Hey Seth,
I just read your blog on the movement of Third Way. “Church=people gathered, and in sent in the name of Jesus.” Right on!
I forgot to include this on my “concerns” paper that we did this morning, but I think it could be extremely powerful and timely if the community made an intentional movement from the get-go to refer to itself as a “village” or “fellowship” or “community” and not a “church.”
“First Baptist Church,” “Lubbock Church of Christ,” etc all hinge upon the idea that the Church has flavors to pick from and is segmented (if not divided). And it fosters a language of “I’m going to church” or “I’ll see you at church” or “On my weekends you’ll find me at church.” Thus is makes it easy to set aside the truth that the Church is something more like a cloud or a wind or a dance…that we are all part of when we’re at home or at work or asleep or canoeing.
This kind of thing is really important to me because I’ve seen that even at Reba Place, the conventional “church” references create an atmosphere of activity rather than existence. And this really boils down to fostering the worldly idea “This is my religion” instead of “This is my Reality.”
What do you think? Peace my brother!
–Dumont
I actually think this is a great idea. When ever I look at something that Third Way and then is says church after it I always cringed a little, but tried to accept the move to call it that (there were bigger things on my mind). But now that it’s pointed out, I do think something like fellowship would be a better term and to leave “church” as a word that describes the greater, worldwide community feels more fitting to me. I do think semantics matter, especially if the terms we use can be easily misunderstood or come with baggage that would be less of a problem if we used another word that held a meaning that accurately described our community and posed less of a problem. I personally like ‘family,’ but I would be open to other suggestions as long as they didn’t sound too secular or watered down (e.g. The Third Way Gang!!! (; Ha! ) Of the ones Dumont suggested fellowship seemed most accurate.
Eddie
Interestingly enough, at Thirdway this morning, the older man named David who visited last week came again, and he brought up this same issue. He was holding the song booklet that Danny had passed out, and he pointed at the term “church” and said, “you know, I wonder if you all would think about not using this word. For me, it is a cold word and it doesn’t fit, but that’s just me.”
Personally, I can echo several of the things that Eddie said. I don’t particularly love the use of that term for Thirdway, as we are trying to avoid many of the connotations that we American Christians attach to church membership and involvement…….but I seem to remember that we’ve discussed this before, and I thought Seth had some reasons that the other terms couldn’t be used. I remember the term “village” being rejected.
I’m with Eddie in that, of the terms thrown out by Dumont, “fellowship” seems to fit best. We are a fellowship of believers—gathering, worshipping, praying, living, loving, and working in His name.
Lisa Como
Those two stories alone are convincing enough to not be a “church”. I think that we decided to use the word to make it officail that we are starting a church- but it seems that it may not be the best fit.
I like fellowship as well.
Alisha
I don’t mind Thirdway Church, because I know what WE mean by church. But I can see how other peoples points,that it does conjur up all sorts of ideas people have, usually that are not positive. I do know that when I try to say our community, that usually conjurs up all sorts of questions because people have no frame to put community in, other then neighborhood. So then trying to describe what i mean by community is my church, opps I said the word again!! So i guess if we are going to change the name, I could use a few ways to EASILY communicate who we are and what we mean by community or fellowship. But I am totally open to changing it, I just need a little help 
Jen
Although I don’t get the creeps or dislike the name church, if we were going to change the ‘label’ I would prefer fellowship over the other suggestions.
Pearl
hmmmmm… this is a great discussion. i think it makes complete sense to stop referring to ourselves as a church. i think fellowship seems to make the most sense & would give folks a good sense of who we are. i really appreciate your honesty jen! i don’t think you’re alone in having difficulty explaining the difference between “a church” and “a community” or “fellowship”. most times i’ve tried to explain to friends or family without using the word church, they get a confused look on their face & say, “oh! you mean it’s a church! i get it.”…. i think this means for most of us, we’re going to have to have conversations with folks that are interested in learning about who we are. it can’t be fully understood or explained in a name. peace to you all!
Danny
Maybe it is unfair for me to share, since I am not part of your regular community. I did notice the discussion on “church” and I just want to point out that on your web pages and at the top of this page, you refer to yourselves as “community” quite regularly. I just wanted to point that out. We are looking forward to a dinner meeting! Sorry, I left this on the wrong page somewhere else……but I meant to leave it here!
