Perks of Preaching in Em. Churches

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Who said there are no perks in preaching at emerging churches? I had such a good time at Kubik church in Germany last week, that i want to offer their example of how to treat an emerging church preacher as a benchmark for other churches.

1. The best seat. They have a comfy armchair up the front for the old tired preachers when they come through. Best seat in the house and one that i would have chosen. . . although green rather than pink would have been fitting.

2. The best coffee. Kubik has an underground coffee shop – at least it will be underground until they receive their license to open publicly. These nice people also gave hot chocolate to my kids. Their expresso machine is by far the most expensive piece of equipment they have – something common in emerging churches with a coffee shop theme, leading me to observe that the expresso machine has become the new organ.

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3. A virtual camp-fire, even if it is only a looping video of a fire, is a nice touch to have next to the preacher.

4. My own personal DJ. I could have chosen my DJ but DJ List10 was scheduled to back up the preacher last week and I went with what they offered. He was great . . and it was so nice not to lay my own audio tracks while i told stories from the gospels – its a real luxury to have someone do it for you and DJ List10 was great – he also told me that laying down loops for an English speaking preacher was much harder than a German speaker.

5. An offering. They took up an offering for our family and gave us the whole thing. I have not seen such generosity since my experience with the Pentecostal churches. The fact that these young people wanted to give to us was more important than the gift itself.

6. Freedom not to give a sermon. I didnt have to give a 3-point sermon and did not have to show off my oratory skills (i retired my preacher voice 10 years ago). Instead, I had the freedom to simply tell about Jesus, read from the Bible, and say directly what God wanted them to hear and respond to. No packaging. No long intros. No silly anecdotes or illustrations.

What did I preach on? John 3:16 – I told them about Jesus, about what he did and how he calls us to follow him and give ourselves away to the world. Its a chaotic, messy calling, but God will take care of us.

So a BIG Thanks to Marc and Nadine Reichmann, and to Kubik for a fine example of how to treat an old preacher, and of course, for looking after me and my family last week.

Andrew

Andrew Jones launched his first internet space in 1997 and has been teaching on related issues for the past 20 years. He travels all the time but lives between Wellington, San Francisco and a hobbit home in Prague.

4 Comments

  • The Espresso Machine is the new Organ

    Great quote from Andrew Jones which touches briefly on the relationship between emerging church and coffee. Have a read of his experience of preaching at an emerging church in Germany, encouraging stuff! The Espresso Machine is the new Organ…

  • Nadine says:

    hello andrew,
    good to hear that you all got home safe.
    i read your post with the german translation and had a lot of laughs. did you know that “they gave my kids hot chocolate” was translated with “they gave my goats hot choclate”??
    anyway, give your kids big hugs from germany, you did well, my respect to you.

  • Boltono says:

    Hmmm indeed! Neal Stephenson’s “Snow Crash” ISBN 0-14-023292-3 is also on a good bet that it will be Burbclaves ruling…miniature nation states. A good read, and not too far away in the future. No mention of church there though. I guess it’s all underground and people have finally woken up to the need for no buildings whatsoever.

  • Boltono says:

    Oh dear…wrong article I posted to! I shall correct now. Apologies for gaff. Technically-challenged. Thanks Gog..er, God.

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