Join us in our new location, 728 E. 55th, Sundays at 10. Just not too many of yall.

The story we tell ourselves about the world up until very recently was simple- the power of mankind to make the world a better place is increasing rapidly, as scientific and rational thinking spreads and superstitition vanishes. The more data and information we get about the world, the better we get at ordering it for the good of humanity.

Then came 2020. We got tons of data, but so much of it was bad: racial injustice, police brutality, COVID, murder hornets… the chaos quickly overwhelmed our information. And even the information that we DID have didn’t bring us together; it only increased the chaos, as different interest groups used the same information to bolster opposing narratives.

Many of us have watched conflicts over what to do with our data play out between churches and the government. In particular, the conflict between the government of California and Grace Community Church, a megachurch led by the influential and outspoken pastor John McArthur, has drawn attention as two massive systems, church and government, come into conflict over the same data.

What does all of this have to do with the purposefully small church? In times of chaos, the small church is able to flexibly navigate difficult cultural environments. Because we have so little at stake in terms of our public impact, we are able to make decisions not on the basis of what they will look like on the internet, but instead on the basis of what is best for the spiritual health of our church family and our neighbors. Rather than posturing for the sake of a global audience, we are able to adopt a humble posture of service. We are able to meet safely, and still practice the Christian faith and worship as our people have for 2000 years. We can honor our God, and our authorities, not in spite of our small size, but because of it!