It feels like it's been an eternity since I've crossed the threshold of a church building. But that didn't stop me from reaching out to a couple of them this past week in an attempt to get some help for our rag tag group of Jesus followers. We're trying to do a couple ministry endeavors that involves mentoring and fixing up bikes for kids.
We need a place where we can work on bikes and keep them out of the rain. I thought maybe a church could point us in the right direction. So I sent out an email.... no response. Then I realized that most of these churches are part of the local Baptist Association. So I contacted them. Know what they asked? They asked if we were a member of their association. I let them know we were associated with the state convention. And we lived in their area. So I guess we'd be apart. They told me to fill out an application.
An application? Huh? Do we need to pay dues? (Probably.) Is this like a college rush thing? It was at this moment that I realized how far from Baptist life I am. I would have expected this a couple years ago probably. But the way we've operated for the past couple years is by talking to one another. Whether it was in our community or another community. We said, "Hey... can we help y'all somehow?" Not, "Fill out an application and I'll get back to you on the status of our willingness to assist."
I can post a need on facebook and within an hour have over ten churches see it and possibly respond. Or I could go through an association or state convention where it would take weeks and the results would likely be the same. What is this association for again? Are you telling me that you don't have any churches with empty space where someone could store stuff? Or are you saying that you won't tell me unless I'm part of the club?
I received an email this morning from the Director of the association and he wanted to understand why I didn't want to join his fraternity of churches. He pointed out that the association's membership was much easier than the state's which I had mentioned. I think he wanted to know if we were just too lazy to sign up or if we actually didn't want to enlist.
I explained to him we don't pay for a building, a staff, and we don't put requirements on people associating with us. So it's really difficult to justify why we would agree to those things by enlisting with them. I just thought the director of the association of church buildings would have a lead on a building for storage. I then invited him to meet with me anytime and let him know we'd be an available resource and friend anytime. We told him we'd like to cook dinner for him and his family as well. We'll see if he responds I suppose.
I'm not sure we're cool enough to be part of an association anyway. Besides, it's easier to go around these types of structures than to go through them. That's part of the beauty of the internet. It makes things more connected. The structures are essentially sidelined. Unless the structures change, they will simply die off.
I told the gentleman, "The mission is too big and too difficult to be putting requirements on who will join us in the endeavor." And that's what has me scratching my head. I'm just not sure we're about the same mission.
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