WHAT WE LEARNED AT WEIRD CHURCH CAMP

For three days in late August, nearly 100 of us gathered at 8000 feet above sea level in the heart of the Rockies for a first-ever-experience: Weird Church Camp. Inspired by the title of the book that Beth Estock and I published last year, this was a place where creative souls in ministry could gather to network, to do Sabbath and to find encouragement for their journeys. For those who read Weird Church, you know that this is not a TYPE of congregation. It is not about out-of-the-box ministry even. It is about doing what might seem counter-intuitive to church institutions that are still grounded organizationally and culturally in the mid-to-late twentieth century. That's it.  

The book Weird Church considers the Family Chapel, the Mega-church, the Cathedral and the Dinner church all to be possible venues where twenty-first century church can unfold.  Most denominational systems are not really designed with these kinds of churches as primary constituents.  In keeping with the utter normality of those who lead cutting edge ministry, we had seminary faculty, district superintendents and pastors of downtown First churches alongside those who are more risk-taking in the forms of their ecclesial experiments.

A part of the event process was time in deep listening groups and 1-1 with spiritual directors.  In addition, there was opportunity for afternoon hiking with new-found friends at two miles up, where several hike-to-Emmaus conversations occurred.

Here are a few things we learned in the course of this experimental event:

1. Creative ministry can be terribly lonely in the context of most denominational communities. A lot of our campers reported feeling isolated, with a sense that most of their tribe did not get them or appreciate them.

2. Powerful healing often occurs when we create a safe space for personal story-telling.

3. Playfulness is too rare in church life, especially among clergy.

4. A high percentage of cutting edge pastors are thinking about a major shift in the plot of their lives... there is a sense of that which is about to be born that came up again and again... and again in conversations.

5. Some really brilliant folks showed up to the party - for whatever reasons, this kind of event attracts talented church leaders. It was not a random cross-section of a district pastors meeting. Weird Church Camp facilitated networking of our best and brightest with other high caliber leaders.

6. A brilliant DJ is what I want for a 'worship leader- partner' if I ever plant a new worship community again. For a variety of reasons, twenty-first century churches have not yet widely utilized this approach to resourcing worship. A DJ leverages technology. A DJ fits with modern culture. A DJ expands the range of music and mood exponentially, in comparison with what any live band or choir can do. A DJ can find music that will work with almost any niche of culture on the planet.

We have not yet decided if we will do another Weird Church Camp. We will decide that very soon, and let you know!  But I wanted to share a little of what we discovered!
  

Grace and peace!