April 14, 1999
Postmodern church birthed in Austin
___By Jeff Huett
___Special Correspondent
___AUSTIN--As a widower and an alcoholic, 29-year-old William Perry was in search of something both unconditional and real when he sauntered through the doors of First Baptist Church in Austin during a stopover almost two years ago.
___What he found was a congregation committed to Christ but lacking that "something" he was looking for in a church family.
___ Now, the 31-year-old graduate student makes it clear that it wasn't just the Austin church that didn't fulfill his needs. Instead, it was the traditional worship philosophy of the modern church at large.
___To Perry, a true church is a small, tight-knit community that acts more like a family than the typical church. By his standards, the traditional church, complete with its planned "order of worship" and strictly defined leadership roles, does not provide what he needs at this point in his spiritual life.
___ So, with the support of First Baptist Church, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and community leaders like Drew Rice and Andrew Jones, a church called "Ecclesia" was formed six months ago to reach the disenfranchised youth who otherwise might be lost to traditional churches.
___With Rice as lay pastor, 10 committed members meet twice weekly. And with Jones laying the groundwork for the future, Ecclesia seeks to reach street kids and other youth in Austin who are not ready for a direct approach to Christianity.
___"We're more than just church-going people," Perry said. "We're a family, which was the original intent of the church. We are a group with a bunch of different personality types, and we agree to disagree a lot, but we do it in such a way that we grow together."
___In an attempt to strengthen the bond of its current members and to reach out to the community, Ecclesia, First Baptist and the BGCT recently sponsored a worship experience in the church's atrium.
___As youth entered the church, some with multiple piercings, glitter in their hair and one even clad in medieval dress, a sound of drums soon began to emanate through the five-level atrium. What began as a chaotic sound from a circle of six soon turned into a rhythmic percussion section of more than 20.
___As if to call the nightlong service to order, the drumming lasted almost 90 minutes.
___"The music appeals to different people in different ways and allows us to respond to the rhythm in our own lives," said Doug Keenan, associate pastor at First Baptist. "It's a very different form of worship than what we do on Sunday mornings, but it is a valid form of worship.
___"All of life should be a worship of God and a giving back of what we've been given, and this is a great reminder that worship can take many forms," he explained.
___ The worship experience, which lasted from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., provided opportunities for the youth to build community, view artwork displayed around the atrium, read poetry aloud in one of the church's many parlors or sit and meditate in one of the church's small chapels.
___The activities designed for the worship experience mirrored the lives these youth live on the streets of Austin. Keenan said the type of person who responds to this style of worship is open to allowing God to speak in many ways.
___"What Ecclesia has done is go into the darker and rebellious areas and get to the kids' levels to draw them into the church," he said. "We're three blocks away from one of the biggest music industry areas in Texas. The club scene is tremendous, and we have to find a way to reach these people.
___"If normal methods don't work, then maybe we need to try non-traditional methods," he said. "For sure, if the church doesn't provide it, then they'll go to New Age or some other ideology."
___This type of non-traditional ministry is a lifelong passion for Jones, who was brought in to temporarily guide the new church. Since he was a teenager, he has planned ways to reach youth who feel uncomfortable in the church.
___"When I was 17 years old and a new Christian, I started going out on the streets to share Jesus using donuts, coffee and a pile of tracts," Jones said. "I was just like a fundamentalist preacher. But I figured I couldn't bring the first person I led to Christ to church.
___"Then as time went on, I met other people, brought them to church and they didn't like it either. So then the question became, 'What are we going to do with them?'"
___ From this question, Ecclesia was formed as a way for post-modern youth to discuss Christ-ianity in a way they feel is real.
___"Today's world is vulnerable and real, and people find value in you by seeing your weaknesses," Jones said. "Even postmodern architecture has exposed beams rather than covered beams. We can't minister unless we get up there and spill everything. Our ministry flows out of our vulnerability, and it's a much better way to minister."
___This avenue of ministry has not gone unnoticed by the BGCT. Church starting consultant Bob Craig, who attended both the Friday night worship service and a meeting Saturday with various leaders in the nationwide effort to reach postmoderns, said one of the greatest things to come out of the weekend was the reinforcement to the people involved in this "pioneering" ministry.
___"The (BGCT) church starting center is interested in helping provide churches for every people group," he said. "We found out that Austin is the main location of this creative cultural group segment of the population and sought ways to address that issue."
___Until this point, the BGCT's role in the Austin church has been to provide financial aid, training and support. Craig said he hopes to see a network of 100 churches like Ecclesia started in the near future.Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!