On the Emergent Village weblog today, we get a taste of what emerging Christians in Broward County, Florida are doing. One of the members left a “mega-church” to start a church community. I clicked over, and was really excited by what I found. I wished y’all were here so I could say “Look!” And I realized there are a few others I’d like to share, so I decided to do it here.

I’m going to post when I run across a group that seems to be me to be doing beautiful things. I’d invite you to do the same. We may not have the same vision for what a church/community should do, and I’d love to learn about yours!

My favorite thing to read on church/community websites is the “who we are” part. It says so much! Here are a few of the most exciting gatherings I’ve found so far.

Epic, South Florida

When examining what we believe about our faith, we soon
discover that God has been writing a story from the
beginning of time. An epic story of hope and redemption
for all the world; a story where God is restoring all that
was lost to the way He intended it to be. And it becomes
evident that we ALL have a role to play in this story.
Epic is a Christian community devoted to living out God’s
story the best way possible, led by the Spirit that God gives
us. It’s a journey that we can not make alone.

In a world where Christians are divided and labeled as
protestant, evangelical, emergent church, fundamentalist or
liberal, we seek to simply live out our lives as followers of
Jesus Christ without labels.

At Epic, we are committed to live our lives connected to the
Lord, with each other, and with the world around us.

We don’t see Epic as a typical church, but as a way of life
together celebrating faith, Jesus, uniqueness, diversity,
change, unity, and rest. It’s a journey that is constantly
changing us, and on that we believe can change the world.

The Refuge, Front Range region of Colorado

On their main page, The refuge describes itself this way:

an eclectic faith community, all equal, love jesus, pretty messed up, lead, follow, laugh, cry, serve, co-pastors, stories of brokenness and healing, smoker friendly, the refuge

If you go deeper, you find this:

is the refuge for you?

the refuge might be the church for you if you are weary and tired of…
* doing life all alone
* feeling like you don’t belong
* trying to keep it all together
* church feeling more like a corporation than a family
* secrets & hiding
* watching instead of being and doing

the refuge might be the church for you if you are restless and you want….
* more of God
* more purpose
* deeper connection with people
* a new way to worship
* to be challenged and pushed out of your comfort zone
* to experience Jesus’ hope & healing

the refuge is definitely not for you (sorry, we’re just being honest) if you like…
* predictability & routine, never a spontaneous moment
* observing more than participating
* certainty more than mystery
* comfort & enjoyment over growing
* rules and conformity
* being spoken to instead of invited to discover with

Home PDX, Urban Portland, Oregon

Their headline says:

There is no us and them, only us.

Their “about” page is a FAQ, located, appropriately enough, at a URL called /wtf, says this:

We are a hodge-podge of squatters, travelers, hipsters, middle class, gutter punks; not one cookie cutter person in the bunch. Old, young, living indoors or out, with jobs or not, educated or just life educated. Also, you can find us under a bridge on Sundays six months of the year.

These folks make “missional” scary. And very, very real. This is all they offer as a statement of faith:

Many of us choose to follow Jesus. That looks pretty different to each person. I (Ken) am betting my life that the Jesus found in the bible and who, I believe, lives today has and actually is the answer for humans.