Janet Rodriguez-Ricci
A question I posed Seth was “What is “a” church?” Rather, we are “the” Church. Church “ekklesia” means “called out.” I don’t think Jesus called out various groups in different ways–we’re all called out the same way. We’re all one big Called-Out-Church.
I know what you all mean in the difficulty of wording this stuff to our friends. But after living at Reba Place for a while, I figured out that the people who really want to understand this “community thing” will ask me what I mean by it. The early Christians sounded pretty freakish anyways–calling each other “brother and sister” like they were incest, and eating Someone’s blood and flesh!
Dumont
Our community is trying to resemble the early “church” as much as possible so from that stand point I don’t mind “church”. It’s kinda/super brutal how so many people get turned off immediately by that word. The benefit of keeping it Thirdway Church is it could give those who have been hurt in the past a more positive view of what church can actually look like.
No matter what we put in the title after Thirdway, we are a church.
That being said, I completely see both sides of the discussion, and think Thirdway Fellowship would be a great name too.
Joey
Man this is a tough one! I can see both sides of the discussion. With all the trust and hope that I’ve lost in the “church” over the years, I was excited to redefine “church” or at least be a part of a church in its original form. As Ghandi said ‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” If we want to change the meaning of the word “church” we have to bite the bullet and take on that label.
At the same time, as many people have mentioned, just saying the word “church” gives everyone the wrong idea, whether they are a Christian or not. A Christian would assume it’s just a sunday gathering place, whereas a non-believer would attach all the hurt and violence the church has done and is doing, whether they were victim to it or not. We want to at least give ourselves a fair chance when we talk to others about our group of folks.
I wonder, has it always been this way? Has the name “church” always had so many negative connotations? Maybe it’s part of our plight as followers to embrace a name that has hurt so many people, but try to overcome that. I don’t know?! I can go either way on the decision, just decided to share my thoughts. Hope they helped!
Paul
The primary problem with the word “church” is not what it means, but what it has come to mean in people’s mind. As an “old dude” I see people come up with new words to describe a thing all the time. Sometimes it is because, like church, people have forgotten what it really means. As Jesus’ followers, we need to help people to think in Kingdom terms, not in the terms of the world.
The thing the Lord has been reminding me recently is that his “Church” is made up of all those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit — all believers. It is a dynamic movement of the Spirit of God. Is bigger than all buildings and all names. It is the Bride of Christ. It is beloved and it abides in love. It is where God dwells. It is you and it is me.
The TW is a local form of the Church. It is a fellowship (nice Biblical term). Just remember, those in the world may not know what the Church is. As you start to reflect Christ, more and more, than people will discover the Kingdom of God has come into their midst. The amazing thing is that as time goes on, I continued to be awed by the truth of all of this.
Christopher
Thank you all for thinking deeply about this!
Regardless of how the name decision turns out, I do hope we can rethink phrases like “I’m going to church” and “Let’s meet at the church.”
What do you think?
Dumont
Great comments friends. As I have listened in and thought about this it seems like we are actually both.
The church does refer to the worldwide community of folks who choose to follow Jesus way and partner in his mission. We are a local expression of that church. The word congregation comes to mind when thinking about this.
So we cannot be a church, as if there are many. We could be a congregation, a fellowship, or a community of the one body of Christ around the world.
I liked village best, because to me it carries with it relationships, work, and economy.
It does sound weird though. Congregation and fellowship and community all seem to me to describe life for the folks that are part of it already. As if it is community for the sake of community.
I would be in favor of a word that would speak to common life and common mission. Like thirdway corporation!!! Don’t you love the sound of that???
All kidding aside I like the tone of this conversation!
Seth
hey y’all. sitting here chatting with seth & pearl. we’re thinking it might be a good idea to just call ourselves thirdway. then people will naturally ask “what’s thirdway?” and we can explain what we’re all doing together, what the name means, etc. we also thought it would be a good idea to give our sunday morning time together a name. like the gathering. this way people can say they’re going to the gathering instead of going to thirdway, or going to church. after all, how can you go to a place that actually isn’t a place at all. it’s a people.
what would you all think about just calling ourselves thirdway?
Danny
well kids... today marks one freaking month.
