
This week, author and speaker Jen Hatmaker took to Twitter to describe her local church and the impact it is having on the lives of individuals and communities.
It’s a powerful reminder that even though churches can be flawed, they are still capable of changing lives in incredible ways.
THREAD: Going to church is saving my life right now. Now mind you, ours is a specific kind of church. Really simple and inclusion-y and Methodist-y (< that will make sense to the Methodists).
— JenHatmaker (@JenHatmaker) March 19, 2018
Yesterday, two women led worship, a female assistant Superintendent preached, two women led the prayer team, and a woman gave communion.
— JenHatmaker (@JenHatmaker) March 19, 2018
A young gay man came alone bc after being an atheist, he found Jesus 2 weeks ago in the pages of our friend @ColbyMartin's book, Unclobbered, & can't believe how radically his soul is changing. (Being loved by Jesus & His people will rearrange your spiritual DNA, that's a fact.)
— JenHatmaker (@JenHatmaker) March 19, 2018
Another woman came for the first time in years and told me, "I thought I was no longer a Christian because I departed from my fundamentalist upbringing, and they told me I wasn't. But I am. I think I just haven't found the right room." So she bravely came to church alone.
— JenHatmaker (@JenHatmaker) March 19, 2018
Our whole lobby was filled with shoes and supplies you sent from all over the US for our homeless friends on Easter…we literally got another UPS shipment during church.
— JenHatmaker (@JenHatmaker) March 19, 2018
Listen, church is the most imperfect thing I can think of. It is. It can wound as much as it heals, and it sometimes shuts its doors when Jesus bid us "go to the street corners and invite anyone you can find." It gets much wrong because people lead it and we are a historic mess.
— JenHatmaker (@JenHatmaker) March 19, 2018
But if we take the idea of "church" out of its weird, fancy, western context, out of the realm of entertainment, off the pedestal of perfect leaders/shiny living, away from the barely disguised goal of self-help, apart from the evil of protected hierarchy & exclusionary doctrines
— JenHatmaker (@JenHatmaker) March 19, 2018
…and bring it all down to the ground, into the streets, around the table, & to its knees, church can be the most healing, life transformative place to meet the real Jesus…the one who loves us all & upended power structures & valued every outcasted person made in His image.
— JenHatmaker (@JenHatmaker) March 19, 2018
Church and Christians can so strangely keep us from Jesus, but if you find a faith community that feels like the gospels and prioritizes our neighbors and sticks together even though their leaders are just medium and stuff goes sideways…
— JenHatmaker (@JenHatmaker) March 19, 2018
…hang on for dear life. That messy, kind of lame, rag-tag bunch of folks just might save your life too.
— JenHatmaker (@JenHatmaker) March 19, 2018