3 different forms of "church" in Paris

Yesterday I participated in 3 different meetings which met in different places & looked very different from each other. Despite the diversity, I would call each of them "church" in the sense that there were a number of different Christ-followers gathered together for specific Kingdom of God purposes.

Yesterday morning we went to our weekly worship service at our Paris church home. We met in a building that dates back to the early 17th century. It was the first Sunday in Advent & we had a more traditional Reformed Church liturgy. We had songs accompanied by piano in the "sanctuary" of the church. Our pastor preached a 15 minute sermon (his usual length) and we had communion afterwards. My 3 kids attended a children's church program during a good part of the service.

I went to a 3:00 p.m. meeting of the steering team of a monthly gathering called VERTICALE. We met in a basement room that appeared to be carved out of stone. We prayed & sought the Lord's guidance about the next steps of VERTICALE & discussed some of the possibilities.

Afterwards I went to a "concert" listed to start at 7:00 p.m. It was called "Beautiful Mess" and held in an art space that was rented. I received a Facebook invitation to it. The event was advertised as the following:

Une soirée de croisements – de lumière et de son, de vidéo et de rock, de dj et d’art, de danse et de chants, de silence et de bruit. Trois genres de musique – rock, électronique, et classique, tissés ensemble avec de la vidéo et de l’art afin de raconter une histoire, notre histoire.

(My translation into English). An evening of crossings - of light & sound, of video & rock, of dance & songs, of silence & noise. 3 genres of music - rock, electronic & classical, weaved together with video & art in order to tell a history, our history.

It was a terrific evening of quality music with lots of life, joy & relationships. People danced during the concert as they wanted to. Afterwards there were refreshments. I was able to see some friends from a newer church plant who organized the evening. There were approximately half Christ-followers and the other half a mix of their contacts. It was their first such attempt at this type of event.

While talking with the pastor, I met a tall young woman whom I had seen dancing up front during the concert. Afterwards I learned that she was a nominal Muz & had been asking some serious questions about the Xian faith at different times. Only God knows her heart, but it seems like she's headed in a positive direction in her spiritual journey.

I loved the event!!! I think they were right on in doing this type of bridge evening where believers & outsiders can be together & enjoy an event in a neutral setting. This is where my heart is. This is what churches should be doing, whatever the form might be for different communities.