What is this new church?

    If Jacob's Well is the name of this church, then maybe this blogspot should be called Jacob's Wall. This is where we can all come and write our ideas and experiences, read each others and start conversations. Walls served that purpose for 1000's of years, I guess they still do with spray cans and gang symbols, but I've tried to write on a real wall before and it isn't easy. This is better.

    Hi, by the way, this is Greg Meyer, I'm the pastor at Jacob's Well, the one God gave this dream to some years ago. But clearly, it was a contagious dream. Today, still 8 days out from our first actual gathering, there are already a couple hundred people working, praying, waiting for this dream to become reality. Alot that is happening, like this website, are the result of other people taking the dream where God is leading them. That's cool. It's already out of control. That's Jacob's Well. A place where people gather, share the stuff of life, recognize that it is all a gift from God, and take it to their lives, their worlds.

    That's what this new church is, a church with God at its center, Jesus in its heart, but not 'managed' or contained. Jacob's Well is meant to be the power of God unleashed in the lives of people. That's you! And me. You know, when Jesus said his last words to his followers - at least that are recorded in the Bible - he said, "Go, make disciples of all nations." But that doesn't just mean go be a missionary in some far away place. Jesus just wants us to "Go." Take what we have received, and live it. That's Jacob's Well.

    But let me get down to the nitty gritty here. You are probably thinking, "Jacob's Well came from somewhere, and is part of something, isn't it?" And we did and we are - and proud to be. Let me fill you in. We are a Lutheran Church, part of the ELCA, in fact (www.elca.org - check 'em out, but you won't find us listed there yet.) We are a gift of Bethlehem Lutheran Church on 4100 Lyndale Ave S, right here in our own neighborhood (www.bethlehem-church.org). Bethlehem is a great church. Growing, vibrant, traditional.

    That's where Jacob's Well comes in, Bethlehem is a traditional, established church. I guess it is a reflection of how healthy they are that Bethlehem realizes that they aren't and can't be the right kind of church for everyone. They share our vision of helping people discover lifegiving relationships with God, but know that some people need a different form of the church than they can offer. Bethlehem gave birth to Spirit Garage about 8 years ago (www.spiritgarage.org) a great avant garde congregation focused on the uptown crowd, and now us. And maybe, you!

    Here's the skinny. Jacob's Well is a new kind of church. One that wants to be all about the movement of God's grace that we see through Jesus' love in our world. We want to be about that, not the institution. That's why no building. We are willing to be portable and on the move when we need to be to make it clear to us, to you, and to God that it's not about the building, but about the people. Our theology is the grace-filled, inclusiveness that the ELCA (that's Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) embraces, but freed up from the traditions that have - I hate to say it, but here goes - become obstacles for more people than they have become bridges for. I like to say that we are part of the ELCA-U. That's the ELCA-Unleashed. I'm proud to part of a church body that is doing as much good in the world as the Lutheran Church is, and that is willing to take risks like Jacob's Well in order to discover what the church of the 21st century might look like.

    Long enough. So the next question might be, who am I? I'll blog about that a little later.

Peace! Greg