Grass roots and origins

Two new communities are forming right now that are both of interest to me.

The Origins Project (which may not end up being the name) is the venture started by Dan Kimball, Scot McKnight, Erwin McManus and others. The blurb on their site says...

Over the past few years, several of us have been developing an increased sense of urgency about the mission of Jesus and evangelism. As friends, we began talking about the importance of uniting around this mission of sharing Jesus as the hope of the world and our salvation through him alone. We began dreaming about the power of working together more closely with others who share the same heart and passion.

It will be a community of...

- Friends, pioneers, innovators and catalysts who want to dream and work for the Gospel together rather than alone.

- Leaders, entrepreneurs, pastors, misfits, and artists who share a high view of Scripture and a radical commitment to evangelism while being faithfully committed to what is expressed in the Lausanne Covenant.

- Missionally-minded people from different backgrounds who use different methods in different cultural contexts but share the same experimental passion and risk-taking heart for serving, loving, and helping people connect to God through Jesus.

Grass Roots doesn't have the big-name recognition of Origins, but it is perhaps more geographically friendly for me, and it is headed by some personal friends of mine. The blurb on their very new website says...

We are an organic network of churches and church leaders who are captivated by Jesus' message of the Kingdom of God. As our name implies, we are a movement driven by the members of the Grass Roots community, not by traditional power structures. We come from various denominations and fellowships, and have chosen to walk in friendship, mutual learning, and partnership to bear fruit we could never bear by flying solo.

Do you want to see the church become more like the Jesus of the Gospels?
Do you want to see the church living and dying for the world like he did?
Do you want to become a joyful, deep, passionate, committed disciple of Jesus?
Do you want to chase the Kingdom of God, rather than just building a great church?
Do you want to see a movement of Jesus-like churches erupt in our midst?
THAT is why Grass Roots exists.

Like I said, both of these sound appealing to me. As was stated at the first Grass Roots gathering - it was basically started because people were tired of waiting on our denominations to do something. That fits me. My denomination is virtually useless to me/us at the moment - other than taking our money. However, in reality, you know... I'm sitting here in my bathrobe in the cornfields of Indiana. So... we'll see what happens. In any event, I think God is up to something.