Thursday, October 31, 2013

an open source church of open sores

"The ability to teach and preach and lead is taking a backseat to the pastor's capacity to create

ate and facilitate open-source faith experiences  for the people of the church."

  -Doug Paggitt, Church in the Inventive Age, p 33

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In one of our gatherings, I mentioned in passing that we were an "open source" church.

Immediately a saint interrupted...no, it's not an interruption, that's precisely the point!  She interjected..
"Oh, I love that image: open sores.  Can you say some more about that?"

She thought I had said "open sores" was  the way to  do church.
We had a good laugh...but it was a profound moment...
      which BTW, wouldn't have arisen if we weren't "open source" so that anyone can talk
                                                                            (especially women!)

I should've/could've said "open sores."
Church is to be like that: honest, vulnerable, transparent.
And the only way to being open about our open sores is to be open source. 
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PS I googled and found a band named:

Church Of Open Sores

churchofopensores.bandcamp.com/


photo credit

1 comment:

  1. I.'s nice to have a place where people can be transparent, but wisdom suggests that one might want to exercise caution with what to be transparent about, and with who. I have been burned a few times over the years, for being too transparent. Some things can't be unsaid. The tongue has no rewind button, and honesty can sometimes be brutal and do more harm than good, even if unintentional.

    ReplyDelete

Hey, thanks for engaging the conversation!