October 8, 2001
Ecclesia: Purposely postmodern
ECCLESIA'S church sign
___By John Hall
___Staff Writer
___HOUSTON--One night Pastor Chris Seay went to pray over a newly purchased building that was to be a Christian coffee shop run by his church. As he knelt down by the front door, he heard voices from the side of the building and went to meet whoever was there.
___There, Seay met two transvestite prostitutes who worked near the building. While perhaps an awkward situation for some pastors, encounters like this have become quite ordinary to Seay.
___Seay is pastor of Ecclesia Church in the Montrose section of Houston, an area historically known for its arts, prostitution and large homosexual population--and an areanow being repopulated with high-income urban loft dwellers. To reach these historically unchurched groups, Seay said, he has to employ new techniques.
PASTOR Chris Seay
___Although the congregation meets for worship at a building owned by South Main Baptist Church, Ecclesia is renovating an older, smaller church building for use as office space, an art gallery, small concert venue, cafe and recording studio. Seay hopes to use the Taft Street Cafe as a source of financial support for future pastors who come to Ecclesia to learn about starting other postmodern churches.
___The modern age of linear thinking ... is ending, and the postmodern era where many things are relative is just beginning, Seay explained. Because of this change, Seay conducts worship differently than many churches.
___"Christianity has become about downloading propositions," he said. "Jesus tells a story, and (people are) arrogant enough to think we can narrow it down to four propositions. Here, we tell the story. We sit at the back of the modern world, and what we're teaching is that we have moved into a postmodern world."
___In this new context, Seay believes leaders of the faith must return to the roots of Christianity and change the way they teach and preach. At Ecclesia, Seay tells Bible stories in a casual manner by paraphrasing some of the Scripture while directly reading other parts to the congregation.
___"In a world that is re-embracing Eastern thought like that of the Hebrews, let us follow Christ's example to become storytellers who bring Scripture to life," he said. "This does not mean giving illustrations to support the propositions we have extracted from the text. It means telling the stories of our Bible from Genesis to the end.
___"Our attempts to tie each passage off neatly into propositional statements that capture truth are backfiring, and emerging generations are seeing through the charade of our modern forms of exegesis. We are not simply autonomous knowers given the ability to decipher truth for others. Jesus understood that it is not only the truth that changes us, but also the journey of seeking that truth."
AN IRON and mesh depiction of a crucifix awaiting display in the art gallery now under construction.
___Ecclesia attempts to reach these postmoderns by adapting its worship service to be more compatible to their thought patterns. Postmoderns, Seay explained, tend to be able to put many things together at once rather than processing information in the linear fashion in which many churches are teaching.
___Worship at Ecclesia gives the audience information in many forms at once. Seay said the service is meant to be an experience rather than a presentation. Candles often are lit, and incense is burning through the service. Pictures flash on screens to help illustrate the message that day. Area artists sometimes are featured painting while Seay speaks. The artists paint to express what they feel during the message.
___"Where some may react to a work of art as being pretty, postmoderns often respond to art as being true," Seay said. "A young lady who joined Ecclesia as a charter member came to an understanding of the story of Christ completely through art. After graduating from art school, she traveled to Europe to see the great cathedrals. She was more disposed to Buddhism than Christianity. But the art in European churches made the gospel real to her. She chose to follow Christ based on the compelling story of Christ painted on church walls."
___The artistic nature of the worship services particularly impacted one member of Seay's congregation, which has grown to average 200 people during Sunday services after beginning as a church start supported by the Baptist General Convention of Texas and several churches around the nation in September 1999.
A GROUP of youth volunteers who worked on the renovation at the Taft Street building of Ecclesia wrote prayers on the wall studs this summer, ensuring that the church's ministries always will be surrounded by prayer.
___"I find completion in my soul," Jamie Assad said, speaking about being able to combine her painting skills with the worship service. "It's been a gift that I wanted to share, but I couldn't. To have a pastor come along and stand behind me means so much to me."
___While Seay speaks to homosexuals regularly about spiritual issues, he does not consider his first task to be changing their sexual orientation. His church encourages a relationship with God, he explained, and once a person has that relationship, God works within that person, changing whatever aspects of life need to be changed.
___"I want to see people come to faith in God, and only after they have come to faith will they see their entire lives transformed," Seay said. "Our mission is ... for men and women to experience the freeing gospel of Jesus Christ."
___Seay's techniques have worked in this hard-to-reach section of Houston. Dian Kidd, associate director of Union Baptist Association, said Ecclesia has been able to carve a niche for itself where other churches have failed.
___"I think it appeals to a diverse population because the church itself is diverse," she said. "They have an attraction for people in their late 20s to early 30s. I would say it is particularly attractive to people just out of college and starting careers. They are seeking answers for real life and seeking direction professionally and spiritually. They are on a journey."
___Seay, however, is quick to point out to others that there is no quick fix that can be made to attract the new generation of non-believers. True faith, he said, is not about curriculum or worship styles but much more.
___"Faith is about Christ and not about us," Seay said. "It's not about the ways we choose to study Scripture, pray, build buildings and view culture. It is quite simply about knowing God and our response to the saving love of Christ that we love our God and our neighbor."
___For Seay, the Christian faith may be as simple as knowing God and responding to the love of Christ, but he views the present as a critical juncture for the future of the church.
___"Historic Christianity--the entirety of God's story--must take the lead in our minds and hearts in this new century," he said. "If it does, we'll see some incredible things happen. But if we stick with a modern, Western Christianity, we're going nowhere.
___"It's time to say, 'No more.' It's time to say, 'The gospel is everything--the whole story of God for whole people.' It's time to tell the truth."
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