Organic Faith

The Year that was...

I had to write a report for the ELCA about everything that Organic Faith has been up to this past year.  It's a relavtively boring report, but I figured that I'd share portions of it with you here, to remind us all of the cool things that happened in this community this past year.  Here goes nothing...

 

 February- Organic Faith held its second annual “Super Bowl of Generosity” the Saturday before Super Bowl Sunday.  We set up in Bidwell Park with a few charcoal grills, a lot of hot dogs, and a football.  While some of us played a never-ending game of touch football, others manned the grill and handed out free hotdogs to whoever walked by.  All said and done, we handed out over 50 hotdogs and had an altogether great time.

 

March- Members of Organic Faith took some time to spruce up and decorate the green room off the balcony at Parkside Lutheran Church.  We decorated the room with some of the communities original artwork and brought in lamps and lighting in hopes of giving the space a coffee shop feel.  We affectionately refer to the room as “The Clubhouse” and hold a number of our gatherings and worship services in this space.

 

Spring- Ten members of the community took a mission trip to Chicago over a four-day period.  We helped out at a homeless shelter, a tax preparation sight, and had a great time thinking about service and exploring Chicago.

 

April- In celebration of Easter we gathered for a worship service that we called “Stations of the Resurrection”.  Seven different members of the community put together interactive prayer stations that reflected on the resurrection story and theme.  Over the course of 2 hours the community took time to interact with these stations and prayerfully contemplate the many ways that Christ’s Resurrection speaks in our life.

 

Summer- Over the summer we continued with our Wednesday night Pub Church ministry.  This event draws anywhere from 5-15 people at a local Pub on a weekly basis.  Each week we discuss a different topic that relates to our faith. 

 

Fall – This fall, Organic Faith entered into a partnership with Lutheran Campus Ministry of Western New York. This partnership provides Organic Faith with a feeder organization, so to speak.  Those involved in campus ministry will know of a place where they can immediately be involved and engaged following graduation. Additionally, while Organic Faith still seeks to serve those of the post-college age group, the formal partnership opened up several new avenues for service, worship, and ministry with the college crowd this fall.

 

Once a month, Organic Faith and Lutheran Campus Ministry gathered for worship that was both creative and meaningful.  We also combined the two groups once a month for a service project on Saturday mornings. 

 

Looking towards 2012 this partnership will provide further opportunities for creative ministry.  We are in the process of renovating a house near the University at Buffalo South Campus.  Our hope is to launch an intentional Christian community this summer.  Four peer ministers will be chosen to live together in this house and (instead of paying rent) will be placed in leadership roles in Organic Faith and Lutheran Campus Ministry.

 

More than anything else, I rejoice in the lives being touched and transformed by this ministry.  Dozens of young adults are finding a faith community that they can call home and are discovering the power of the Gospel that they have long considered obsolete.

 

Pastor Nate Preisinger, Organic Faith cultivator.  

 

 

 

 

Organic Faith April 2011 Newsletter

<Click Image to enlarge>

Scenes from the Club House

Organic Faith has recently began reworking a room at Parkside Lutheran Church in order to create a specific space for all our gatherings.  We are effectionately referring to this room as "The Club House".  We had our Celebration Meal here last week and we're currently brainstorming about other ways to make use of this great space.  If you got an idea, let us know!

Here's some pictures: 

Upcoming Organic Events

Organic Faith has moved the Late Service gathering from Sunday Nights to Saturday Nights at 5pm.  We will still be meeting at Parkside Lutheran Church and our gathering will still be one of contemplation, conversation, and community. 

Additionally, Pub Church will continue to meet on Wednesday   nights at 7:30pm at Sterling Tavern on Hertel Ave.  Each week we choose a theme, grab a drink, and discuss together the ways that we personally think about any number of issues relating to our spiritual life.  New comers are always welcome!

Finally, 

 Mark your Calendars! One of the best ways to build community is to eat together, so that’s exactly what we are going to do.  Invite a friend, invite a stranger and join Organic Faith in two weeks on Saturday evening (2/26) at 5pm for a shared meal together.  The food will be provided, but you are invited to bring any drinks or desserts to share, if you wish.  The only reason we are not having a celebration meal this Saturday is so you’ll have a full week to plan ahead, and to tell your friends.  We hope you can make it! 

 

If you have any questions about any of these gatherings, don't hesitate to email Nate <nate.preisinger@gmail.com> 

 

New News

Over the course of the Fall Organic Faith has been turning its focus to developing a life of worship together. The Late Service has been gathering every Sunday night for a unique expression of worship together. We are continuing to develop the artwork, the music, and the gathering itself and are always looking for new ideas, or creative people who are excited about crafting a creative and communal worship gathering.

Long ago the leadership team discussed our hope for Organic Faith as a whole. We developed a vision statement that read like this: “We are a worshiping community. We are honest about our limitations. We are made new in Christ.” Tied up into that long conversation about our vision was an image of Organic Faith as a stool with three legs. One leg that we as Organic Faith would stand on would be worship (hence the development of the Late Service). The other two legs to complete our stool are Community and Mission. Our hope is to have all three legs of the stool interplay with each other, and in a way, this has already begun in a way as we have a missional focus in our communal worship gatherings.

The Late Service will continue to develop and grow but the Organic Faith Leadership team has determined that it is time to develop the second “leg of our stool” so to speak. In the months ahead we will seek to develop a new gathering for Organic Faith, a gathering that can develop the community portion of our stool. What do you think?  What would you want your church community to do to strengthen the trust and relationships within the community?

Feel free to email in your ideas or better yet, join us on November 20th from 10am-2pm for our monthly Think Tank Retreat!

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

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.  

Updates from the Think Tank

Last night, Organic Faith held it’s first ever Think Tank.  This gathering was designed to create a space where a team of people could get together and dream and plan together where Organic Faith might be going.  Thanks to our Soul Cafe gatherings, we had some extra tea and coffee lying around for the Think Tank to share as we envisioned together the future of Organic Faith.

We began the evening by simply praying and listening.  We asked for the Holy Spirit to lead and then waited until one of us was struck with inspiration.  After two and a half hours of Spirit lead inspiration we had some neat ideas and new convictions moving forward with Organic Faith.  

First, we want to become a community that is more committed to prayer.  We want to pray together more often, be people who are not afraid to ask for prayer, and encourage one another by writing and sharing prayers together.  In addition to this new ideas we also hope to implement in the near future a Monday morning and Friday evening prayer gathering as a way to frame our entire work-week around conversation with God. 

Second, we are going to hold another day of generosity at Bidwell Park.  We all agreed that we hope to share the gift of community that we have with others and what better way to do this then by having a party in the middle of Buffalo.  More information on this generosity day will be coming soon. 

Finally, we hope that Organic Faith can become a community that affirms the Arts.  We believe that artwork (be it poetry, music, painting, or something more off the radar such as event planning) in all forms is to be celebrated and affirmed simply because art is a sign of life and a reminder of the Resurrection.  We hope to become a community that is consistently creating and sharing these gifts with the world.  

So, there’s your recap of Think Tank #1, please feel free to join us next month as we continue to pray and vision where God might be leading us.  Our next Organic Faith Think Tank will be June 6th. 

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.