Where's Your Church?

There was an unfortunate incident about which we can read in Acts 14 - the apostle Paul had been stoned and left for dead at the city of Lystra by those opposed to his preaching. But, we can see according to verse 20 and following verses:
20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God."
23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Paul did not allow this attack to hold him back from preaching the gospel - he did not cower in fear, but advance in faith. He and the disciples of Jesus went from city to city, including Lystra, sharing the message of Christ - and people were saved.  They left behind local churches, as we see in verse 23. We recognize that the local church has enormous power available and great opportunity to testify to the work of the risen Lord - and is a vehicle God uses to testify to His presence.

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God calls His people together, to fellowship and encourage one another, and to do ministry as representatives of our Savior. Hebrews 10 states:
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

New Braunfels, Texas is currently the site of the largest Buc-ee's convenience store in the world, a record that will fall next year when the record will be surpassed by the chain's superstore in Sevierville, Tennessee, according to News 4 San Antonio.  But, the Texas city is the home to a church that is committed to “transforming everyday places into sacred spaces," according to a Baptist Press article.

The church is called Epic Life, and one of those "everyday places" is a batting cage, where, according to the story, "One way church members do that literally is by showing up on Saturday nights to convert a local batting cage into a worship location for Sunday mornings, and about 400 people have been attending each week. Since the church’s launch in 2019, more than 160 people have been baptized."  The Lead Pastor is Brent Isbill.

The article relates that:

As Epic Life looks for opportunities to expand God’s kingdom, Isbill urges members to have an EPIC mindset, an acrostic for: Expectant faith, People matter, Irresistible community and Creating margin.

“Whether you’re a little kid or a senior adult, every day we want you to wake up with an expectancy in your soul that the God of the universe wants to meet with you,” Isbill said, adding that the expectancy includes knowing God has a plan for each day.

Pastor Isbill is quoted as saying, "We’ve seen so many stories of God doing a work that only He can do,” adding, “We’ve seen people step out of addiction. We’ve seen marriages restored. We’ve seen dads become spiritual leaders in their homes.”

The church had 56 attendees its first Sunday, and in 2021, it baptized 59 people.  Over the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, the church went from 200 to 400 people.  And, Pastor Isbill desires to see the church grow - it is planning to plant another congregation in New Braunfels, and is already supporting church plants.

We are called to multiply the Kingdom, and that may take some unique forms.  I found an article from 2020 on the Religion Unplugged website that featured an assortment of spaces in which churches are meeting.  The article relates:

Since the early New Testament church met in homes, many startup churches and church plants have met in eccentric, odd and unusual locations. A church plant in Berlin, Germany, called Berlin Projekt, draws many members from the young creative class in Berlin and has long met in a historic movie theater called Babylon. A church called yChurch in the Indianapolis suburb of Fishers, Ind., meets in a YMCA. Steel City Church in Pittsburgh now meets in homes and online while it looks for a permanent location. It used to meet in a night club called Altar Bar in the city’s Strip District, which was previously a Slovak Catholic church, and was turned back into a church in 2016.

The website for Steel City Church says that now, "We are grateful to be able to gather inside Squirrel Hill Christian Church. Home to a 100+-year-old congregation that generously allows us to share their space!"

And, then there's this story out of Utah:

Dr. Travis Kerns, Associate Professor of Apologetics and World Religion at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, planted a church in Salt Lake City that met in a horse barn. Kerns said he and his wife, along with two other couples, planted the church to reach a certain demographic.

“We reached people that wouldn’t have gone to a big, county seat First Baptist church because they were used to wearing t-shirts and Wranglers and dirty boots all the time. They were always farming, ranching, working with horses,” Kerns said.

While the location was part of what attracted these people, Kerns credited the authenticity of the people at the church for creating an environment that felt normal and genuine. 

The early church met in people's houses.  Church and ministry meetings are found in prisons, in sports locker rooms, and wherever two or three are gathered.  The fact is, the Church consists of the people, and the setting is not the most important element. 

But, that's not to minimize the importance of the setting. To have a consistent place where people can gather certainly leads to a sense of security, and gives congregants and potential visitors a place to go.  

But, we can also recognize that the Church can be mobile - after all, Jesus calls us to go. We can consider where we are taking the life-giving presence of our Savior, as the Church goes into the world for which Jesus died.