re-posted from Adam’s personal blog — he figured he might as well be transparent as to what he’s up to and he’d love feedback from Project F-M folk….

I was lucky enough to visit not one but two new faith communities in the Twin Cities this weekend, Jacob’s Well and Humblewalk Lutheran Church. Both communities worship in new ways, attempting to be welcoming places for people not drawn to traditional ELCA congregations. Both communities are also very different.

Jacob’s Well meets Sunday mornings in two locations, both schools. I arrived a few minutes before the 10:30 service start and was greeted by many flags and signs in the parking lot. Inside the school people gathered in the hallway drinking coffee and chatted. Parents took their kids to classrooms staffed by happy-looking adults (there were lots of kids around) and a table with fruit sat to one side.

The worship space was a school auditorium decorated very nicely for worship. Several candles were lit, water was flowing in a makeshift font, two large screens sat above each corner of the stage and the four-person band was up front. The service included several praise songs, a few videos (mostly made in-house), and a few prayers but the main part — about 45 minutes — was a discussion between a pastor and a guest about the question, “What if…love really did win?” Congregation members could text questions to a number on a screen if they wanted to ask something of the speakers, and it was all done in a loose, natural, conversational style. Both speakers were women.

At the end, an offering was taken. I’m guessing a little over 100 people were in attendance. There was no communion.

Later in the day I attended Humblewalk Lutheran Church in a smal high-ceilinged converted office space in St. Paul. This service was very low-tech compared to Jacob’s Well. Since the group was a different size than Jacob’s Well — 20 or so — I was greeted personally several times throughout the evening. After a little mingling, we sat in chairs facing a decorated table. Songs were led by a single acoustic guitar and folk singer type, and ranged from more traditional hymns to contemporary praise and worship. The congregation sang very well. Several kids walked around during the service, and parents corralled them or let them wander as they felt called.

I don’t remember Jacob’s Well having any liturgy — any words I was to speak — but the flow of Humblewalk’s service is found in the newest worship book and congregation members were supposed to respond at several point. In fact, before the prayer of confession we were asked to consider and even share out loud anything particular we wished to confess.

Everything at Humblewalk was very laid-back and informal. At one point Pastor Jodi flubbed a bit of the liturgy. The congregation just smiled and she tried again. We celebrated communion — I was served by a ten year-old.

A notable different in the services (from this mission developer’s point of view, at least) is that Jacob’s Well included no scripture reading. While a portion from 1 John was on a handout on our chairs, it was never read or referenced from the stage. Humblewalk, however, included two readings from John 20 and a responsive reading of Psalm 16. I suppose other differences include the fact that Pastor Jodi at Humblewalk wore a clergy collar (though informally) while Pastor Dawn at Jacob’s Well wore a T-shirt and jeans jacket.

I’ve found this great post by Andrew Jones helpful in the past few weeks in framing the many different types of churches. In Jones’ rubric, Jacob’s Well, though connected to a mother ELCA congregation, felt most like #2 GenX, Postmodern, and “Emergent” while Humblewalk was clearly more of a #4 House churches, simple churches, organic churches (with a clear liturgy).

In broad terms, I expect Humblewalk would be less attractive for someone who is totally new to faith and formal worship, as it assumed a certain comfortability with liturgy (even though it was done in a very relaxed way, almost like church camp). On the other hand, Jacob’s Well didn’t really expect me to do a thing — nobody shook my hand or welcomed me by name so I could consider faith questions below-the-radar. Also, Jacob’s Well lack of scripture readings presumably wouldn’t scare off those who are questioning or intimidated by the Bible.

But I’m a mission developer, a professional church leader, so my views surely are shaped with a bias. Have you attended a new worship community recently? Do you long for a different kind of faith gathering? Which of Andrew Jones’ ten church types appeals most to you?

Finally, thanks, very much, to all the leadership of Humblewalk and Jacob’s Well. I blog on them mostly as a way to think out-loud, and I’m really grateful for your ministry and wish you the best.

image by TACLUDA