here goes...

After many months and many long night meetings and different conversations about ideas and theories about a merger between Quest and Interbay church-- here it is this Sunday, June 3rd our first service together as one church. It is an exciting time for the Quest community. We are gaining so much in depth from our brothers and sisters at Interbay. As a pastor at Quest church, I have been completely humbled by this tremendous gift and sacrifice by our brothers and sisters next door. They are giving much in order to further the kingdom of God. They are giving themselves completely to God's spirit as they trust that their vision to be a community who 'sends' others out for the gospel will remain alive and thriving among men and women they are finally getting to know after all these years. It is amazing!!

On Sunday, we had a service time (one which we have about 1-2 times a year) to allow the larger congregation to share their scripture and encouragement to their community in hopes of cultivating a culture of blessing each other through our words, thoughts, insights-- those things that God lays upon our hearts. It was a wonderful time and beautiful time to hear from so many as they expressed their struggles, their passions, their desire to follow God.

What came to mind for me as we prepare our hearts for the merging of two bodies coming together as one was given to me in the scripture: Ephesians 4:1-7.
It reads:
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

This Sunday was the last Sunday for Quest-- as we've known it. We will be changing our space, joining in community with another church and as a result let's face it we will change as a community. And although the change is a good one-- it is a change and one that deserves to be marked, remembered, and moved through in grace and faith. I am reminded that Quest although diverse in many ways-- we will become that much more diverse in the merging of these different bodies.

As we have prepared to the best of our human abilities through the LT, church forums, membership meetings and transitional team I think in the back of our minds we still wonder how will this work-- we are different. Our stories, our experiences, our ideas well they are different so when the rubber meets the road what will this look like in the end?

I remember my first ordination class (called Theological Distinctives) in Denver. The instructors had us stand up introduce ourselves and share our church background. As people shared I began to realize that the ECC is a diverse denomination of people from all kinds of different church backgrounds. There were people who were traditionally Pentecostal, Baptist, Episcoplian, Presbyterian and more... And in the back of my mind I wondered how does this work that people who are so different can come together to serve together as one church. And then I learned that in the ECC's theological distinctives that at the heart of their beliefs was: unity in Christ. Unity in Christ-- what freedom! No matter where we fell in our beliefs on the administration of sacraments, whether we were believers of infant baptism or believer baptism, how we felt about women in leadership-- at the heart of it all there was freedom because we believe we are one in Christ and that is what binds us one to another.

And this word applies to us (Quest Church and Interbay)-- that although different in history, stories, experiences and backgrounds-- we are in fact bound together because of what Christ has done for us on the cross. It is that grace-- that love-- that mercy that makes us one. Our missions, our visions, our agendas are not what make us a church it is in fact, the work of Christ. We are united with him, in him and together as one.