Dale Lature: Church of the Saviour

All Are Connected

Sat, 07 Sep 2002 02:00:22 GMT

A relevant passage (for the previous blog) from the book I am reading "By Grace Transformed" by Gordon Cosby

We sense and feel keenly about the whole because we know that everything is interconnected. Any gift we have is seen as a gift to enhance the total family of humanity. We are here to move the totality toward the Shalom, the completion, the fulfillment, the coming into her or his own of every person who is living and has ever lived, and every person who will ever be born into the future.

In reality, we are not separate individuals, as we often feel ourselves to be. We are meshed, we are intertwined, we flow into and out of one another and all others. There is no way to fix the boundaries. The Christ who flows into us is simultaneously flowing into the billions of the world's people. Where do we end and they begin? Millions of cells in the human body make up the body's totality. All are working harmoniously on behalf of the whole, unless some of the cells become sick or cancerous. Each of us is part of God's total people, and we cannot separate ourselves from the totality.

Until awareness of this universal belonging dawns upon us we are a hindrance to the human family. It is a great day when the boundaries drop. We are part of others, and they are a part of us. We are constantly flowing into them. We cannot protect ourselves from their sickness and pain and brokenness. Nor can others protect themselves from ours. All become united. The common life of humanity is not an ideal, not something that would be just wonderful if we could but realize it. The universal quality of life happens to be a reality, and we utterly defeat ourselves when we violate that premise. We can live in the illusion of separateness, but it is an illusion.

(p.26 Chapter 3: Servant Leadership -- presented in 1989 at the opening of the Festival Center)

Committed Christians

Fri, 06 Sep 2002 03:32:25 GMT

by Wesley Granberg-Michaelson,
RCA general secretary

..."Membership does not come easy. It involves serious study and preparation. This church has always asked a lot of those who wish to join. A key conviction is that every person called into the body of Christ has a particular gift to offer that enables the church to carry out its mission." ..

One Committed Lifetime, Sojourners Magazine/January-February 1999

Fri, 06 Sep 2002 00:16:15 GMT

<%radio.macros.imageref ("images/sojoEOconnor.jpg")%>

Commentary

One Committed Lifetime

Remembering Elizabeth O'Connor.
by Gorden Cosby

Book Bloggin' on Call to Commitment

Mon, 02 Sep 2002 14:21:10 GMT

Call to Commitment, and just about anything written by the late Elizabeth O'Connor, are my absolute favorites. O'Connor was a beautiful writer. Her stories of the COS people so wonderfully communicated in an accurate way the "atmosphere" and spirit of the activity and community at COS, and surrounding many other communities I have since come into contact with who have had their lives touched by the continuing legacy of this community. I would love to get back again before Gordon is gone. He shows no signs of such, at least as of the last I heard, and I believe he is around 80, and still sharp as a tack, and some kind of preacher. I've met him on about 3 occasions, and he's such a wonderful, warm person, and I have so much to be thankful for that he and COS have had so much to do with.

I lost a hardback copy of Call to Commitment about 5 years ago when I moved from Cincinnati to Nashville. I had been involved in a group calling themselves "Servant Leadership School" (based on the one started by The Church of the Saviour in Washington DC) for about a year and a half when I got my present Web Development job. Of course, all of us were always talking about various things COS (Church of the Saviour) and I had lent my copy to somebody long before I knew I was to be moving. That person passed it on to another, until time had passed and I had moved and forgotten all about having lent it out. I just recently ordered a paperback copy for 8.95 from Pottter's House Books (along with the Gordon Cosby book quoted from in a blog that I quoted from on Sunday-----fill in the name later when I remember------)

Journey Inward, Journey Outward is the next book

Sun, 01 Sep 2002 16:33:28 GMT

I have been so immersed in this or that, that I haven't been thinking too much about the Bible Study idea (but I have some, and I was thinking to myself, "I bet Frank ( see comments in an August post entitled Weblogs as sound communication tools for a Theological Community) thinks I have given up on the idea". I have not.

