Those of you who know me know that I am a pastor of a small, aging, liberal congregation in the East Bay (California). What you may not know, though, is that I seem to be pastoring another church, too. I have an increasing list of folks who regularly call on me, meet with me, seek my counsel, reflect with me about spiritual and life matters, but come nowhere near the doors of my church on a Sunday morning. This has not been an intentional development and it has grown slowly over time. Let me share with you some descriptions of just a few of the "members" of my second congregation: * a peer who is a single mom and very spiritual, but not religious - a very common description * a young woman in her 20's who is a devout Christian, but has questions about her relationships her career, etc * a man I counseled 20 years ago at high school church camp who just found me on Facebook * a newly married woman whose struggling and whose husband is not a Christian * a friend who has become disillusioned with the church after years of active involvement * and many more I share this because I'm wrestling with what it means....for me, for the church, for these individuals and so many others who are searching for something that does not look exactly like what church has looked like for the last 50 years (or more). The real challenge is to communicate this with my first church and to share the ministry I have with them. If anyone out there has any ideas, please let me know!
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