Doin' a new thing....

Last night at AfterHours: Off Broadway we watched God start a new thing. Nearly 60 people gathered together to watch AfterHours change location...and shape yet again. We still keep the best that was old (making sandwiches to feed the homeless, keeping the secular music, Communion and a short sermon (kinda). We also embraced that we are into a lot of the new. New location closer to our homeless brothers and sisters. Closer to a neighborhood that could maybe use our help. Closer to the least the last and the lost.

It is going to be a wild ride the next few moths, work with us. I am thinking AfterHours is EXACTLY where it needs to be.

Here's to the wild ride. Hope no one gets motion sickness!

loveandlaughs,

jerry

No. 1 down!

No. 1 down! Last Sunday was the one year anniversary of Afterhours. We have handed out 2600 lunches to the great guys at El Centro and then in the last four months given out 750+ lunches to the homeless folks down at Civic Center park....and I gotta say we have had a pretty good time doin it. This does not even include the pasta, diapers, water bottles, clothes, Ramen noodles, and and and....What an amazing this community has turned into in the last 12 months. AfterHours is a weird bird, no doubt about it, but I think there are a lot of people out there that like weird birds and still want to connect to God. I can't help but think there are people that want to wrestle with trying to figure out life/God/themselves but traditional church just ain't cutting it for them. Hope we helped fill that void this year.Who knows what the next year will bring, but I sure am thankful for the chance to serve/love/laugh with all of you this way, this year. Here's to more love, more laughs, & less judgment. See ya in 2010!

A lot can happen in three months...

Well, Civic Center park is up and running. Afterhours is handing out food & water and socks and communion there on Tues @ 1:30. Fridays, the FOUNDATION from DU is in the park at noon and Rusty Butler w/Arvada UMC are feeding the folks in the park on Mondays.

We have people from as far away as Cleavland, California and Florida asking how they can do the same type program in their cities. Very, very cool.

Christmas is going to be awesome here in Denver. As of now we have dozens and dozens of sleeping bags (thanks to Carolyn Waters and her crew at Christ Church), we have 50 box lunches donated by MiMi's Cafe in Broomfield (eat there when you can!), we have people who have donated hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of clothes. A couple people pitched in and bought over $300 worth of gloves. The gift bags that will have the clothes and such in them are all handmade and reuseable. It is amazing to me what happens when you let the spirit loose!

In my last post I mentioned that we didn't do "Communion"...but we did communion. We are doing "Communion" now twice a week. About 60%-80% of the people I offer it to accept. Some get down on there knees. Some won't touch it so I have to put it in there mouth. Some folks come every week ONLY for the communion.

By the end of this month, we will have feed over 600 people in Civic Center park.

Funny, when I started AfterHours, I thought we were starting a worship service that had an outreach element. I am starting to wonder if we have started an Outreach with a worship service element.

Time will tell...

The Least of My Brothers at the Table...

I was down in Civic Center park last Tues handing out food for the homeless with Paul Howard who runs Redemption Fellowship out of Trinity United Methodist church downtown. Paul has a heart for the homeless and those who have hit a rough patch. Paul and I went down there with the intention of handing out the sandwiches, having a communion service and then packing up our stuff and heading out. God had a different plan. After we had set-up our folding table with a cross and a chalice of juice and a loaf of bread we started handing out sandwiches. We also handed out some bagels and apples that got donated from some of you here at AfterHours. We never did a communion service, but make no mistake, we had communion. That’s what we had. Paul and I agreed that even if we don’t do a communion service, we would still set up the table. We love the idea that over time, the homeless in that park will know that when they come to the Lords Table…they will be fed. Towards the end of our time, as we were packing up, a gentleman came up to me and asked what I was going to do with the juice that was in the cup. I asked him if he wanted it and he said yes. For an instant, my old Catholic roots rose up and I thought, “should I do this?” Now it wasn’t even consecrated but just the idea of the juice going from the Chalice into a common water bottle gave me pause. That vanished pretty quick as I started to pour. I had to fight back tears as I poured the juice from the chalice into his water bottle held by his cold, weather-worn hands. This was as much communion as anything I had ever been a part of. This might not have been the traditional way of "getting rid" of the juice from the chalice but if I was to follow Jesus’ teachings, I realized I needed to put human need over traditional orthodoxy. It gave me chills.

As you do to the least of my brothers…

Have a great week.

Schools of Thought...

There are two schools of thought (probably more but I am going to run with two) when it comes to being a Pastor. One is that you show the world how much you know. Show them how strong a leader you are, that you can provide answers and are always certain. The other school of thought says struggle with your people. Show them your desire to lead, your willingness to go where you feel God is calling you but you don't need to act as though you have it "all figured out.". You let them know that you too get frustrated with the church and sometimes with God. You lead with your passion, not your intellect. Both models are successful. Both models work. A Pastor just needs to know which one he or she is. If you are ready to struggle with God and your faith and your Pastor who doesn't have all the answers...I look forward to seeing you at AfterHours.

I'm going to try again....

I am going to make another attempt at blogging. I get why people do it and I follow at least five blogs. As a writer though, it feel pretty...self indulgent (as if preaching isn't!) Now I know when it is done perfectly, preaching is an awesome expression of a way to connect people with God...both the preacher and the preachees. But it is a razors edge between that and a HUGE ego stroke. Keep an eye on me. I don't want to fall off the tightrope.

Having said ALL that, I will try to keep up and write in this blog as often as possible. Today I am just here to tell you the latest news with AfterHours.

We moved! we are now at 7562 S. University Blvd. 1/2 block south of Dry Creek in the Southglen Square mall. We are in the LifeSpot location right in the corner. LifeSpot is a youth center and they have been cool enough to let us invade their world every Sunday night. Table, chairs, couches, barstools. all add to the vibe. We used breadsticks from the pizza joint a few doors down for communion. It was fantastic. A very relaxed cool vibe.

We talked about what do you think of when you think of the word "church". for some it was a great memory, for others not so much and others had no feelings at all. What are your thoughts?

What do you think when you hear the word...church?

Suffering

So last Sunday night we talked about suffering. Sorry to say, we didn't figure it out. Drag. I thought FOR SURE we would have that nailed after a 12-minute sermon and a 6-minute discussion. Oh well. What we did discuss was whether we believed in an all powerful God, an all loving God, or whether or not evil and suffering exists (some people don't believe that eveil really existst.)Hard to explain how all three exists at the same time.I think based on the discussion we were all over the board. Me? I can't let go of the all-loving God. That would be a deal breaker for me. I believe that evil exists so....yep, I don't believe in an all-powerful God. Before you throw tomatoes at the screen, hear me out. I think the reason God isn't all powerful is because God gave up some power to give us free will. God wants us to CHOOSE to be in relationship with God. It is in this space where free will exists that evil and suffering can, and has, taken root. There you have it. What are your thoughts? You can read the whole sermon at www.afterhourschurch.com.