I'm on this super weird journey.

 Since I’m nearly done with seminary, I often get asked, “So what are you up to?  What’s next?”   The best way I can respond is by saying, “I’m on this super weird journey.”

For a couple of months, I’ve wanted to write this post to explain what’s going on in my life, but this has been a hard post to get out.  Writing about my current life journey makes things really real.  As I sat down to type today, I realized I finally got enough confidence to make things really real.  So here is where the seminary ride has brought me…

For as long as I can remember, my own spirituality could not be best expressed in existing versions of church.  When we were moving around early in our marriage, finding a church in which I felt connected to God was a frustrating task.  Throughout the years, I’ve had countless conversations with others in the same boat, and I’ve felt drawn to people like this, wanting to walk with them as we worked on this faith-thing together.  Not surprisingly then, during seminary I became fascinated by alternative models of church—spending a lot of time studying churches that reach out to people whose needs aren’t met by our existing forms of church.

I became eligible for a pastoral appointment last winter, and I was worried about my future, a lot.  I had been trained to be a pastor, but I couldn’t be “that-kind-of-pastor.”  Frankly, I knew I wouldn’t survive pastoring a traditional United Methodist church.  Good thing God was at work.  The Spirit orchestrated a series events: Unbeknownst to me, my home congregation, New Richmond United Methodist (NRUMC), decided to support a pastor position to explore the possibility of a new ministry, possibly a new church/ministry plant in the St. Croix Crossing Corridor. 

In September I was appointed to NRUMC to investigate whether a new church/ministry plant was possible in the new St. Croix Crossing Corridor.  The current Wisconsin Bishop was (and continues to be) very excited about the possibilities.  Because of his excitement, my appointment and support for the project came through super fast. 

I am truly living my dream and calling!  I am able to reach out to people in this area who are interested in doing Christianity differently. 

I want to be clear: I don’t think the current congregations in the St. Croix Crossing Corridor are doing anything wrong.  Our current congregations are living out their call.  They are doing vital ministry.

But I also realize that some people have been yearning for a spirit-filled, contemporary, creative, community-orientated church that is rooted in progressive thinking and theology.  So with a core group of folks, we are exploring just that. 

Will we be successful in creating a sustainable community of faith?  I don’t know.  Maybe we will; maybe we won’t.  But I do know this:  Every month I do this work, I become more and more aware of God stirring others.  I see people’s needs being met.  I see people connecting and reconnecting with a source of healing and hope in their lives.  By dreaming, exploring, visioning, creating, meeting, gathering, conversing, and reaching out to others, we have already been “doing church” together.  It might go for a long time, or we might just do the work together for the here and now.  Either way, I know this is "church-ing."

So here is the invitation for people who live in my area…. If you feel stirred by something in this post, let’s talk.  This little growing community might be a good fit.  Or it might not be, but if you want to hear more, let me know.  Even if you are in a church, in this new model, it would be perfectly acceptable to stay in your current church and still go on the ride with us.  I can’t promise a fully-formed version of church, but if you like visioning and thinking about possibilities, let’s chat.

If you are interested in following us, Facebook is a good way.  Click here.   Here’s our website.  If you want to get weekly updates, shoot me an email, kellyecl@yahoo.com and I will add you to the list.