Organic Faith

NYC Mission Trip

We are less than a month away from the Annual Organic Faith Mission Trip.  This year we are traveling to New York City in a Mission Trip that is simply titled: "This is Church" 

We will be helping in a wide variety of places and situations and all the while we will be expanding our understanding of what it means to be the church.  

There are still spots open, so if you are interested, please sign up! We'd love to have you!  We even have a fancy registration form that we're asking you to fill out. Here's the link (There's also some more information about the trip on the website):

http://firsttrinity.com/nyc-mission/

 

Announcing: The Late Service

 

On September 19^th Organic Faith will begin a new aspect of their existence as a Christian community,  9/19/10 marks the date of the first ever Late Service at Parkside Lutheran Church. 

 

This contemporary take on the Monastic Compline service will truly be an expression of community.  The music was not only chosen by members of Organic Faith, but much of it was written by members of the community.  Additionally, the entire service has been prayerful designed to provide the people of Buffalo with an opportunity to gather together in an authentic community and to hear of God’s promises.  

 

The Late Service (or TLS) hopes to be a space of peace and reflection; an escape on a Sunday night from the hustle and bustle of life in the city.  

 

Join us on Sunday, September 19^th for TLS, an alternative worship service of the Organic Faith Community. 

News, Notes, and the Remaining Summer Schedule

Faithful readers,

It has been nearly a month since the update.  During this hiatus I completed my transition from Zion Lutheran Church to Parkside Lutheran Church.  On July 11th, I was installed as the Intern at Parkside and I will be serving there for a full year as the pastoral intern at Parkside under the direction of Pastor Charlie Bang.  

This move has a few great implications for Organic Faith.  For one, we will be able to make a stronger link with Parkside, where we have been gathering for many of our events. I’m hoping in the year ahead that we can invite many of Parkside’s members to our different gatherings and events as the church, and I also hope that we might participate in some of Parkside’s gatherings etc.  Furthermore, we have the new potential to put together really neat events and initiatives together.  

In other words, start dreaming big friends! There is so much potential for what we could do with this new connection!

Now I’m guessing that some of you are saying, “that’s great, but what does this mean for Organic Faith for the rest of the summer?” I’m so glad you asked!   In our remaining time together this summer I would really like spend a lot of time together as a community planning for the fall and dreaming about where we can go during Organic Faith’s 3rd year.  

As we gather and grow as a community this summer I ask you to please invite anyone and everyone that might be interested in a different type of church.  Below you will see a complete calendar of the events for Organic Faith through the remainder of the summer, feel to share it with all your friends, or let me know if there is something else that you would like to see this summer that’s not currently on the calendar.  You’ll notice that all gatherings begin at 7:07pm - this specific time was chosen so its easy to remember and so we can have a clear time set for when we will begin.  

I don’t say it enough, but thanks to all of you who care about Organic Faith and put time into building this community; its so exciting to be on this journey together with each of you. 

THE SUMMER SCHEDULE:

NOTE: All gatherings are at Parkside (2 Wallace Ave), except for Pub Church, which is held at Sterling Tavern

July 22nd (This Thursday) @ 7:07pm  - Devos (A time to gather, to discuss, to pray, to learn, and to dream together)

July 29th - Devos @ 7:07pm  

Aug 3rd - “Soul Cafe: Contemplation” @ 7:07pm

Aug 10th - Pub Church @ Sterling Tavern. Gather @7:00, discussion begins @ 7:30 

Aug 14th - Devos @ 7:07pm

Aug 16th - Pub Church@ Sterling Tavern. Gather @7:00, discussion begins @ 7:30

Aug 21st - Devos @ 7:07pm

Aug 23rd - Pub Church @ Sterling Tavern. Gather @7:00, discussion begins @ 7:30

Aug 28th - Devos @ 7:07pm 

Aug 30th - Pub Church @ Sterling Tavern. Gather @7:00, discussion begins @ 7:30

Think Tank Recap

Organic Faith met on Sunday night for a time of brainstorming, visioning, prayer, and discernment.  We know we are a young community but we also believe that the Holy Spirit is leading us, and so at our Think Tank gatherings we take time just for this purpose; to listen for the Holy Spirit and to plan the future of our community through this process.

Mission Statement: “Newness in Christ, Rooted in God’s Love.” 

