No. Not really.Au contraire , I will be a thrice-a-week guy on Sunday!
It's just that I have been thinking on the verb 'to attend' when used in relation to the noun 'church'. I'm not sure that the that the verb 'to attend' should ever be used with the word 'church' - as in 'I attend Christ Church' - not for the believer in Jesus.
Another verb must be used.
I have found it useful to actually ask people what verb should be used before the word 'church'? As in "I [.........] church". I find it is a helpful question that opens up a conversation about a person's attitude to the church.
Two questions:
- What are your other options? What are the best (or Biblical?) verbs to use with church? And why?
- What are the implications if 'attend' is the verb being used?
Pic on Flickr by Prof.Tournesol.
PS: This post was prompted because I looked at the website of Sojourn Church in Louisville, KY. The lead pastor there, Daniel Montgomery, has a good way about him. We have met on a number of occasions at Redeemer related events. And my experience of him was simple: I trust him. He has a series at the moment called: "Stop Going to Church."
10 comments:
Some other options: participate in, belong to, commune with.
A negative suggestion/plea: Let's not use 'church' as a verb:
'I church at ...'
Bleh.
I serve at?
"I'm part of [such and such] church."
I am keen to hear from Sam as to why we shouldn't say "I church at...".
How about.....
"I am a minister of the pew at...."
or
"I learn about Jesus and what it is to live as a Christian at....."
To convaluted?
Jim
The Ministry of Useful Redundancies offers the following suggestion:
I am gathered at church.
Surely you'll get some conversations out of that...
To ‘flesh’ out the discussion a little further from 1 Corinthians 12, how about:
“I am embodied, united, incorporated, incarnated, partnered, combined, merged and coalesced, … at X church”?
What about: 'I am organically significant at...'
I am a member of [such and such] church
i <3 church
Post a Comment