Vitamin Church

I muse over the meaning of church as we park and stroll towards our five-year-old start-up fellowship, downtown. My mind pictures all the churches meeting around the city, around the world, and I ponder the significance of "church" in our particular culture. With folks placing less and less value on formalized groups of all sorts, many churches face dwindling numbers and reduced contributions as real threats to their continued survival. But how should God's body respond?

As a family, we've taken various approaches to this concern. Our main focus through the years, the in-home small group, has undergone numerous iterations until its latest, which served a primarily unchurched or other-churched crowd. We've taken several long- and short-term hiatuses from official fellowship, with wildly-varying results. And our own culture -- that of family, social, and personal areas of focus -- has changed through the years, as well. Yes, our relationship with "church" in the traditional sense has experienced multiple shifts, and we're currently undergoing another one.

We silently find seats in the sparsely-populated "sanctuary" - really a high school gym. Singing has already begun, worship songs which we join in with gusto. Across the street, our pre-teen son meets with another fellowship, one that provides a larger group of peers. Yet I spot other families whose children attend here, swelling the "child" ranks to include kids of all ages. Clearly, one size dosn't fit all in this quest for the real purpose of church.

As the service progresses, we mingle, pray, share announcements, and sit under God's spoken word. Our pastor presents a message that touches my heart, and I thrill to see a new girl in the next row taking careful notes, too. I do appreciate this gathering together, I conclude. But I know it's just one small part of "church." I think of our precious small group - a group we disbanded months ago while my husband studied for a large test. This comprises an integral part of "church" for us, too. I consider our dear ministry friends, a family with whom we share neither small group attendance or weekly church, but to whom we feel closer than most people in this room. "Church" includes them, without a doubt.

And again, my mind soars to the other fellowships meeting around town and the world. I think of house churches in China. Underground meetings in the Middle East. Flourishing fellowships in Africa, South America. And struggling ones across Europe. I think of the millions of friendships like those we enjoy between believers that share no common group, only Christ. I return to our cultural challenges, and I smile. "Church" will survive - of that I feel sure. It may look different as our societal needs shift, just as church in India or long-ago France appeared different, too. But its core - the bond that draws believers together across cultural bounds since Christ's death - cannot change. Christ died to make us free - free brothers and sisters in Him - and whether we meet in a house, on the street or in prison, our fellowship will remain.

Our pastor's sermon drives on, and suddenly, I'm listening again. No longer do worries pinch my soul I'm confident that whatever path God prescribes for our family in the coming years, it won't take us far from fellowship - far from home. I gaze around the beloved faces I see every week, and I smile. "Church" looks familiar today - friendly and secure. But if it looks different very soon, its center will remain strong. Christ, the heart of church, holds us together. And Christ will carry us through to the end.