The Point

This summer, my family & I accepted the opportunity to pastor a great group of people that call themselves Friends Community Church. It is located in Tyler, Texas. Truly a church for people who don't like church. A church that is willing to be different for the sake of reaching those who are not comfortable or attracted to other more religious expressions of church life. Though Texas is known as the land of many churches...and east Texas as part of the "bible belt"...and as a fellow pastor friend would say, "its pharisee heaven"...FCC recognizes the need for a different kind of church. I like that. That is why we made the big move from Eugene, Oregon to Tyler, Texas. It wasn't for the "big bucks"...it wasn't for just "a job"...it wasn't because I always "dreamed" of living in Tyler, Texas...it was for a reason more important & worth laying my life down for. In short...I "get" where FCC is trying to go...more importantly, "who they are trying to become"...and that is a journey I want to be a part of. The contrast is stark, yet the result is the same. Eugene, Oregon is highly unchurched...90% of the population do not attend church regularly...sadly most don't trust the church as an institution. In Tyler Texas, most are supposedly "churched"...they say just under 50% attends church regularly (defined as once a month). But when you get to the actual numbers of committed church goers... even in "pharisee heaven"...only around 30% are regular church goers. The result in either extreme, in either city, is the same...more people do not trust the church...than do. How sad is that? More people are left without hope in their spiritual needs...distant from the Jesus that loves them so. Yes, the religious mask is more commonly worn in east Texas... but the lack of spiritual vibrancy lives on. Are lives being transformed? Is Jesus likeness growing in His people? Has the "religious" taken precedent over "relationship"? Are we practicing a 'form" of spirituality..."yet denying its power." Friends is a church committed to being different, for the sake of the "majority" that do not like...trust...or "get" the other church expressions in Tyler & its surrounding areas. Does that mean every other church in Eugene, Oregon or in Tyler, Texas (or anywhere for that matter) don't get it? Does it mean they are wrong and FCC is right? Does it mean they are all fake & only Friends Community Church is real? That's a definite NO! We as a church, are a messy bunch, and we are on a journey too. FCC is a group of people growing into the people God designed us to "be"...but perfect, HA, HA...we definitely are NOT !!! Our hope is that Friends Community Church can be uniquely different for the sake of those we are able to reach...perhaps some people other churches cannot reach will find a home with us...& that is a good thing. We know that those other churches will reach "some"...we will reach a different "some"...but together the Kingdom is expanded...and isn't that the point? More people exploring the Love of Jesus...more people experiencing His Love personally...more people expressing it to others...and after all, isn't that the point?

be God's!

Brian O

ECHO

Lead Pastor dude

Friends Community Church

Tyler, Texas