Read more in "Online Intimacy and Discipleship"

Key quote from Mission: Possible (Sojo Mag NovDec97)

Sat, 24 Aug 2002 13:06:53 GMT

"what we're talking about is much closer to the biblical conception of church than a model that doesn't confront the culture, doesn't present an alternative consciousness, and doesn't oppose the system. If you've got a group that calls itself church, Christian church, and doesn't oppose and confront the culture, I don't think you have a New Testament church no matter how much you respect the people. "

Here is what I consider the "kicker" in the COS model; it is what seems to make all the difference to me in how I "evaluate" that "difference" factor in a Church. If it 's not there, it's like the key ingredient is missing; it's the key meaning behind the "be not conformed to the world" and the "light in the darkness". It's "darkness" becuase the world seems "blind" to it; cannot see it.

I remember the first time I met Gordon Cosby. I took a group of young people from Keokuk, Iowa to Washington for a few days and took a tour, hosted by Jubilee Housing and Barbara Moore was our "tour guide". After their "ecumenical" Sunday morning service, Gordon sat and talked with us about the Church. I remember him saying that he had always heard growing up in the Church how "the world was in darkness", but "noone ever said what the darkness was". I knew what he meant. It was part of the language that had become detached from the real social and spirtual realities in which people live. The Church has to get right to the heeart of it, and actually identify and confront "darkness" and work on ways to bring "Light" to it; to bring the Kingdom to bear on it.

Sat, 24 Aug 2002 06:05:17 GMT

Mission: Possible

The inward-outward journey of Mary and Gordon Cosby. An Interview.

Gordon and Mary Cosby. Interviewed by Jim Wallis in Sojourners magazine (Nov-Dec 1997)

Cutting Edge, Fall 2001 - Interview with Gordon Cosby

Sat, 24 Aug 2002 01:51:44 GMT

From Vineyard's newsletter

Recently I sat down with Gordon to ask him some specific questions about the approach of The Church of the Saviour. Having gotten some lunch next door at the Potter’s House, we settled into a side room at the Festival Center, sipped coffee and, with the sounds of Washington, DC traffic rushing by, talked about God’s vision for the church.

A brief desc of COS beginnings from areka.org

Sat, 24 Aug 2002 01:47:09 GMT

from Church Planting and Other Heresies
Posted By: thethinker on Mon. July 8 , 2002 at 10:53:27 PM
Post Reply

It’s the story of Gordon Cosby.

Gordon was a chaplain in WWII, in fact he landed on the beaches of Normandy.

During his tenure as a chaplain his unit saw 400% turnover of men. In other words the average life span for anyone Gordon talked to was very short.

It was this extreme environment that drove Gordon to some practical conclusions about ministry.

It was impossible for him to get around to see all the men – most of whom would die very, very soon.

But it was imperative that these men receive ministry.

To make a long story short, Gordon came to the conclusion that truly every believer is a priest and can and should minister to others.

The fact that these men couldn’t gather together on Sunday morning forced Gordon Cosby to see in a new way that truly – every believer is a priest. Every believer is called to minister.

So, as he made his rounds, he found Christian men and encouraged and appointed them to minister to the men around them.

“Where two or more are gathered – Christ is present”

Much to his surprise, Gordon Cosby made it through WWII alive.

When he came home to the US the experience he had had in Europe changed his view of ministry forever.

Gordon founded the Church of the Saviour in Washington DC over 50 years ago with 8 other people.

I had the privilege of meeting with him last summer.

I saw, first hand, what can happen after 50 years of believing that every Christian is called to ministry.

I saw what it looks like when new christians are challenged to find a mission to be a part of.

What it looks like when a woman receives a call from God to set up a hospital for the homeless has no funds to do it and miraculously several million dollars gets donated to the Church – coincidentally the exact amount this woman and her friends had prayed for.

There is now a hospital for the homeless in one of the poorest areas of Wash DC.

I saw a local expression of the Church that has never grown to more than 150 people, but has turned Washington DC upside down.

What does all this have to do with church planting?

