The Church Called "Church"

Ecclesia is the Greek word for church. On Sunday morning, May 26, while in Houston, I worshipped with the Ecclesia church on Taft (they don't say Ecclesia Church--that would be like saying Church Church). I found the service to be warm, very relaxed, and extremely worshipful, for me.

At noon, I met Kay and the Creeches for lunch, and Robert asked me if I felt out of place there. Thinking that he was referring to the fact that I may have been the only one there not in jeans, I commented that I was quite comfortable in an open-collared shirt. Then I realized that he was alluding to the fact that most of the people there are under 30, and many are early 20’s. Okay, I may have felt a little old, but that’s happening in lots of places these days.

Expressions through art are an important part of Ecclesia, and on entering the well-done, warehouse-like facility (through the coffee shop), you find some interesting artwork done by congregants, I think, on the walls of the worship center.

On this Sunday, the worship at Ecclesia was led by a young man and a young woman, each on acoustic guitar. They were good musicians, and very good worship leaders. There were readings, and prayers (Ecclesia combines casual music with a “formal” sounding liturgy, at times), and a video that portrayed two children, one black and the other white, interacting as friends just having fun. Though the video never mentioned Ecclesia activities, it was used to encourage folks to help out with kids’ summer activities at Ecclesia. It was also very well done.

Chris Seay, the pastor and lead elder of Ecclesia, brought the message, an intro to the life of the Apostle Paul. One of the signatures of emergent church worship is interactive elements that allow worshippers to participate in some concrete expression of their encounter with God. On this day, we were given paper and pencil, and during the sermon, Chris invited us to draw the apostle Paul as we “know” him. I can't show you my picture (it's not much to show), but I portrayed Paul speaking with a raised fist, and pointing to his audience. This is how I view him, a strong orator who didn’t mince words with his listeners.

At the conclusion of the service, we were invited to participate in communion, by coming forward and taking a piece of bread and dipping it in the cup (a practice known as intinction). After the benediction, guests were invited to try some new coffee that they’d recently gotten, from some country in Europe or South America or . . . I really can’t remember because I don’t do coffee. We were told that all we had to do to get the coffee was to go by a table and act like we’re interested in Ecclesia. Another table in the other corner at back was a place where we could fill out a card and light a candle and become a part of the Ecclesia fellowship.

I slipped out without lighting a candle or drinking a cup of coffee, though the thought of one of those did enter my mind. (If you’re interested, find out more about Ecclesia at ecclesiahouston.org.)

Care-full-y,

rick