The Valley and Mountain church community, just outside of
Seattle, is one that embraces a postmodern spirituality in a post Christendom
society. This encourages a diversity of beliefs within one faith community,
shapes how the group gathers, shapes what role the community plays in the
larger context of Seattle and shapes how John Helmiere chooses to lead the
Valley and Mountain community.
The
community grew as John continued to meet with people one on one. This is a
community organizer strategy that John naturally does. He had little training
in church planting or organizing when he began but has been to some trainings
now. John continues to this day to meet with members of his community one on
one learning more and more about their story. There is usually no set agenda
just space for John and the person he is meeting with to share. This space
allows people to open up and eventually share their passions and their
vulnerabilities. It is this relationship
building that John names as the strength of his community and the catalyst for
all that they do together.
When
I asked John about the target population that he had in mind in starting his
church plant he named that he did not have one intended group. Instead the original goal was to establish a
new faith community that would grow together because they practiced their faith
together rather than professing a singular or right doctrine. The goal was to
gather people willing to experience life together not a specific demographic or
type of believer. So today those who are active in the community come from a
diverse spectrum of beliefs. The breakdown is that ¼ of the community would
identify themselves as Christian, ¼ of the members have had a painful history
with conformist Christians, and have been burnt by the Church. Another ¼ of the
community would say that they had an earlier experience with the church and are
coming back to practicing faith. Another ¼ come with no belief but are wanting
to listen and share their experiences in a community willing to listen.
The idea
of welcoming all these different groups meant that the way teaching is done at
Valley Mountain is centered in the philosophical and the theological as many
people use these lenses to cultivate their personal beliefs. There is a larger culture of being listeners and
wanting to understand where others are coming from. As a teacher to the community John’s
mentality is not to try to get everyone to be right in camp of right or
accepted belief. The hope John continues to have for his community is that all
are rooted in Christ. Even though many may not name Christ but share the values
and essence of Christ. The theological goal in forming this community was to
encourage participants to encounter God. This has allowed the community to be
open to the creativity and direction of the spirit of God.
I was able
to hear and interpret that Valley and Mountain community sees itself as a community
movement it is the church acting, service and being an agent of change. It exists to deepen community, as it acts
cohesively to promote social justice, grow members to a place of spiritual
maturity, and as they value the gift of creative expression. The participants
all have grown to know and center their ministry on a liberating love. Many see
this love source as God. Others hold different perspectives but all are fully
welcome to share. The community is
progressive, liberal, and of the eco-feminist Christian tradition but they are
open to all voices. Difference in this community is uplifted as a gift not a
source of tension or division.
I would
say that John leads in a nontraditional way. He tries to cultivate an
environment of peer leadership where everyone feels like they have a voice to
share in how the ministry is going and how worship happens. John sees himself
as convener who moves and cultivates the ministry as he continually invites
others to share their insights and to lead with him. We were able to be in
conversation about how this type of leading is countercultural. It takes
creating a culture where people feel ownership of the community and want to
cast their visions together. It is not always easy to get others involved in
equal leadership because the culture of the world today gives everyone roles
that allow us to be complacent and not willing to see ourselves as
leaders. By allowing all to lead
together the church is able to be a transformative presence that seeks to be
different than the world and expand the notion of what is church.
A new
model for church can be seen in the collaborative model. Rainier
Valley had a multi-service center that the church community at Valley and Mountain joined to make a “social change
incubator.” Members share a hope for community change and collaboration are welcomed to join the space.
Today collaborators include the Rainier Valley Food Bank, Heroes for the
Homeless, Mitriyah: “South
Seattle’s Progressive Jewish Neighborhood”, BikeWorks, Rainier Valley
Rotary Club, Seattle Catholic
Workers, Rainbow
City Band, Center
for Community Change, Department of
Neighborhoods, SE District, Jones
Community Solutions, Rainier
Valley Chamber of Commerce, ROAR Seattle.[1] As
these groups continue to grow the worshiping community of Valley and Mountain
continues to change and diversify. All members of the collaborative are invited
to the activities that the Valley and Mountain church undertakes. The group
does not try to hide or sidestep the fact that they are a Christian community.
But through invitation and relationships being formed between activist who
serve and share space together the worshiping community has grown to
incorporate many artists who are willing to share their gifts in all aspects of
ministry. Creative expression is one of the core values of Valley and Mountain.
Creativity opens people up see God in new ways. John was able to share the
gifts of having artists in the collaborative.
He noted that there are artists from the collaborative were by the county
to create a community mural. So they used their network in the collaborative
and gathered people from all the organizations to share in the cultivation of
their piece. The church Valley and Mountain was given the role to help
facilitate and be a part of listening circles that spoke to the life and hope
of the community. The artists created a piece that reflected many stories that
they heard and showed how they were bound by a common hope for the Rainier
Valley community at large.
The gathering church community is open with the
entire collaborative about who they are, why they gather, and how their faith
is the catalyst for the social change they are a part of. No one is working to
make members of the collaborative to come to worship and learn about Jesus.
Instead there are in deep relationships due to taking action together.
Collaborative members and those they serve, feel welcomed to come and be a part
of the community and share who they are in the process.
Right now
the community’s demographic of the worshiping community is primarily made up of
members from a middle class background and mentality but their resources to
date are more all over the place, as in they vary. Because John knows each
member well he was able to share the complexities and name the diverse history
of this community that may seem homogeneous from an outsider’s perspective.
John spoke the hope that as the group continues to grow this demographic is
shifting as the worshiping community is more present in the collaborative and
in the life of the community. People from the collaborating organizations and
those who are receiving services from these partners are attending events and
activities hosted by the Valley and Mountain church. Others are not only
participating in events but choosing to find community in the worship community
that is present.
For me the
Valley and Mountain church community is inspiring, it was so good to be in
conversation with John and to see how his passions connect to the hopes and
dreams of the community. A body of many social actors sharing space and vision
and then choosing to share life and hope together as they pursue social change.
There is hope in the church choosing to welcome a community that holds many
different beliefs and histories and then each individual choosing to embrace a
common liberating.
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