Last night something amazing happened.
But to capture how amazing it was, I need to take you back about 5 years to a basement in a housing development in Mattawan, Michigan.
It was the Sunday morning after Easter in 2009. 14 adults and 17 kids gathered together. It took about 3 minutes to set up the 20 chairs that were cannibalized from card table sets.
There was no sound board. We showed the kids a video. One guy led some songs with his guitar. I preached from Ephesians 1. And ReCAST church was born.
A few weeks later we moved from that basement to our very own facility. It was a rented store-front that could fit about 150 chairs comfortably and we set up about forty chairs and our kids met at a daycare facility at the other end of the plaza. I remember thinking the first Sunday that about 20 adults sat in that facility, “Will we ever need more space than this?” The thought flowed from a sense that our little gathering was dwarfed by this immense facility. And it felt a little silly for the 20 of us to meet in that “huge” space.
Last night 40-50 people gathered at the Mattawan Later Elementary Cafeteria to practice the set up and tear down for our planned move to the schools on March 9th. It took two men 25 minutes to set up the 275 chairs we will need to move back to one service. From the sound board crew, to the hospitality team, to the ReCAST Kids crew, to the set up team, and the praise band there practicing, it was amazing to see everyone there using their gifts to bring things together.
The reality is that most churches go the opposite direction. For a church to leave an established location in order to meet in a temporary location that requires set up and tear down may seem pretty strange.
But there is something fundamental in our understanding of church that helps to drive this move. ReCAST is a church of people. It is not a building, a facility, a location or even a set of programs.
I am so grateful for the growth that God has provided for us here at ReCAST. He has done amazing things in the lives of people in the Mattawan area. And last night was one more indication that God has us here for the cause of his growing kingdom.
There is a King. He is advancing his Kingdom of love and life. And we get to be flexible in the service of this King who has called us into a stage of transition!
