at Pittsburgh Theological seminars. I’m not sure who was ordained, because I’m still new, I know that these are my class mates, and we don’t really get in to who is ordained and who is not. So, I’m going to assume that they were all lay persons. There were about 6 people involved in the service, there were 3 musicians a 3 people that read different part of the service. It was a beautiful call and response type of service, which I thought was interesting. I want to say that the on participant is the one who runs our chapel service.

I participate in the church by attending weekend services; attending First Wednesday, which is an intimate gathering of believers for worship and communion; I serve every weekend with the youth, also known as the Next Generation; I participate in our local outreach opportunities; and later this I will be traveling to El Salvador on a mission’s trip as a part of our global impact team. In the two years that I have been attending Community Church, I can see drastic changes in my maturity and spiritual growth, which is evidenced by me attending seminary. While at Community, I am not just being preached to, but I am being taught, equipped, and given the tools I need to grow stronger spiritually. I am able to not only receive what I am being taught, but I am able to apply it to my own life and share it with others. At Community, I am learning how to have a relationship with Christ, how to be a disciple and a witness of Christ, and how to live out the life of freedom that God intended for me to live. Through this ministry, God is truly breaking me out of my shell and helping me to fulfill my

Throughout my time with the Methodist church, I have experienced great opportunities and also many challenges. My family and I have been taught by a man who I think to be one of the most godly men I have ever met. Reverend Felder has always had a positive outlook on St. Luke UMC future even through trials and adversity. In fact, I truly think the Lord used him to save St. Luke because when he became pastor the city of Augusta had the land the church occupied labeled a future parking lot. However Felder had a vision for the church and the vision included having the sanctuary packed with families from the neighborhood of Harrisburg. The church is now an entity in the neighborhood that it was not before Reverend Felder came, and while is has a

Getting to know my faith more has really changed my life, Before I started going back to church my life was falling apart but while I was learning about the Holy Spirit, God, Jesus Christ made me lead to the right direction. My Faith means a lot to me now that I am able to understand every detail about the

Not realizing I've fallen into a deep paralyzing sleep until the next morning. Sliding out of the foot of the bed with the inability to stop. This vision stuck with me. Talking with a church member, Jeff Hanson, a lean guy jolly with dark circles under his eyes, and nonjudgmental Christian, a friend of my parents.

I accepted Christ at the age of 12 at Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Bells, TN. It was rural church and over the years, pastors would not stay long because it was a great place for young pastors to get experience and leave for a larger congregation. At the age of 17, I joined the military and my spiritual formation really began to blossom. After traveling over four continents, I had an experience to learn from different ministers who actually went to seminary as opposed to the ones who did not attend an actual school. Every chaplain in the military had a seminary degree and the ones who captured my attention put emphasis on learning Greek and Hebrew.

The Lord led a beautiful and wonderful woman into my life the summer before my undergraduate Senior year that would, later that same year, become my wife. She was lost and seeking God and, that summer, I led her to him but didn't have the tools or the wisdom to show her how to accept Jesus. It wasn't until a few years later, March 6, 2011, that we joined a Baptist church here in Chapel Hill. That day, we confessed to the world we accepted Jesus as our savior and we were Baptized together. God brought us

I was baptized as an infant and accepted Jesus as my savior when I was four years old. The Lord blessed me with Christian parents and the opportunity to grow up always hearing the Word. We are members of New City Fellowship of Fredericksburg. It is a PCA church with an intentional cross-cultural vision. My family and I are very involved in our church. We actively participate in worship, small groups, Bible study and serving where the Lord calls us. Personally, I am part of a small group and a mentorship Bible study group for older teen girls lead by some of the older women. Before the mentorship group, I was in youth group. This mentorship group has helped further my knowledge and understanding of God’s word.

In last year there has been a few trials in my life where Christ has shown that He will be there for me. One major trial that I am going through right now, is the closing of Grace University. This has proven to be a struggle for me personally. I don’t enjoy when a lot of change happens and trying to stay positive knowing that I am going to have to deal with some stressful decisions. Mainly not knowing what school I will be going to be at next year. I

I was born into the church. My parents were both Christians, so were their parents, and so forth. When I was seven, I was baptized at my childhood church. Somewhere along the way, I stopped attending church and grew distant from it, even grew resentful towards the Christian Church at one point. It was until my Junior year of high school that I reentered my walk with God after a life-altering missions trip. Then, I became incredibly involved with my church. I joined a youth group and bible group, I watched kids at my church, whether it be Sunday school, AWANA or VBS, and I began to mentor my peers a few years younger than me. Since then, I have developed a deeper relationship with God, and I'm learning to trust Him more and more each day. As

This is a question, I often ask myself from time to time. What does it mean to be the Church? For many of us, being the church tends to be a place filled with friends, filled with history, it tends to be a place where most (if not all for some) of our social interactions take place, and it is also a place where we hear reflections on Scripture. There are times though when I am troubled by the Church. I am troubled because sometimes when I read the news, I am seeing various church bodies tearing down people or groups of society or even only focused on themselves. When a church becomes inwardly focused, trouble begins to arise. There begins to be this sense of not knowing what is going on in the community around them or even the world. Congregations

My leaders started to notice me and care for me in a way I had never felt before. Finally that summer I decided to go on a camp trip with them. Little did I know that the speaker that week would tell me a message that would open my eyes to concepts I had heard but not realized were truth. I heard that the Lord loved me unconditionally as my Heavenly Father. I learned that he cared for me, every second of the day, no matter what. He cared for me so much that he sent his only son to die for me. No matter how broken I was, he continued to give me attention and care I lacked as a child. That week I found hope in Christ. I had decided to start my new life and relationship with

I believe that God has called me to be a lay leader at my home church. Brunswick United Methodist Church (BUMC) in Crystal MN. I have had a feeling for approximately the last three years that I was supposed to be I a leadership position within the church. I believed that I was supposed to be a licensed local pastor within the United Methodist Church. I went through all of the steps, even talking with three of the five district superintendents in Minnesota, and was approved at each step as to becoming a licensed local pastor. When I went before the district committee on ordained ministry (dCOM) I was dealt a setback. The dCOM came to the conclusion that I would be better suited to become a lay leader within the church. This devastated me as I believed that I was to become a licensed local pastor. I was in serious shock for the next two weeks. It was at this time that District Superintendent (DS) Dan Johnson came to BUMC to talk to the leadership team, of which I am a member, to discuss ways that we could pull out of the financial situation we are in and become a strong vibrant church again. It was during this meeting that I felt a warm, calm felling come over me. It was at this moment that I realized that I was being led by God to stay at BUMC and be there to help them in this situation. I had been led there by God approximately ten years earlier upon my return from being an agnostic for thirty-five years, and now I knew the reason why. I am at peace with where God wants

My call to ministry was actually not my own doing. At the start of my Christian life, my mother and grandmother raised me in the church where I would sacrifice my life to be a part of ministry. I participate in different ministries as a child. I became a choir member at an early age. Then, I became a praise dancer, a junior deacon, and a Sunday school teacher. This transition to different ministries became a part of my true purpose for God: to fulfill His purpose in my life.