Montecito Covenant<\/a> this weekend. Their generosity gave Kris and me the freedom to wander for most of two days in Santa Barbara and Montecito. I have two words for the church: elegant simplicity.
\nI\u2019m not an expert on church architecture, but ever since college I find myself being absorbed in how churches embody the gospel in how they make up their sacred space. MCC is a classic example, in my non-artistic categories, of elegant simplicity. There is the simple white and brown patterns with orange tile roofs; there is a fellowship hall that is outside (never seen that); and the sanctuary is studiously simple and elegant all at once. An artistic chancel, I don\u2019t know the term for the altar area but it was evocative for me, and the seating was in a half-circle that made it easy for me to see everyone. There is something wondrously natural about the place \u2014 it just fits into the foothills. If you get a chance to get up there, it is just below Westmont.
\nWe were taken by Don Johnson\u2019s infectious enthusiasm, Martha Johnson\u2019s astute observations, and we got to meet Martha\u2019s parents as well. Virginians. We enjoyed the music and the worship, and their young worship leader has a good future. Those of us (like me) who are musically challenged come to rely on the drums and so I missed them.
\nMCC is committed to developing a missional vision; I can\u2019t tell you how much that excites me.
\nHighlight: seeing former student and now Professor at Westmont, Bruce Fisk. Westmont is lucky to have him. Learned this weekend that he\u2019s a fine keyboarder too.
\nI \u201cpreached\u201d (if that is what I do) twice and in between we had a rousing conversation (right word) in an open forum SS class about the emerging movement. It is very nice to see churches open classes to becoming informed about this movement that I think shows so much promise for reviving a holistic gospel. Good questions and I think we learned on both sides. Seems like everywhere I go there is the question about when the emerging folks will come up with some kind of doctrinal statement, and I keep coming back to the point that they affirm the orthodox history of the Church, but want to express faith in a praxis sort of way. This won\u2019t take for many.
\nHere\u2019s a great question I was asked: \u201cHow do you find about emerging churches in your area?\u201d My answer was work the blogs. But this is for sure: you won\u2019t find them advertised in the newspaper. At least I hope not.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We were blessed to be with the good folks at Montecito Covenant this weekend. Their generosity gave Kris and me the freedom to wander for most of two days in Santa Barbara and Montecito. I have two words for the church: elegant simplicity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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