Tonight was my “chair throwing and table rolling” evening with some men of Cityview. This group meets throughout the year before the Wednesday evening Marriage focused program called “Re Engage.” Because our new church home is a recently new church start in a new building, worship space was intentionally made to be flexible. That means (most recently) we meet to stack 660 padded chairs and replace them with 13 tables where 10 per table sit for Re Engage. Now, on Thursday morning at 6:00am our men meet at 14 tables to do a Bible study around the book “The Practice of Godliness.”After that, a team comes in to break down the tables and chairs and replace them with the 660 for both Sunday morning services. This will change on Easter when we shift to three morning services.

My pastoral/church experience finds these gatherings familiar. At every church I have served, there have been times when I got to scrub toilets, move tables and chairs and do the “grunt” work that goes on out of sight from most of the congregation. I doubt that many church members ever give consideration to “who” gets things ready, cleans up after services, cleans the toilets, etc. Cityview has a custodial service that comes in during the week, but on Sundays, one will see men of the church gathering trash from the preschool and children's area and getting it out to the trash bin in the corner of the parking lot because, nothing quite says it all like a dirty diaper fermenting over a couple of days in a trash can.

Cityview is a culture change for Anna and me. There is only a praise team but no choir. Music and singing are louder than in more established churches. The baptistery is wheeled out on the stage once a month for baptisms. There is no altar call but Elders and wives and the Ministers and wives are down front at the close of the service to respond to questions and prayer as indicated. The conversation can continue at the discipleship desk manned by the Discipleship pastor. The DNA of this congregation is small groups which meet throughout the week walking with each other through the trials of life.

Anna and I learned of Cityview through our oldest son and his wife Mandie. They found it was what they needed and wanted and now Tim serves as a elder. I was drawn to Cityview because well, the shoe was on the other foot. Tim and his brother Joseph had to settle for me as their pastor, but now Tim is helping to lead his church and frankly, I wanted to watch that unfold. Not to be critical, but to be overjoyed at who my son has become personally and in his walk with Christ. So Cityview has lived up to all my expectations. We have an awesome pastor who brings the Message with skill and power. His humility and transparency are sobering. Anna and I were introduced to the pastor's wife, Barie, with the comment from the pastor, “I will introduce Barie and she will come up and say something inappropriate.” It is a joke around the church. But it is said with love and well-- pride. It is the authenticity, simply people being who they are that is so disarming.

So, stacking chairs, rolling out tables, setting folding chairs around the tables is an exercise of friendship ending in Bible Study and prayer.

I am loving this time in our lives.