I wrote an article recently for the Williamsport Guardian. Their December issue focuses on local faith communities, and I was asked to write about my community Valley Mosaic.

A mosaic is an ancient art form which is composed of many individual broken and fragmented pieces that, when arranged by an artist, becomes a beautiful work of art. The community of Valley Mosaic believes that this is a wonderful metaphor for what God is doing in the world and in each of our lives. Valley Mosaic meets in “The Space,” which used to be Mom’s Diner, located in the Pajama Factory in Williamsport, Pa. Their gatherings take place Sunday evenings at 5pm and all our welcome. But be sure to bring your appetite and a dish to share at the pot-luck meal that happens before every meeting. You’ll quickly find that this is a group of creative individuals who attempt to live, learn, love, doubt, question and do life together. If you asked the community about what exactly they do there, they would probably say that they try to create a “suspended space.” Specifically, a space where there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, Republican nor Democrat, employed nor unemployed, liberal nor conservative; a place where they can encounter each other at a deeper level than our mere affirmations allow. Not because these things are not important, but because we need to have a place where we can encounter each other at a deeper level.

Similarly, if you were to ask the people of Valley Mosaic about their faith or beliefs you would get another thoughtful answer. You would most likely hear the words “disciple” or “follower” of Jesus kicked around. This posture of being a disciple or lifelong learner is extremely important to this Christian community. It’s important because to call yourself a “life-long learner” implies a certain humility and demands a serious commitment to questioning, learning and seeking truth, no matter where it may lead you. People at Valley Mosaic would also say that disciples of Jesus are active participants in making the Kingdom of God visible on Earth. In other words, followers of Jesus are called to give hope to the hopeless, peace to the restless and love those who are unlovable. Essentially, Followers of Jesus are called to do God’s will on Earth as it is in Heaven.

It can be said that this community actually attempts to demonstrate that the Kingdom of Heaven is both at hand, yet still to come. One of the ways they do this is by taking Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as yourself very seriously. For instance, one practice they have involves intentionally placing themselves in positions that are unfamiliar, such as learning about other faiths, like Islam, with hopes to better understand how to love those who differ from them. They also collaborate with organizations such as Charity Water to help build water wells in developing nations. This is all done with the intention of seeking the common good and proclaiming that a new way of life is possible in the here and now, and that the Kingdom is indeed at hand.

Something else you’ll notice about Valley Mosaic is that it is extremely difficult to define. I say this only because I’ve been attempting to define it myself since the beginning. I’ve come to understand that one reason it intentionally defies definition is because often times definitions, along with names, labels and categories, can be unjust representations. They can imply a sense of finality, domination and ownership, which ultimately, allow us to supersede and dismiss things far too easily. After we name something, we can then safely file it away and add it to our nice, neat list of phenomenon that we think we understand, and carry on adhering to our comfortable worldview. But as I reflect on these matters, I find that the main reason Valley Mosaic is so challenging to define is because it has not yet been fully formed. It is still in process, still becoming what it has yet to be. It is a living, breathing body that grows and changes, hopes and loves. It is in essence, a creation that keeps on creating.

Tags:creative Godemergentemerging churchKingdom of HeavenpostmodernValley MosaicWilliamsport Guardian