Who is MCC? We learned a lot during the intake sessions. Here are links to the full notes. I think you'll really enjoy reading them, and they'll be useful when you're writing your content down the road.
But here is a quick interpretive summary of how MCC started and what it's about...
We exist to “love our community in the name of Jesus.”
We started with community. Geography. Location. A place. Because we felt called and committed to the lives of people in that place…
A place where we expected God to be at work.
Because we always expect God to be at work.
It isn’t up to us to save. It’s our job to listen and notice. Instead of saying “we’re here to serve” or “we’re bringing the Gospel here,” we asked ”What is God doing?”
Because we knew God was already here doing the work.
So we invited people to start asking…“What is God up to in your space?”
Your neighborhood? Your workplace?
Which is different than “How do we create a worship experience?” “How do we bring the Gospel?”
It’s not just about what happens on Sundays because “God leaves the building with us...God's presence goes out behind, before, with us, through us.”
God is doing things all the time.
So we listened first.
And then asked “How can we participate?”
How can we find practical ways to join Him and invite more people to join?
We started doing things...building partnerships...eating food with people...hanging out in parks. Stuff started happening... The Sheridan Story...missional communities.
And we continue to do new things, all the time.
But we also made sure to restore...
So we'd have the energy to keep asking.
That’s what community life is about. It’s why we support each other and rely on each other. It's why we build relationships and have community time and go on retreats. It's why we pray and take time to discern. It's why we have fun.
We refuel and celebrate together so we continue to have joy and hope...
Because we want to be people who believe things are possible.
We want to pursue things that doesn't yet exist. Because when you listen for what God is doing in your space, you can’t tell anyone exactly what will happen or what that will look like because
It's up to you to join in and see where He leads you.