To the editor:

What if a church decided to be different?

What could it become?

What if a church expected more from the Christian life; a church where knowing God changed lives Monday-Saturday, not just on Sunday?

What if a church announced its faults and failures more than its holiness and victories?

A church where everyone knew that no one was perfect and where it was safe to allow people to learn from his or her mistakes and shortcomings.

What if a church believed in real relationships; a church where people could be in safe, authentic, intimate, engaged and invested relationships that led to growth by being real and transparent?

What if a church started practicing what they preached about love?

What if there was a church where we not only loved each other in spite of our faults but a church where our love spilled into the streets to the poor, needy, lonely, forgotten, hurting and desperate.

What if there was a church that focused on what brings us together, not what divides; a church where 20 different denominations weren’t needed to imitate one God.

What if there was a church that could change your life and the world; a church where you belong because you want to change it too.

A group of us in the Tryon Daily Bulletin area believe that we need to try something more than church as usual.

We don’t want to be about things that distract, only look good from the outside or merely keep us busy. We want to be about helping each other live the Christian life in the real world. We want to be about experiencing God, not just on Sundays, but every day.

We want to be about authentic and safe friendships that produce transforming relationships. In short, we want to be a Christ-filled community of every day of the week believers, not a pew filled church of one day a week attenders. Is anyone else interested in this too? If you are, contact us at www.onepurposechurch.net or at 828-863-4133.

– Eric Hammond,
Green Creek