diversity.... i beleive its a large wooden ship. holy communion and gospel music.

since the early days of Christianity, there has been division and theological differences within the Church. thus, the development of denominations. these denominations are seen by many as a stumbling block and something that divides the Church and compromises its mission. others see this division simply as a preference system... kind of like a buffet, especially in America. Want some foot stomping gospel music... we have some southern baptists coming right up... wanna read some serious liturgy, well you've got some options. Needless to say, this different strokes for different folks thought pattern is also a popular mentality.

Working this summer with youthworks, has opened my eyes to a lot of these differences and the beauty of their unity. One of the core values of youthworks is the fact that we are multi-denominational. Growing up non-denominational I am finding that multi-denominational and non-denominational are incredibly different. I grew up in a church whare denomination was non-exsistant, we worshiped God and read the bible, however, there was no rich theological history that we clung to. There was a certain beauty in this unattached form of worship and I think differently then a lot of people because of this background. However, I have also found an incredible beauty in embracing a history of attachment to a theological commitment and worship style.

Each week I have the chance to experience individuals who for the most part have embraced a facet of denomination. Our first week we had two Lutheran groups, week two we had the methodists, week three brought us baptists, lutherans, and presbyterians, and week four ushered in more methodists, lutherans and large group of catholics. From my vantage point, watching all of these churches interact with one another is incredible and absolutely eye-opening.

During week one our two Lutheran groups bonded over a common worship style and theology. As the week progressed conversations were had among the two lutheran churches present and they came to the decision that on wednesday night they would wanted to hold a holy communion service and invited me and my staff to join them. I did. It was fascinating watching several adults and about 50 youth partake in this sacred tradition that the Lutheran denomination holds at such a high value. as I observed this happen I saw something that astounding me, as these youth took communion, they were honestly really having an incredibly spiritual moment. It was remarkable. There I was sitting in a presbyterian sanctuary, witnessing a lutheran communion service with my non-denominational eyes.

Week three also held a special moment for me. As I indicated above, during week three we were hit by a large dose of southern baptist. And when i say hit, I mean they came in singing gospel music and thumped in the spirit all five days they were here. They came in like a wave. Coincidentally, the minister of music just so happened to be an adult leader on the trip. I asked him to lead our worship at the wednesday night church service. He agreed, little did I know what he had in mind. What we got was a foot stomping gospel music service complete with harmonizing youth choir, a drummer (also on the trip) and an incredible spirit filled time of worship. They finished the service off with a stomp routine done by their youth stomp team. It blew my mind. That night I walked into the sanctuary to close down the church and found about thirty youth and two adults in a circle praying. It was not just the baptists, although they were the loudest as the prayer was sent around the circle like a pulse I also heard several timid presbyterian prayers and quit a few reverent Lutheran prayers. It was incredible, it was the best tangible description of diversity and unity that i have ever seen. They were praying for racial reconciliation and justice in the area, the beauty of it stopped in my tracks and completely overwhelmed me. Here I was, standing in the same place I had stood for holy communion, the same place I had partaken in baptist worship and a stomp reutine and now I was seeing the unity of three denominations joining together under one common goal. That goal being unity and justice. Could it get better then this?

At the core if it all, I think the most valuable thing I have learned from all of this is how simple everything really is. Although denominations make things confusing and difficult to understand to a certain degree, at the center we find Jesus, we find his ministry and his mandate to follow in his foot steps.

What if people understood this? What if instead of people saying I believe this and you believe that christians began to have conversations about the finer issues of christianity and worship and began embracing the diversity, united under one common goal of pursuing justice in this world and bringing Christ's kingdom to earth? These questions resonate in my mind especially after witnessing the beauty of different denominations and beliefs and the impact each of these groups have had on each other. Can we have unified diversity? What if the world saw the church as a unified body pursuing justice and Christs kingdom on earth rather then a group of divided sects and groups who are prone to condemn?

These questions flood my mind on a regular basis these days. is it possible to bring this large wooden ship other wise known as diversity out of the choppy sea where it is throwing people into a constant state of confusion and disarray and bring it in to a still calm lake where there can be peace?