So i’ve been writing some challenging [hopefully] pieces on church of late and it’s time for your input.

A lot of people have got this vibe of, ‘You HAVE to belong to a local church!’ otherwise… well i’m not really sure what the otherwise is, but the being part of a local church seems to be a pretty insisted upon thing.

And what i am trying to figure out – and i really hope you can help me – is this: Just what do you mean by ‘local church’?

i am hoping a number of you who feel so passionate about this thing [and i think it’s great that you do] will jump in here and tell me your opinion – not a cut-and-paste off the internet or your pastor’s idea or a link to a podcast of a preach you once liked the title of. From you, your perspective and your opinion…

When you say, ‘It is important that you are a part of a local church’ what exactly and specifically do you mean? [List a bunch of things in terms of the essential elements not so much the this-would-be-nices]

For example:

Are you talking about something that happens on a Sunday and has to?

Does there have to be  building?

Does it mean a full-time and other staff?

Must there be singing there?

What else? Please be as specific and exhaustive as you are able.

i am really hoping to get a number of responses from a range of people to be able to get an idea of what YOU understand when you say the words ‘local church’ to me.

And go… [Thank-you for your time!]

Some of the posts which led up to this one if you didn’t see them:

[My take on the question, ‘Did you go to church today?’]

[Is the local church you are a part of inviting of questions and critique? Here are some of my ideas about that]

[As a church, do we ever get caught up in majoring on things that seemed to be less of a priority for God? Click here for some thoughts on this]

[Excellent passage by M Scott Peck on Why Your Church Map might be misleading]