ReTHiNK Service

On May 17, 2009, CCJ will be releasing services early!


Nope. That's not a misprint. Church services at CCJ will only last approximately 15 minutes on Sunday, May 17th. But why the change? What's this all about? Can we do this every week? Before we get into the answer, let me begin by asking you a question.


What image comes to your mind when you read the word "zebra"? I'm willing to bet that it was an animal, resembling a horse, that has black and white stripes. Right? It just would not make any sense if for some reason you pictured a giraffe or a golf club in your head. That is just how we're wired. Now what comes to your mind when you read the word "church"? I'm willing to bet that you pictured a church building that you're familiar with. It's just like when you pictured the zebra, that's just how we're wired. The unfortunate aspect of this is that too often most Christians (myself included), begin to associate "church" solely with the place we get together to worship each week. And while the connection is natural and inevitable, too often the walls of the church building begin to define, and unfortunately confine, our ideas of what the church truly is about. And that is a connection that Jesus never intended when he founded The Church.


So what's this have to do with releasing services early on May 17th? If you have been around CCJ long, you've heard us say that our mission is to love God, love people, and change the world. This is a mission that we're passionate about that drives what we do. Loving God, loving people and aiming to change the world is a mission and an ideal that we at CCJ are consistently trying to communicate in creative ways to our church body and our community. This is what May 17th is all about.


We, as a local church body, are setting aside May 17th to put into tangible practice the idea of loving God, loving people and changing the world. Following the abbreviated services on May 17th, we are going out into a variety of community venues and serving the communities that we live in. Some service will involve picking up sticks and trash, while others will simply sit down to spend time with individuals at nursing homes. These are just some basic, tangible ways that for 60-90 minutes we can serve our communities and live out our mission.


Still have questions about what's going on? It's likely that you do. In fact since we first thought of and announced this idea we've had lots of questions. Here you'll find listed some of the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about our "ReTHiNK Service" Sunday. If you don't find the answers there please either ask by posting a comment, or you can shoot me an email. We're certain there are details we've overlooked that you may have thought of, so please do ask questions.