Thoughts from Annual Conference

GEM's Annual Conference was filled with deep conversations, new friendships, and story after story of how God's Kingdom is growing across Europe.  There were moments of encouragement and moments of challenge; moments of celebration and moments of mourning.

Rather than try to piece things together into one flowing story, I'll simply share some of the things I (Kate) walked away with after 5 days in Germany with 300 other GEMers.

- Stop being a hostess and be more of a sister.

A couple shared how their home has become the local hang-out.  They and their 5 children invite friends and strangers, businessmen and homeless alike to dine at their table regularly.  "Eating as Jesus ate levels playing fields," they said.  As they shared, I was struck by one phrase that the wife quietly spoke:  I had to stop being a hostess and learn to be more of a sister.

This young mom realized that if she felt the pressure to be hostess, with quiet kids, a clean house, and a beautiful meal ready at any given moment, there was a barrier between her and her guests.  Instead, she learned to be like a sister, to share her home and family as they were.  She asked herself:  Am I willing to be vulnerable?  Am I willing to truly eat with people?  Not only has this made her life much less stressful, but it's also opened the door for much more intimate relationships.

They also reminded me that, while my "kingdom" or home may be obliterated by guests, it's an opportunity to welcome people in a way they've never been welcomed.  This is communion.  This is not just a tool to bring people in, but it's a way of saying:  The Kingdom is here.

- The Spirit wants to do something new.

A man from the UK who has a church and coffee shop ministry stated that we, as church planters, must move away from church revival to cultural renewal.  We must stop reacting to culture and start creating culture.  Let's move from attracting people to church to sending people on mission.

- There's a new church planted in France every 10 days.

Yet we need to double our church planting efforts in order to reach our goal of having 1 church for every 10,000 people.

- Be a spiritual escalator.

When you explore a department store, you know where to go if you want to reach the next level.  We, as church leaders, want to put ourselves in a position to help those who are ready to reach the next spiritual level - whether it's a new commitment to Christ, a first exploratory read through the Bible, being baptized, or simply growing in an already established faith.

- Asking people to help strengthens and deepen relationships.

The church loves to help, but the middle-class who is un-engaged in the Church doesn't need help.  Instead, ask them to help you help others.  "People may disagree with your theology, but they will never disagree with how you live out what you  believe," the same man from the UK said. 

This is an area where [I think] our team has failed.  With a large team, it's easy to do everything ourselves.  I hope that we will get better at asking others from our community to help.

- Jesus was kind.

A fellow colleague shared a story of his airplane encounter with an old lady from the Middle East.  While he simply wanted to sleep on his trans-Atlantic flight, this woman who followed Mohammad wanted to talk.  Thinking she'd be quiet when she learned he was a pastor who followed Jesus, he was surprised to hear her repeat over and over again, "I love Jesus.  Jesus was kind."

Our church often talks about wanting to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  Sometimes I can't help but wonder what that means.  Then I was reminded that Jesus was kind.