Midland Reporter-Telegram Writes...

MINISTERS HOPE NEW CHURCH WILL MAKE PEOPLE FEEL ‘ACCEPTED WITHOUT CONDITION’
By Elise Rambaud
Assistant Lifestyle Editor
Midland Reporter-Telegram, Saturday, January 15, 2005

With many denominations and styles of worship to explore, Christians often face the challenge of deciding which church is the best personal fit. Which church feels right. Which church feels like home.

The Revs. Gary Groves and Suzanne Castle-Rolen recognized that desire for belonging among those still searching for a church home. They saw the need for a church where everyone feels “accepted without condition,” so the longtime friends are building a new home and inviting anyone who has yet to find that personal fit to try something different.

Seeing a lofty dream come to fruition, Groves and Castle-Rolen have become co-pastors of Church on the Journey (Disciples of Christ). Groves has served as associate pastor at First Christian Church, Memorial Christian Church and currently acts as interim pastor of First Christian Church in Big Spring. Castle-Rolen is an artist, dancer, theater teacher and also an ordained minister. The two pastors are collaborating to take a more contemporary, “multi-sensory” and engaging approach to worship. They hope to attract a multi-generational, diverse, open-minded and passionate congregation that longs for a change. The name of the church comes from their motto, “A gathering of people who value the journey as much as the destination.”

“We have come to recognize the culture has changed in such amazing ways that the church is being called to present the message of the Gospel in a new way—a way that can be heard, received and understood by our younger generations in a way that meets their needs,” Groves said. “Every church has a unique niche and a special place to fill in the community in its effort to reach people through Christ. We’re seeking to fill another niche—people who have not heard the Gospel, the unchurched, people who have been disenfranchised in some way. We hope to provide a place where everyone can come and be touched by the Gospel through worship.”

Castle-Rolen recently returned to Midland after years of living around the country with her husband, a former United States Marine. She was active in several churches, but said she looked around and rarely found other people she could identify with.

“I don’t think any church is intentionally unwelcoming, but churches are started by a certain group of people who tend to bring their families who are like them, and tend to invite friends who are like them and so on,” she said. “I have a vision that the person with tattoos and piercings and a Mohawk can sit next to the person in khakis and a polo shirt in church.”

Groves reiterated their new endeavor is not a criticism or dismissal of traditional churches. They have a great respect and admiration for the established traditions, and in fact grew up in that kind of environment.

“By no means are churches unwelcoming, but there has to be an intention to reach out to those who have not accepted Christ. We are living in a time where more and more people simply have no Christian memory, no exposure in their background to church as children, as young adults or even adults. Our hope is to fill a niche where we are able to present the Gospel in ways that can be heard in this technological age—this age of video, sight and sound, in this multi-sensory age,” he said.

Church on the Journey was launched New Year’s Eve at the Midland College Advanced Technology Center. The 91 people attending were offered a hands-on experience and were asked to write a prayer or blessing on a stone. Each person then took their stone to help build a symbolic altar—the new beginning of a new church.

Without a permanent building of their own, Church on the Journey has partnered with Bethel United Methodist Church to share worship space. On Jan. 9, the fledgling congregation met for its first Sunday service. The introductory weeks will be centered around the church’s five core values: passion, belonging, communion, purpose and story.

In his first sermon, Groves compared living without a passion for God to living in a gray colorless world. The communion table was decorated through the collaboration of congregation members’ talents and artistic influences to reflect the passion theme. A black-and-white picture of Jesus was supported by black crates, surrounded by black fabric, and bare gray light bulb fixtures. A red chalice and red cross were positioned in front of the colorless display. The color in the cross and cup represented living in the world of Jesus, the world of color. These urban, industrial elements were used in conjunction with a movie clip from “The Matrix.” In the film, the main character is given a choice of taking the red pill and learning the truth about the false world he lives in, or taking the blue pill and continuing to live in the life he is familiar with. Each person in the congregation was then given red and blue jellybeans. Some people could not resist the sweet-tooth temptation and ate both.

“We wanted people to think about the choice of taking the red pill and living a life with Christ—full of color and adventure, or taking the blue pill and choosing to live in the status quo—sleepwalking through a life of shades of grays and black,” Groves said.

Aside from the multi-media elements, the Jan. 9 service was like a typical Sunday in church. The congregation sang along to recognizable contemporary hymns as the words and pictures were displayed on a drop-down screen. The young adults helped design a Powerpoint presentation that was shown during Groves’ sermon. At one point, a photo of Groves eating ice cream out of the container was shown on the screen. But Church on the Journey hopes to mix things up and incorporate different elements each week. Groves and Castle-Rolen want the congregation to become involved, voice their opinions, ideas, help choose the music, contribute to the decorations, create new programs and help build the church’s infrastructure—a church for the people, by the people.

In their desire to attract younger generations and other people who might not usually attend church, Groves and Castle-Rolen intentionally set worship time later in the evening. The service starts at 6 p.m., but everyone is welcome to share a light dinner at 5:30. They also hold Christian education classes for adults and children, called Pathways, at 4:30 p.m.

“We have had the experience that Sunday mornings can be the worst times of the week. You are trying to get up and get little kids ready and get to church on time. You find yourself as a parent calling out to your kids, “Come on it’s time to go. We’re going to be late. We gotta go worship Jesus,” Groves said.

“You say, ‘Get in the car or you’ll be grounded.’ There is something wrong with that,” Castle-Rolen said.

We find ourselves having taken our Sundays and making them as demanding, task-oriented and destination-driven as other days of the week. We are encouraging people to rest, sleep in, spend the morning with families and come to church enjoy the afternoon and evening for a time of relaxation, passion and zeal,” Groves said.

It’s hard enough to get teenagers and young adults to come to church, much less if the service begins early in the morning, Castle-Rolen said.

“For young adults, they don’t get up on the weekends. They’re at a club until 2 a.m. or hanging out and talking. The thought that they would get up to be at church at 8 a.m. or even 11:30 is a little silly,” she said.

“It’s the culture changing and we really want to meet people where they are. We live in a mobile society. People travel on weekends. Maybe they will travel on weekends, but maybe they will make an effort to be back at 4:30 or 6. It’s really an attempt to recognize where the culture is,” Groves said.

Former First Christian Church of Midland members John and Heather Robinson attended the Jan. 9 service at Church on the Journey.

“I think our purpose is to reach out to people who are tired of the conventional methods of worship. This is a little more edgy, a little more exciting,” Heather said.

Brian Groves, 19, is Gary’s nephew and helps out with the music during the service.

“You find now that kids are falling asleep in church. This church offers a more contemporary alternative to traditional church, and young people will connect with things like clips from ‘The Matrix.’”

Jackie Schneider used to attend First Christian Church, but heard about Church on the Journey and decided to check it our. After attending the New Year’s Eve service, he knew he wanted to become a part of the new endeavor.

“This is the way we like to worship. We like the less formal atmosphere. You can come in your blue jeans, your shorts or your sun bathing suit. We don’t care as long as you come,” said Schneider.