Straight Street is being born in the prayers, hopes, dreams and aspirations of a community of people who dare to dream the seemingly impossible. While we have many friends in established churches and much in common with many denominations, we are not getting support from any of these places. Rather, we intend to allow the conception, birth, and maturation of this community to be an ongoing negotiotion between God and those who want to faithfully follow in the way of Jesus. We are not quite sure what we will look like as we follow this path. That will depend in a large part on who agrees to covenant with us as we go.

But there are some things that we do hope to embrace as we embark that certainly go against the grain. We intend to commit to a generous orthodoxy that finds its continuity in the Christian faith. We will covenant together to practice a deep ecclesiology that recognizes the importance of the community of faith in our formation. And we will engage the Christian scriptures in a way that changes us and challenges us to walk the way of the cross.

Beyond that we will begin this journey with a commitment to have no paid pastoral staff. While we hope one day to pay counselors, social workers, health practitioners, and other mission related workers, we believe that the functions typically given to “senior pastors” in existing churches, hinder the contributions of the community’s convenant partners as a whole. So while we will have pastoral stewards, these people will not be paid to carry out their responsibilities in the community.

Of course, a lot of this flies in the face of contemporary “church planting” strategy. But we believe there are already plenty of great communities of faith that embody contemporary strategy much better than we could. We have no desire to compete with them. Rather, we hope to create a holistic, Christian community that compliments them and creates an alternative place to belong for those who have not found a faith community to contribute to.

Is it possible to start a church this way? We think it is. And we invite you to come explore, create, and learn with us.

I wrote a short article for our friends at Faith House Manhattan and they have graciously posted it on their website. You can find it here.

Some will suggest that my ecclesial dream and the embodiment of a holistic Christian community such as Straight Street Commons is only an ideal–something that will never be fully realized. I don’t think that is true for several good reasons. And here are just two.

Solomon’s Porch is a church in Minneapolis that is doing some great re-imagining together. I have only been there once but I know some of the people who participate in that community and I am here to tell you that, while it is not perfect, it is fully living out hopes and dreams and helping people live faithfully.

Second, is Faith House. This is a new community in Manhattan that is dreaming wonderful ecclesial dreams. Samir is one of a handful of people stewarding this community in some generous, creative, and faithful ways. These are two communities who are really doing it–living out Christianity as a communal way of life.

These two communities inspire me and fund my imagination in so many ways. So I want to share just a few things from them. If you are wondering what could Straight Street Commons become, I invite you to check out the links below and see the good work God is doing through these communities.

First is an eleven minute video that captures some of the fragile beauty of Solomon’s Porch. You can find that here.

Then there is a sermon from Samir who is the pastoral steward of Faith House. In this sermon he speaks of “finding our God in the other.”

Both of offerings from these two different communities will hopefully shine some light on what I hope and dream Straight Street Commons can become.

Now it is time to make some steps towards the next mile marker. I will be meeting with several people over the next few weeks to finalize the plans for incorporating the Commons and then will begin the task of finding a place to meet. I am hoping that we can find a place and invite a bunch of people to a kick-off/informational meeting about the Commons. Stay tuned.

I am excited and a little anxious. I am looking forward to Saturday night but already looking past it to the next mile marker.

James