What makes someone a Christian?

Tonight we thought about what makes someone a Christian. It wasn't as obvious as it at first sounds!

We looked at three different models that people have come up with to try to explain it. 

The first, was a scale (The Engels scale) where non-Christians moved up the scale to a point at which they became Christians and then progressed further up the scale as they moved on in their Christian walks.

The second, was the idea that we follow Jesus as he moves all over the place. 

The third model, was of Jesus hounding us, rather like a cat wanting it's brekkie, pestering us and not letting us go.

We had a really interesting discussion about which model (if any) we felt most accurately described the experience of 'becoming' one of Jesus' followers. It seemed that the consensus was that there were good and bad things about each model and that perhaps elements of all three models made the best description.

We also talked about how using exclusive language (Christian - non-Christian) was perhaps unhelpful in a setting like SofaChurch, where we're all somewhere along the 'following' path. We went on to think about how SofaChurch can balance being a place that meets the needs of old-timers and newcomers alike. A tricky one, but perhaps a challenge that every church faces. 

Another interesting point was made in conversation at the end by one of our visitors, that his experience of SofaChurch, although interesting and enjoyable, was that the group was very much one of established friendships. Which on the one hand is precisely what we want, but on the other, we perhaps need to be careful not to become cliquey and appear unwelcoming to new-comers. Any thoughts on how you do this practically welcomed! It's a tricky one...  

Crewe Blog

Have a look at Tim's friend's write ups of SofaChurch on The Crewe Blog. It's encouraging to hear that people are maybe wanting to think about spiritual things but just feel that traditional church isn't for them.

Is SofaChurch your cuppa tea?

Inside SofaChurch

Coming next week...

Last minute change to the previously advertised theme; instead of 'Is the Bible the Word of God', instead we'll think about what it really means to be a Christian. I'm not sure that it's quite as black and white or easy as some people make it out. 

Sorry if you were desperately longing for the Bible one - I'm sure we'll cover this soon. Please come anyway!

Slow Club

For a while now, I've been aware that I've needed to slow life down a bit. Even as a part-time illustrator/housewife, I've noticed that my days can get pretty packed and that it's easy not to make time to say hi to God.

I decided a while back that there were a few simple steps I could take to get nearer where I wanted to be. Firstly, I asked Andy to jiggle my computer so that accessing the internet and email were impossible (I use his machine in the evenings for bits like this!) I also decided to stop leaping up every time the phone rang and began to let the answer phone take messages. I've also bought a book of daily readings that I hope will encourage me to attempt to connect with God every now and then.

At Greenbelt this year, there was a surprising emphasis on slowing down (particularly with regards to re-claiming the Sabbath). One talk in particular really stuck with me, so I downloaded it to use as the basis of our discussion. (It's by American Youth Worker Mark Yaconelli, son of Mike).

It was really interesting to hear everyone's views on the topic. Why do we find slowing down so hard to do? What do other people do to make time for God in the busyness of daily life? And how exactly do you have a day of rest when you have family and church commitments?

I know we only scratched the surface tonight, so do feel free to keep the discussion going here if you'd like to.

Spirituality in films

Many thanks to Bob for kicking us off with an interesting evening looking at the spiritual elements in secular films. We split into groups for discussion after watching clips from Rocky, Platoon, The Matrix and The Elephant Man.

If you know of other films that make you think along spiritual lines, do post a comment. 

Plus, we're always after films to show the Circuit's teens, so if you know of any that might be good, let us know. So far we've shown them Saved! and The Truman Show. (I'm currently working out how I can convince Andy that Night At The Museum has Christian content... ;o))

SofaChurch postcards

More SofaChurch postcards are on their way. Do feel free to take these and pass them on to friends.

Questions

Here are the questions that everyone came up with; things that they have always wondered about but never found an answer. These may well form the basis for discussion topics in the coming weeks/months/years.

- Is the Biblical account of creation literal - if so what about the dinosaurs?

- If humans evolved form apes, how come apes are still around today?

- How literally do we take the BIble - what does it mean to call it the 'word of God'?

- Why is Jesus nice but God in the Old Testament nasty?

- How controlling should people in authority in the church be?

- Other faiths

- Baptism - child or adult? What if the parents of a child are not sincere believers themselves?

- What does it really mean to be a Christian - which things are essential?

- Do we bring our children up to be Christian or is that tantamount to brainwashing?

- Do all paths lead to God if you are sincere?

- Are all denominations equally valid? How much 'heresy' is allowed before you draw the line?

- How do we explain paranormal experiences?

- What is heaven like?


Phew. I hope I got them all down - plenty to be thinking about then!

First SofaChurch meeting

Thanks to everyone who came last night for the first SofaChurch meeting. Andy and I were just delighted with how it went. 

We had hoped that the meetings would be a place where people would feel comfortable just being themselves and that that atmosphere of 'realness' would allow good friendships to develop. It was amazing to see just that happening last night, even in the first meeting when we didn't really know each other very well.   

We'll keep this blog updated each week, so that there's a rough record of what we've been doing. 

So - this week. We spent the first half hour working out how the coffee machine worked and chatting, then Andy outlined his ideas for SofaChurch. We then spent the rest of the evening sharing questions that we have about Christianity/the Church. Hopefully these will form the basis of some of the future meetings. 

As Andy said last night, we're very keen for SofaChurch to not be 'our thing'. For one thing, with little Minnow on the way we're very soon not going to have time for it to be. It would be great if everyone felt a sense of ownership of the group.

There's absolutely no pressure at all to get involved, but it's worth remembering that the more people who do volunteer to organise socials/lead discussions/present ideas for worship, the more varied SofaChurch will end up being (and more reflective of a true family, with all it's differences). 

It'd be great if we could make SofaChurch a place where people feel happy to have a go at taking an evening, without worrying too much about what others will think. There are so many ways of worshipping God and we can all learn from each other, however conventional/whacky the idea. Bear in mind too, that this will be easier for some than others, depending on personality type. I know I want to have a go at leading an evening, but I'm sure that I'll lose sleep the night before doing it!

Do leave your feedback. I'm always telling the runway kids 'It's your group' to get them to suggest things they might like to do, and this is even more true of SofaChurch. :o) 

The back row at runway...

Room pictures

The room is now finished. HUGE thanks to the Fergusons for all their hard work and also to Chris W for all his expert sofa assembling work (If you want an Ikea sofa put together, you know who to ask). 

We're really pleased with the final result. The room feels warm, inviting and cosy and we really hope it will provide the right atmosphere for friendships to develop and grow. Hopefully it'll be a relaxed place that we all enjoy going to (and wouldn't feel uncomfortable inviting our friends and neighbours along).

Let us know what you think!