Well, Church of the Savior calls "church plants" MISSIONS. Wow, what if every "church" you know of had maintained that identity! What if every Church in America spent 20% on self and 80% on the world! What if we weren't in the real estate business....imagine a church.

History of The Enterprise Foundation

Sat, 24 Aug 2002 01:02:20 GMT

"The story of The Enterprise Foundation starts with a little church in Washington, D.C., that wanted to do something about housing for the poor. It is the story of an unassuming man who would revolutionize the way America thinks about urban neighborhoods and the people who live there. And it is the story of how a leap of faith eventually would change the lives of hundreds of thousands of low-income people across the country. In addition to being a successful real estate developer, Jim Rouse was a man of enormous skill and endless compassion. When he learned of a mission group from the Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., and their success in turning an abandoned storefront into the Potter's House coffee house, it opened a new chapter in his life."

The Church with No Laymen (from Wordgems)

Sat, 24 Aug 2002 00:53:08 GMT

In a big old house on embassy row in Washington, D.C., you'll find the Church of the Saviour, a small Presbyterian church that has been written up in many magazines and several books.

They wouldn't claim to be perfect, but they sure do a lot of things right. So far, they've split off eight new congregations in order to remain small. And aspiring members must wait up to two years before acceptance--including 55 weeks of classes! Before Constantine, converts often had quite a wait before they could join a church, but in this era, Church of the Saviour stands out like a plaid pig.

Their secret of success is that nobody can join without also joining one of their mission groups (of about four to eight people). Even the minister, Gordon Cosby, belongs to one.

Each group has a double focus. First, it has a task. Groups form when someone feels led to undertake a mission (like starting a counseling hotline) or shoulder a responsibility (like maintaining the church facility). He or she issues a call for other members to join in the new task; if enough respond, the group begins. That's the outward focus.

Second, the group meets once a week to compare notes. Everyone keeps a spiritual journal. They share their personal progress and problems, and support each other. That's the inward focus.

Laminating the inward and outward is very, very smart. It enables them to avoid extremes: the hollowness of a works-oriented group and the self-centered introspection of a talk group.

Now, any healthy church will eventually help its members find a ministry and achieve inner growth. But Church of the Saviour, by requiring you to find a fellowship-ministry upon joining, has got it down to a fine art. If a layman is someone not in ministry, then it's fair to say they have no laymen.

(By the way, what does your church require of its members? Anything at all? Or is it content to have many who are just spectators? Think about it.)

Training the Laity

Sat, 24 Aug 2002 00:20:26 GMT

The Lay Ministry Revolution - His Church at Work

Gordon Cosby, pastor of the Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., puts it this way: "The primary task of the professional minister is training nonprofessional ministers for their ministry."

Ministry of Money

Thu, 22 Aug 2002 13:04:31 GMT

A Ministry of The Church of the Saviour, Washington, D.C.

Ministry of Money is a loving, prophetic Christian ministry which encourages all persons to become free from their attachment to cultural values regarding money and to live out joyfully God's call for their lives and resources.

The Journey Inward, Outward and Forward

Thu, 22 Aug 2002 12:52:30 GMT

from Cutting Edge (Vineyard), Fall 2001 - The Journey Inward, Outward, and Forward: The Radical Vision of The Church of the Saviour

FAW Resources by Elizabeth O'Connor

Thu, 22 Aug 2002 12:49:04 GMT

Faith atWork's Elizabeth O'Connor bookshelf
Tribute to Elizabeth O'Connor at Faith at Work (has links to FAW articles by Elizabeth)

Death as a Passage (Elizabeth O'Connor)

Thu, 22 Aug 2002 12:45:38 GMT

An article from faithatwork magazine about the life and death of Elizabeth O'connor, the extraordinary writer whose gift of writing captured as no other could the flavor and depth of the experiences of The Church of the Saviour for 50 years.

Mission: Possible, Sojourners Magazine/November-December 1997

Thu, 22 Aug 2002 12:41:44 GMT

A 1997 Sojourner's magazine article about the ministries of Gordon and Mary Cosby of The Church of the Saviour in Washington DC.

