Last Sunday, the four of us said our farewells to the church community that has been our spiritual home for the last 20+ years. Taking the plunge to move away from those who have loved and supported us through our teenage years, as we dated & got married and in raising our children has probably been one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to make.Why?
Over the last few months, we have sensed God’s prompting to do something different. A call to journey with him in a different way. To explore how we can be church with those who find church unappealing. To think about different expressions of Christian community.
Isn’t that something we could do from within our church?
Yes. And no. Of course, it would have been possible to do that as part of the church we were in. But as we have been exploring God’s call on our lives over the last few months, we have been drawn to the Biblical story of Abram. God called Abram to move away from his family home, before He revealed where he was to go. “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you”.” As we were thinking about where we might go next, we had the strongest sense that we had to move away before we knew what we would be moving to. We knew we had to set off on the journey without knowing the destination.
Sounds a bit risky?
It is! But it is an adventure. One that is a bit daunting for all of us, but also exciting. We bought this canvas photo print some months ago that has been on the wall in our kitchen. We didn’t know at the time how prophetic it would be!Our youngest daughter Charis has spotted the parallels with her favourite film of the moment, Moana. We are becoming voyagers. Or, as we explained in church last Sunday, we are taking part in God’s “treasure hunt”. Taking each “clue” as it comes to work out where we need to look next.
If we don’t know where we’re heading, how do we know we’re going in the right direction?
By continuing to seek God through prayer, scripture and fellowship, and constantly seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are fortunate to have some wonderful friends who have been supporting us and encouraging us as we have been exploring God’s call, and they have asked us challenging questions as we’ve been thinking this through. And we’ve asked them to keep on challenging us, asking those questions, to make sure we stay focussed on what we God is leading us to – and to tell us if they think we’re taking wrong turns.
What’s next?
Our house is going to go on the market shortly as we look to move to a new home and we believe the location of our next house will be really important and so we’re praying for the the right house at the right time! Meanwhile, we will make the most of this hallway and see which door opens and which ones stay shut.
Are we giving up on church?
Absolutely not! We’re mindful that the Bible says “not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing.” (Hebrews 10:25) We are taking a season to spend time with friends in one or two particular churches until God reveals which community He wants us to be be immersed in.
What do we need?
If you’re the praying kind, please pray for us as we journey. Pray that where there’s a particular path God wants us on we’ll stick to it, and when He leads us to roundabouts to give us a choice we’ll be brace and won’t necessarily just take the easy option.
And don’t be a stranger! We know this journey means we won’t see many of our friends us often. But we’d still love to stay in touch.