The New Math

Apparently, 22 divided by 2 equals 35. That was the math this weekend as we celebrated the birth of a new neighborhood table. Our 22 people at a recent table gathering was the signal that it was time to start a new group in the neighborhood adjacent to ours. But instead of ending up with 2 groups of 11, we had 17 at our table and the new table had 18. I'm not hung up on numbers, but the stories behind them were significant. Here are a few highlights:

• We discovered that there were people who would participate in a group if it was even closer to their home. "Pedestrian scale" - being within walking distance of someone's home - is significant even if the family still drives to the table. This tells us that having more tables covering smaller geographical areas is important. This thing will snowball as more new tables begin.
• People who have not attended a Sunday service at the Springs, and may or may not attend one any time soon, are participating in the new table. While we would love for everyone to attend our services, it is becoming clear that neighborhood life is the place where people are connecting, more than services. It is likely that in the near future, attendance at our tables will be greater than attendance at our services. If you take into account that the tables occur twice as often, attendance is already about equal, and tables are growing at a faster pace. Growth of the tables will drive attendance at services, not the other way around.
• There are probably people who think that neighborhood life is somehow easier for Brad and me because we're pastors. WRONG. We discovered that many people in our community would rather be in groups that do not include us. As soon as a group opened up close to them that did not have a pastor in it, people jumped in. Those of us on church staff are often the least effective in reaching people in our community because of the "clergy" stigma. Brad and I hate the clergy stigma and rebel against it, but it still exists. So all you "lay people" out there, take advantage of the opportunities you have!
• Starting a new group was a contagious win, not a grieved loss. Two families left our existing group to start the new one; instead of sadness over "losing" these families, the predominant feeling at our table yesterday was excitement; two more families are now more excited about their own opportunity to start tables in the near future.

By dividing our table, we added to our involvement and multiplied our potential to love our neighbors. It's the new math!

Several weeks ago, our table decided to purchase some cheap, kid-proof dishes that were washable, instead of going through a bunch of paper goods every time we met. We decided to give our dishes to the new group as a gift to encourage them in their new endeavor. So I presented the new group with their birthday present yesterday, and encouraged them to do the same for the next group that starts.

I hope Target and Wall Mart start getting a lot of cheap housewares business!