In our time together it became clear that our community needs a vision and a mission to own, so that we might gain a greater sense of our identity as Organic Faith.  This mission statement also lead us into crafting a vision statement; we know what we are about so we started to think about what we wanted to become.  

Vision Statement: “We are a worshipping community.  We are honest about our limitations.  We are made new in Christ.” 

(As you might have guessed, we wanted to keep all of our rhetoric simple and we feel as if we’ve accomplished that with both our Mission and Vision statements.)   

But here is the thing about Mission and Vision statements... they are just statements; idle words that really could mean very little.  Like nearly everything a church talks about, a vision and mission statement mean nothing unless we strive to truly live them out.    We’ll do our best to live into our vision and live out our mission, but please feel free to try and keep us accountable.

Prayer Team

As I mentioned in the last point about our Organic Faith Think Tank meeting we are looking into creating a greater commitment to prayer in Organic Faith.  

This is our current plan on this front.  A group of us have begun to meet as a prayer team with our current mission being to write everyone in Organic Faith a letter.  These personalized letters are going to be sent (hopefully later this week) and will include a specific prayer personally chosen or written for each individual.  The hope is to simply invite each member of our community to begin focusing on prayer a little more.  As we continue to grow as a community we believe that we will only go as far as God takes us; the same goes for our own personal lives of faith.  These letters serve as an invitation to each person to embrace this community of prayer that we are forming.  

If you’d like to join us, even if you aren’t currently a part of Organic Faith, please email <nate.preisinger@gmail.com> and we will be sure to write you a prayer letter.  

Announcing: Organic Faith Think Tank

(The Following post is taken from the Organic Faith Newsletter.  To see the entire newsletter, please click the "News" Tab in the tool bar.) 

Back in March I set out an email to the entire Organic Faith email list and asked people if they would like to be a part of an Organic Faith leadership team.  I received a lot of replies from people all of whom thought a leadership team was a good idea, but unfortunately, were people that couldn’t commit to being on a leadership team at the moment, or for the long term.  

At first these replies were discouraging.  Clearly, everyone wanted a leadership team, but the busyness of their daily lives meant that they couldn’t commit to something.  After reflecting and praying about this reality I began to realize that God was leading Organic Faith in a different direction.

The name of our community, Organic Faith, suggestions that we are trying to grow faith in people in an organic way.  In other words, the idea of a static leadership team seems to be outside of who we are and what we hope to be doing.  Furthermore, Organic Faith is almost entirely composed of people who are in the midst of a time in their lives when little is set in stone.  We are all very transient people whose responsibilities and availability is constantly in flux.  

That’s why, rather than having a static Organic Faith Leadership Team we are instead going to have a more fluid, dare I say, more organic, model for the leadership and visioning of this infant community.  Rather than have a Leadership Team that is responsible for making all the decisions for the community behind closed doors, we are going to begin a monthly , open-invite Organic Faith Think Tank. 

The first Sunday of each month will be an open invite to anyone who wants to be a part of the Organic Faith leadership for that month.  No matter how involved a person has been in Organic Faith in the past they are more than welcome to be a part of the Think Tank each month. 

Each Think Tank gathering will begin with a time of prayer and silence as we invite the Holy Spirit to lead followed by an open time for people to purpose ideas for the community, plans for the month ahead, and dreams for the future of Organic Faith.  

It’s an exciting, new, organic way for leadership in our community where everyone is invited to be a part of dreaming and planning for the future.  Please consider committing one month in the future to being apart of the Organic Faith Think Tank.

Recap of Spring Retreat: Rebirth, Renewal, Resurrection

This past weekend was Organic Faith’s Spring Retreat.  A group of 10 of us journeyed down to Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center and spent Friday night and Saturday night enjoying the company of community and the time to search our lives for the places we need renewal, the places we see rebirth, and the places where we experience the Resurrection.  

The incredible thing about a retreat is that, for a brief period of time, you actually share life together with the people who have gathered.  For the length of the weekend you are living together with those who are on the retreat.  

Here is what is particularly interesting about sharing life together.  This is exactly what the disciples did following the Resurrection of Jesus.  After they experienced the power of Jesus’ victory over death they began to live together, to share their property with one another, and to continually remind one another that Jesus is Lord and has risen from the dead.  

