Redeeming the church building
Bill Kinnon is in New York and attended a service of Redeemer Presbyterian last night, the lucky dog. Hope to get there myself later this year.
I may struggle with this model of church – but let me positively acknowledge that Redeemer exists for the city of New York – with their focus on preaching a holistic gospel that can transform the city. Some of that “preaching” takes place on Sundays. Much of happens in the warp and woof of peoples lives lived out in the city…
Redeemer is in the process of purchasing a parking garage on the Upper West Side that will be converted into a 900 seat auditorium, offices and community space. They eventually hope to have three church facilities in Manhattan.
Bill links to the Vision Campaign website. I thought this 1-minute video was a good contribution to my question from the Viola and Barna book: “Is there a way to use buildings missionally and in a way that expresses the true nature of the church?”
more videos here
Update: Tim Keller comments at Bill’s blog:
Bill–So glad you could drop in. I think I know almost exactly how you feel about the consumer/traditional/institutional church. Twenty years ago I started a church out of frustration with the church, but it got big, and that was never my intention or expectation when it started. Size brings a certain amount of institutionalization, unavoidably. But I didn’t think I had the right to forcibly keep the ministry very small. It’s a trade off, a very hard one. Glad you came by.