ORGANIC CHURCH?

A little over a week ago, I met a church planter by the name of Jeff Vanderstelt. Jeff is a church planter currently working in the Seattle/Tacoma area. We had a great conversation and I am sure that God was behind our meeting. Our meet was totally impromptu, yet I walked away quite stirred and challenged.

One of the terms that kept coming up in our conversation was the term “organic church”. Previous to our connection, I had heard this term used in relation to the church and after my conversation with Jeff, decided to think more about it and really ask myself, “What is an organic church?” Because even before I totally knew what it meant, I had a sense that an “organic” church would be the kind of church that God might be pleased with. Afterall, it seems to me that God is definitely the ultimate “organic” being. Pure. No preservatives. No pesticides. He is as pure as one can get.

The term “organic” has several definitions and to help myself sort out what it might mean in the context of the church, I asked myself what the opposite of organic is.

Ex/ If I buy something that is not organic, that means that the product I am purchasing has the possibility (and very high likelihood) of containing additives, preservatives, coloring agents, etc… In fact, under a Google search, I typed in “What does organic mean?” and I found a site that said this about the term “organic”:

It avoids or excludes the use of synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, livestock feed additives, antibiotic and hormone stimulants and all genetically modified organisms, using instead cultural, biological and mechanical methods.

After reading that - my thought...

I have this simple, yet huge desire in me to return to an organic relationship with the Father. A relationship that is pure, real and as authentic as one can get. I’m tired of superficial crap and all of the “preservatives” that we’ve added into our churches and lives.

So my question (ok, questions…) – and maybe a discussion we can get moving into is this:

What does it mean to be an organic church?

Has the church (in general) moved away from an organic authenticity?

And if so, what do we need to do (on a local level) to ensure that our churches remain organic (or in some cases - become organic)?

Comment away...