As our retreat progressed we began to realize that this is what the Church is all about.  To be the Church means to gather together around the Resurrection and to recognize again and again the ways that God, through Jesus Christ, is bringing life where death once was.  

As Organic Faith continues to grow and strives to do a better job of being The Church we are aware that it begins by simply gathering together around the Resurrection.   Our call is to be people who believe in Jesus’ Resurrection and who look for signs of that victory over death in the our lives, in community, and in the world.  

If you, or someone you know, is looking for a community to share life together with, please let us know, we’d love for you to be a part of our community of Rebirth, Renewal, and Resurrection.  

The Plan for April

In my last post I mentioned that there are two new events coming to the life of Organic Faith. Rather than leave you in the dark on what these mysterious new gatherings will be like here is some information about "Soul Cafe" and "Sanctus": 

 On April 13th we will have our first ever “Soul Cafe” gathering. Here’s how it works: Imagine you’re at a coffee shop: there is delicious coffee, tea, and baked goods available, there is an open mic where people share stories, songs, poetry, and other inspirational ideas, there is comfortable seating and supplies for creating artwork of your own, or doing your homework, or just having a good conversation. This is Soul Cafe. Each gathering will have a unique theme to help direct the conversations and open mic time, but more than anything it is just a time and a space for people to be in community together. 

 The second new gathering is called “Sanctus” and will be kicked off on April 25th. Sanctus is the Latin word for Holy and this is exactly what we are going for with this gathering. We all participate in the Rat Race of life and so we need a time and space that is set apart to simply be a time of peace; a holy space where a community can gather and here words of encouragement; a time to refocus, recharge, and remember God’s presence in our lives. 

We are really excited about the prospect of both of these gatherings and, as always, would appreciate any comments or suggestions you might have for making these gatherings great. With all this being said, we're still going to be participating in the usual Organic Faith rhythm of Prayer, Service, Study, and Worship. 

 Here is your complete April Schedule:

 APRIL GATHERINGS (MARK YOUR CALENDARS): 

April 3rd - Serving at the Resurrection Food Pantry | 10 am-1 pm 

April 4th - No gathering, Happy Easter! 

 April 6th - Pub Chuch | 7:30 pm 

 April 10th - Habitat for Humanity Work Day | 9 am-2 pm 

 April 11th - Potluck Bible Study | 5:00 pm NEW ! 

April 13th - Soul Cafe | 7:30 pm 

 April 18th - Prayer and Yoga | 5:00 pm 

 April 20th - Pub Church | 7:30 pm NEW! 

April 25th - “Sanctus” Gathering | 5:00 pm 

 April 27th - Soul Cafe | 7:30 pm

Organic Faith Spring Retreat

Organic Faith Friends!

I want to announce to one and all the Organic Faith Spring Retreat at LCLC from Friday night March 26th until March 28th (ending around noon).  

Retreats are a great way for a community to spend time together, to grow together and to delve into bigger, deeper conversations than what we might talk about at one of our weekly gatherings.  They also are a heck of a lot of fun. 

So, mark your calendars and start inviting your friends (retreats are a great place to invite new people in!) for the Organic Faith Spring Retreat at LCLC. 

Stay tuned for more information about the retreat schedule and theme!

Updates for a New Decade

While the website has remained a little stagnant, Organic Faith has been quite busy since the turn from 2009 to 2010.  Just this past weekend a group of us gathered at Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center for a weekend retreat that explored the concept of community.  It was a weekend of fun, games, Bible Study, conversation, and of course, community.  Thanks to everyone who came and for those who helped plan and lead the weekend.

As far as where Organic Faith is now headed in the new year here is what you can expect:

Organic Faith will gather on a weekly basis at Parkside Lutheran Church on Sunday Nights at 5pm.  In an effort to develop a rhythm of prayer, worship, service, and study these weekly gatherings will cycle through a monthly routine. 

We will gather on the first Sunday of every month for a experiential worship service with communion.  Our gathering on the second Sunday of the month will be some form of service project.  The third Sunday will be a prayer gathering that incorporates stretching and meditation into our conversations with God.  And on the fourth Sunday of each month we will gather for Bible Study and a potluck supper.  

If any of this sounds confusing just check out our google calendar for clarification.

Finally, Pub Church will also be back in the Organic Faith cycle.  Be sure to join us on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 7:30pm for conversation and hydration at Sterling Tavern.