COS all over the place on the Net

Thu, 22 Aug 2002 11:39:23 GMT

Stories about COS and the Gordon/Mary Cosby are popping up everywhere, thanks to Google's search engine, and the constributions of people on the Net who have run across this church or run across people who have run across this church......it seems to be "contagious". Maybe I need to start a category for COS. (later- Now I have. Church of the Saviour category is here It seems tobe on my mind for the past couple of days.

Tue, 20 Aug 2002 23:18:35 GMT

Journey Inward, Journey Outward continues on where Call to Commitment left off, with more stories and journeys of the COS community and their ventures in what it means to be Church. After that, The New Community tells some later tales, and a short bok that sort of touches on the stories told in all three of them, Servant Leaders, Servant Structures, which I received permission from the author herself to put online in full on my website (that was 1995).

Gordon Cosby Quotes on What is Church? weblog

Sun, 18 Aug 2002 18:46:21 GMT

I clicked on a link at blogger.com called NextBlog and my first time I got the following, (from the title link above), and here is what I saw at the top (scroll to the bottom of this entry to get my reactions and the why this is significant:

Sunday, August 18, 2002

Here's some quotes by Gordon Cosby, founder of the Church of the Savior in D.C., on what makes a servant leader. I think some of you will enjoy these:

On vision...

"The most crucial gift of a leader is the capacity to see new possibilities, new combinations of energy and life coming together and to see now, in imagination, that which is not yet but which ought to be."

"My task is to get close enough to Jesus Christ for him to do through me what he wants to do, which is the call that he has placed on my life."

On hope...

"In War and Peace Prince Andre says of Austerlitz, 'Our loss was not much greater than that of the French, but we said to ourselves that we would lose it, and we did lose it.' In other words, we lost because we told ourselves we would lose. Militarily it was not quite that simple. But the point is clear. Fatalism saps the will and produces the situation it prophesies."

"Hope is a form of faith and tends to produce what it sees. Despair is a form of faith and tends to produce what it sees."

On "empathic universalism" (as opposed to empathic provincialism):

"The great leader sees and feels himself or herself as a part of the whole - identified with the totality."

"The great leader never feels it is us verses them. He or she is for everybody. To be for one interest group is never to be against another. To be for those without power is surely not to be against those with power."

On waiting:

"Are we willing, after we have done all that we know to hold the vision, and to carry it with hope, and to let it be a part of the totality, and to give it our best - are we willing then simply to wait when we have done it all? And simply to suffer, and to let our vicarious suffering be the means by which God ultimately brings the kingdom?"

From "By Grace Transformed", Chapter 2 - The Nature of Christian Leadership

posted by Mike Bishop | 12:15 PM

Today we visted a Presbyterian Church for the second time in four weeks (Janet had visited a couple of weeks ago when I went to our regular church). I was not "into it"; I have been feeling so "disconnected" from Church lately, not the least of the reason s being that I had felt so little appreciation or sense of having my explicitly expressed sense of call be challenged, brushed aside, and considered "dangerous" by key people at my Church. It's really been the case from the beginnings of my efforts.

My original inspiration for doing Church Webs arose from the experiences and inspirations I have had with my contact with the Church of the Saviour in Washington DC, the Church mentioned above in the random Weblog that I quote in full above). Today, as I begrudgingly drove the family to re-visit a Church, I was internally bemoaning the absence of a community and an atmosphere anything like that I sense in The Church of the Saviour, which seems to be bursting with energy and prescence and urgency and atmosphere and everything else that is good EVERY time I revisit or read of some new thing they are doing. This has been going on for me for 26 years since I first read "Call to Commitment" and all the books that followed which I immediately went and found and immersed myself in, one after the other, and back to the earlier ones again to revisit, and taking a youth group to visit COS in 1984, and with a friend in 1995 and with my family on vacation in 1996.

Church Webs arise from an urge to tell the story , so read "Church Web Site Visions" and "Web Site functions"