While hurrying down a hallway in an anonymous parking garage in Portland yesterday, I was halted in my tracks by the symbol of my church on a sheet metal gray door. It gradually dawned on me that I was standing outside the worship and office space of our new experimental faith community in Portland: New Light Fellowship (www.newlightportland.org). Officially at 185 High Street, with plenty of parking which surrounds and towers over it, New Light is a community of United Methodists rethinking what it means to be a church (their entrance on High Street is actually a LOT more attractive than what I discovered is the back door). I got the grand tour from a long-time friend Allen Ewing Merrill who co-pastors the community along with his wife Sara. Also showing me around was Erica Tobey of Green Street UMC fame who had just discovered thousands of excess postal labels left by the previous tenants. (Lord only knows what she'll do with them; I suggested name tags, but that's probably a federal crime or something.)
It's been a fascinating journey for the New Light group. Rather than starting with a congregation and urging them to join small groups, New Light has begun as small groups meeting in homes who are just now starting to worship in a larger gathering on a weekly basis. Their space is cozy, flexible, and filled with possibilities. I don't know what new churches will look like in the 21st century, but my guess is that this is how they will start, with bonds of relationship and community in Christ. All that church stuff can come later (or not!).
Good luck, New Light Fellowship. I have a feeling you'll have a lot to teach us in the days ahead.
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