Here is the concept of Liquid Church, in a nutshell, or ‘in a sip’ if you like. Nothing too detailed, just broad brush strokes, or a succession of sips to whet your appetite.
Some of the Ice Cubes are melting!
I want to describe the Church using the cover image: that of solid ice cubes which depict the traditional church, structured, defined; and the liquid which is the potential new expression of church which can flow in different directions and is undefined. Firstly, this could describe the new hybrid church, one of many forms, not in hierarchy. It is not replacing the traditional format.
Ann Morisy has described those within society using three loosely fitting terms: Churched, Dechurched, and Unchurched. It is not pleasant to ‘label’ people but as a model perhaps we can use these terms for a moment.
We may be concerned that for some ‘churched folk’ they may be regular attendees although some we may not see that often. Why is that?
What of those folk who don’t attend church?
Those who may be described as ‘dechurched folk’ may be just too busy or have fallen away to the margins. This could be because of what was said in church, the response to certain situations or that the ‘Church’ has been perceived as lacking relevancy today. People may still frequent the Church attending secular activities so are in existence in the margins.
Those ‘unchurched folk’ may never have seen the relevancy in church, they may be busy playing football on Sunday mornings, or looking to do some DIY, meeting up with family whom they never see during the week. There are also those of other faiths – and here I include agnostic and atheists.
This isn’t an attempt to attract people ‘into church’ but to look to be part of community. The Gospel is not about creating a church. Jesus only mentioned ‘church’ or ecclesia a few times – and it was his church, not ours, that he was referring to in Matthew 16: 21-28 (more comments about this passage here). The Gospel is about relationships, showing that love of God towards others.
Do churches always serve the best coffee?
So if people aren’t coming to Church, the building, where can we meet up? There is that Third Place, the one where we all feel comfortable because it doesn’t come with a perceived agenda. You go to a workplace and there is an expectation. Go to a coffee shop, for example, and we are all on level terms. We went to a great coffee shop called Kava and then to a pub called Honest John’s for our work earlier this year. This was our attempt at Liquid Church in a sip! Here a study group, called What If, was the resultant – which met up in a home. The Betamax sessions was the resultant of working interfaith.
Using a third place might also be economically viable – we don’t have to pay for all of the upkeep 24/7. We might even have leased our building to an external agency so they can do all of the hard graft of getting bookings, to which we can also book a room when we need one, or in this case, we book a room in a ‘third place’.
The reference to Chapter 11 alludes to companies that need to make significant changes to the way they operate. It could be the same for some ‘churches‘.
How often we meet can now be offered to those whom attend. The weekly traditional meeting can now fit with those who attend. It is that Guest and Host conundrum seeking to be resolved – it’s all a level playing field now.
Where is God’s kingdom?
So what could Liquid Church look like? Well, imagine we have for example three different interest groups; or they might be split by location across a city or town; or even age (but I’m not sure exactly why). All of these interest groups – which don’t have to be focussed upon anything religious at all – have a common aim of bringing people together. It is akin to walking alongside but not with a view of getting them to come to ‘church’. God’s kingdom is everywhere.
And don’t worry about worship – that comes much, much later.
So in a sip, what is Liquid Church?
So Liquid Church isn’t about replicating the traditional church – far from it. People will still want to attend the formal service, the building as a focus, but those who don’t also need a place where they can explore faith.
Liquid Church isn’t just about doing what they do in Church differently. It is working totally outside of the box building, in another building perhaps. It meets people where they are, and seeks to build relationships.
And that’s the rub of Liquid Church. It is meeting people on a level playing field, where the first (or more) conversation(s) is about what is common to you all. When they want to engage in our faith, they may well ask. Our faith will shine through nevertheless. If our faith seeks to spread the good news of Christ, people will see that, feel that, it will be tangible. Just like the enthusiasm of any teacher at school you can recall, our faith can ooze out. It’s where we can find the Christ in each other.
So what questions might you have about Liquid Church?
Here are a few of my other blog posts about Liquid Church.
Here are some good books which have enthused me about Liquid Church – there are other book retailers.
Weird Church by Beth Ann Estock and Paul Nixon
Exiles – Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture by Michael Frost
Being Church – Doing Life by Michael Moynagh
Do you know of any other books about Liquid Church?