question

If you were trapped on a deserted island and could only have 5 items with you, what would they be (and why)?

"You have told us what is good, and what the Lord requires of us: to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8) – the best ‘little creed’ summarizing Judeo-Christian spirituality and ethical behavior! See Jesus’ paraphrase – Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42. If social justice/ love/godly obedience comprise the prophet’s and Jesus’ creed, why are they absent in Christian Creeds/Statements of Faith?"

-Rowland Croucher

This is a good question.

Any thoughts?

If we, as Christians, are to be like Christ. Then, why do our churches not attract the same people that Christ attracted?

How do you take your coffee?

Seriously…

How do you take it?

Here’s my rant and question of the day…

From “what the heck is that Ventus god thing?” to “what the heck do you do?”  I’ve been fielding lot’s of questions lately about Ventus. And recently Alaina asked:

“I’d love to hear more about your concept, what you do to create the space, etc. I know that is a lot of technical stuff, but it would be interesting/easier to wrap my brain around Ventus as a concept.”

Hopefully this may shed some light…

So what is Ventus?

It’s a gathering; a community of people seeking to know the Lord more.

It’s a weekly place to meet and contemplate our lives and where the Christ fits into them.

It’s a sacred space for quite contemplation.

It’s a time to talk, hang out, to ask questions and to listen (to God and others).

We’re just broken, undeserving, messed up folks journeying towards an amazing, loving God.

What does Ventus look like?

Our goal was to do something simple and easy to replicate on a weekly basis. We wanted to create a space that felt sacred and different from our every day lives. We meet in an old church sanctuary in town. They have pews and do a regular church service the next morning (Sundays). So we’ve had to learn to work around what’s currently there.  What we’ve done to create a conducive space has been minimal and mainly based on lighting and music. People sit in pews, the lights are low, incense burns, and there’s 50-60 candles going for mood. Background music plays and is usually something ambient/chill/reverent (ie. Moby). We convert available clear spots into worship stations by tossing a sheet on the ground and decorating to suit the activity.

Simplicity is the key, getting the most out of minimal effort.  Our goal is for us to purse the Lord and we could do that in a cardboard box – so keep in mind that the mood is an important part, but not essential. It should never overtake or overshadow the true focus of the service.

What happens during Ventus?

It’s a simple service that opens with a prayer and greeting. We have a scripture reading and then unpack what it means in our lives. That usually lends itself to conversation and discussion about the scripture or whatever tangent we find ourselves on. Some week we sing hymns or praises to the Lord, but most weeks we have worship stations. Those stations will usually include elements of prayer, reflection, contemplation and expression (lectio divina, etc.). After the stations, we gather once again for a response; a time to share anything that is being impressed on our hearts from our times of reflection and communion. The service is ended with a prayer and blessing over the group. Then we hang out eating snack food (or whatever else someone brings) and drink coffee.

The service typically spans an hour.

Any other questions? Or points of clarification?

We are by no means experts in this. Long before Ventus started we were doing many of these practices on retreats and trips. Most of our wisdom has come from other more intelligent individuals from books and also plenty of trial and error.

As it turns out, this is the home imporvement weekend. I’m painting two rooms and staining the deck. One thing I absolutely hate is painting. It’s messy, it’s time consuming. Give me yard work, cleaning – you name it.But just don’t make me paint.  I can’t stand it – but I like the results.

So are there any tasks that you can’t stand?