This weekend we celebrated the Church's birthday.  According to Christian tradition, yesterday marked the day of Pentecost (which also happens to be a true work holiday / three-day weekend in the Netherlands).  The Holy Spirit came down from heaven and filled the people who had been following Jesus, which suddenly empowered these very ordinary people to do some very extraordinary things -- things that are still happening in Amsterdam today, just as much as they were in Jerusalem two millenia ago.

Our particular church congregation (Amsterdam50) celebrated this "Birthday of the Church" not by meeting together for our regularly-scheduled worship gathering, nor listening to a sermon, nor singing Christian songs, nor by trying to organize some kind of birthday party potluck dinner... Instead, we encouraged our congregation to scatter throughout the city to serve on various service projects organized by an inter-church initiative called Serve the City.  To me, it seemed like a fitting thing to do -- just as God would want the Church to work...

But honestly, I have some doubts:  Was this really what was best for our church?

Pastors talk about growing their churches just like farmers talk about growing their crops.  And the collective wisdom of most pastors would seem to be that we need to "shepherd the flock" well, maintain consistency, fertilize our congregations with biblical preaching and excellent worship, and keep focused on raising up the next generation of leaders.  Frankly, I can't say that I disagree with any of these suppositions!  But the trick is that our particular "flock" is always in such flux (largely a bi-product of working with a lot of young, international people in the center of a highly transitory city).  We like to play with people's expectations of church -- which almost necessarily infringes upon the consistency factor -- trying to stay "outside the box," doing things in different ways at different times (like "having church" in the Vondelpark or delivering a teaching in the form of a musical).  We value preaching and musical worship, but only as one part of a varied "toolbox" of ways to glorify God and replace human wisdom with God-given biblical wisdom (which could also include panel discussions, coordinated prayer, testionies, workshops, etc.).  And for whatever reason, it seems that a lot of our "best and brightest" get farmed out to other ministry opportunities around the globe. Even as I type these things, I realize that we're not necessarily going about things in a bad way...

But it's clearly not the best way to grow a church.

Canceling a weekly worship gathering has got to be one of the last things that church growth experts would advise.  Emphasizing personal responsibility (insisting that the Holy Spirit is more than adequate to lead us in personal worship, and that the Bible is more than adequate to teach us with or without a prepared sermon) is not one of the best ways to deal with hungry "sheep."  And honestly, I sense that some from our church (or some who have left our church!) have been frustrated with these ways of doing things.  But my hope in all of this is that we are making and growing disciples of Jesus -- as well as doing our part to develop the world-wide Church (with a capital "C").  That's not to say that I don't have my own moments of doubt!  But that's what we're trying to do, as a church here in Amsterdam.

Happy Birthday, Church!  Lang zal je leven in de gloria.