On a business trip to Washington DC last week I had a free afternoon and visited The Potter's House, one of the Church of the Savior missional communities. It is a combination coffee house and book store in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, about 30 blocks due north of the White House. I had been hoping to meet with a person who is well connected with Gordon Cosby, the founder of the church, and who I'd been told would arrange a meeting with me. However, that task didn't make it her "to do" list and the meeting never happened. So, when I arrived at Potter's House, I spoke with the book store manager, Tom, who had held that job for 30+ years. He was more informed than he gave himself credit for.
Tom stepped away from the cash register and sat down at a table with a cup of coffee to talk with me. He periodically got up to take care of a customer. He demonstrated to me the graciousness of the Potter's House ministry, showing patience and hospitality in the face of my interruption in his day.
While talking with Tom, I also observed what was going on in the room. There were about a dozen people there at any one time. They varied in race (Caucasian, black, white, Asian) and income level. They sat at tables in twos and threes, talking. I also fliers for talks on various subjects. The ministry has been doing this since the 1960s. Imagine the number of people who have been blessed by it
I asked Tom a number of questions. I'll write about just a couple of them here.
Q: Do the ministries gather together once a month?
A: No, but they once may have. (This surprised me. I will have to check my recall of what I learned of the Church in the 1970s, when I lived in Washington and visited it. Tom also mentioned that the communities are re-evaluating how they interact, now that Gordon Cosby, their founder and visionary, has retired.).
Q: How many people attend the church gatherings of the ministries?
A: They range from 8 to 20.
Q: Do the communities attract young people?
A: No. This is another reason the communities are evaluating how they function. (What I surmised is that the church and its ministry communities were initiated by a group of "Jesus People" radicals of the 1960s, who have carried it into the present, but didn't find a way to adapt the model to generations after them.)
Q: Why did the Church of the Savior end? (Turns out the Church was considered one of the missional communities, with Gordon Cosby as its founder and head. Some of the people affiliated with the other missional communities didn't have a worship gathering of their own and would attend the Church of the Savior gathering. When Gordon Cosby retired, the Church community sold their building and distributed the proceeds among the remaining missional communities.)
A: I'm not sure.
I have more to say on this last point, which I'll write in my next blog. Overall, though, I came away from my field trip with the realization that some of what I had remembered of the Church was inaccurate - at least it didn't represent the Church of today. Other parts, though, like the ministry of Potter's House, were as I remembered them and were impressive in how they embodied the ministry of Jesus. I am now considering what to hold onto or aim for in their model, and what to do differently. Let me know if you have any thoughts or insights.
Tom stepped away from the cash register and sat down at a table with a cup of coffee to talk with me. He periodically got up to take care of a customer. He demonstrated to me the graciousness of the Potter's House ministry, showing patience and hospitality in the face of my interruption in his day.
While talking with Tom, I also observed what was going on in the room. There were about a dozen people there at any one time. They varied in race (Caucasian, black, white, Asian) and income level. They sat at tables in twos and threes, talking. I also fliers for talks on various subjects. The ministry has been doing this since the 1960s. Imagine the number of people who have been blessed by it
I asked Tom a number of questions. I'll write about just a couple of them here.
Q: Do the ministries gather together once a month?
A: No, but they once may have. (This surprised me. I will have to check my recall of what I learned of the Church in the 1970s, when I lived in Washington and visited it. Tom also mentioned that the communities are re-evaluating how they interact, now that Gordon Cosby, their founder and visionary, has retired.).
Q: How many people attend the church gatherings of the ministries?
A: They range from 8 to 20.
Q: Do the communities attract young people?
A: No. This is another reason the communities are evaluating how they function. (What I surmised is that the church and its ministry communities were initiated by a group of "Jesus People" radicals of the 1960s, who have carried it into the present, but didn't find a way to adapt the model to generations after them.)
Q: Why did the Church of the Savior end? (Turns out the Church was considered one of the missional communities, with Gordon Cosby as its founder and head. Some of the people affiliated with the other missional communities didn't have a worship gathering of their own and would attend the Church of the Savior gathering. When Gordon Cosby retired, the Church community sold their building and distributed the proceeds among the remaining missional communities.)
A: I'm not sure.
I have more to say on this last point, which I'll write in my next blog. Overall, though, I came away from my field trip with the realization that some of what I had remembered of the Church was inaccurate - at least it didn't represent the Church of today. Other parts, though, like the ministry of Potter's House, were as I remembered them and were impressive in how they embodied the ministry of Jesus. I am now considering what to hold onto or aim for in their model, and what to do differently. Let me know if you have any thoughts or insights.
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