This weekend was wonderful.  I finally got to meet my church planting coach in person.  Prior to this, our entire friendship was phone / Skype based.  I took a trip with Lauren down to southern California and spoke at a great church, where my mentor is the pastor.  As I hung out with him, his wife, and congregation, I was reminded about how big my dreams are for the church.

Lauren and I are discerning a possible call into church planting during the next year, and as we do so I’m reading and reflecting on the shifts that I dream are possible for the church in general, and specifically for a future church plant that I could potentially lead.

I dream of a church where acceptance is not a shock, where community takes place in the mess and muck of everyday life together, where the poor are not only served but befriended, where we love our enemies by living as peacemakers, and where ultimately – we live empowered by our common relationship with the Holy Spirit.

As I continue to ponder, thinking about where the church in America (and the West in general) is heading, I want to be the kind of Christ-follower who unlocks my imagination to see the world through the lenses of new creation.  In the process, I desire to hear from other kingdom minded folks about what their dreams might look like if they came to fruition.

So, here it is… I want to invite you to finish the following sentence.  See if you can keep your answer to exactly that, a sentence (and yes, you can use all the liberty you need on the usage of the dash, semicolon, and comma 🙂 ).

My dream for the church is…