I Want a Church...

I want a church:

where liturgy is prayed

and not read off a page - whether recited perfectly or mumbled and mispronounced.

I want a church:

where scripture is taught and proclaimed

and not where sermons are performed in imitated cultural idiom.

I want a church:

where the music ministry is a culturally-relevant ministry
steeped in spirituals, soaring gospel and confident in shared hymn and anthem traditions

and not a competition or recital.

I want a church:

where the language speaks of God and to God, making space for God to speak

and not silencing rhetoric reifying hegemeny.

I want a church:

where people pray from their hearts whether or not the use the ancient rubrics

and not a room full of people disconnected from God, each other and themselves.

I want a church:

where people serve God by serving each other inside and outside of the walls

and not a country club where most refuse to pay dues

and refuse to let the pittance that is collected meet anyone's real need.

I want a church:

where children and teenagers are recognized as the Church of today

and not the church of tomorrow.

I want a church:

were people study, pray and work together all year long

and not one that closes for the season or the summer.

I want a church:

that engages the brokenness of this world with prophetic words and healing balm

and not one that watches out of its deteriorating stained glass windows

and the world destroys itself, including its own members.

I want a church:

where pettiness and meanness are the exception and not the rule.

I want a church:

where people speak and act as though they have been transformed by God

and not as though they have never even heard the words they mouth around their gossip.

I want a church:

that gives without scheming to take it back

and not one that uses people, uses them up and throws them away.

I want a church:

that loves so much it is embarrassing and humbling and irresistible and infectious

and not one that is filled with hate and utilizes fear for hateful purposes.

I want a church:

of whom God is not ashamed, nor I,

and not one shamelessly parading and promenading as an imperial token,

neither knowing nor caring that the emperor has no clothes.

I want a church:

that I don't have to die to join

and not one whose present reality is an imitation of life.

I want a church:

that is not perfect

and not one that is wholly unconcerned with seeking perfection.

I want a church:

where all are welcome

and not one where all check-writers are tolerated, to a point.

And I want it now. Soon. This Sunday. Tomorrow. Come Holy Spirit.