Introducing Ikon Community
For those who want only the facts, here’s the link: ikoncommunity.com
For those who like a story, here’s the tale…
As many of you know Jenell and I moved to San Diego one year ago for the purpose of eventually starting a church. We were committed to spending the first year immersing ourselves in the local culture, making new friends and finding new career paths so we could pursue the vision of a grassroots network of Jesus-followers.
That vision started taking shape in March when we began to gather regularly with a few family and friends – all of whom were hungry for a deeper expression of Christian community, more focused on justice and mercy. Since then we’ve come together every Sunday night to enjoy each other’s company, watch our kids tear around the house, eat good food, drink cheap wine, celebrate communion, gather around scripture, and pray for one another.
(One of the couples, Doug and Kelly Humphreys, moved to Seattle recently to take on the lead pastor role at a very cool church in the Redmond area. We were happy for them, but sad to see them go).
We’ve also embarked on a few cool projects. One couple has been going to Grape Day Park in Escondido every Saturday to build genuine friendships with the homeless community there. That group has become its own kind of faith community. It’s an inspiration to see. Another couple is actively involved in an international anti-human trafficking campaign. Jenell and I, of course, continue to promote the Twoshirts.org community as a counter-cultural expression of radical generosity, and earlier this month we all pitched in to pull off a small justice and mercy film festival. Overall, it’s been the best 6 months of my Christianity (going on 30 years now).
I’m honestly not saying we’ve done so much…God knows I haven’t worked that hard myself (but then that’s the point of a more egalitarian group, isn’t it?). I only want to point out that it really is amazing what God can do through a small group of people who are looking for Kingdom opportunities. That’s true of me and my friends, and you and yours as well.
I’ve also noticed we’ve begun to change as a group over the past few weeks. We seem more solid somehow, kind of like the people moving from purgatory to heaven in Lewis’ The Great Divorce. We’ve stopped being “that thing we do on Sunday nights,” and started becoming, simply, “church.” So I think it’s fitting that today we’ve begun a 50 day journey through the Sermon on the Mount together. We’ve reached the point where we want to take Jesus seriously enough to immerse ourselves deeply in his teachings and truly understand what he said, rather than just give lip-service to his name, or his death.
No matter where you live, or where you go to (or don’t go to) church you are welcome to join us. We’ll be using the ikoncommunity website as a means of facilitating the journey. Everyday a new exercise related to the Sermon on the Mount will be posted, and people can use the comments – if they like – to engage in a discussion around the course.
Hope to see you there!
Jason, this is a new email for me so feel free to change it in your system. So great to hear about all that God is doing in you and through you! Our God is all about transformation. Looking forward to the 50 days in the Sermon on the Mount!
Deb