Hello -

I visited aldea for the first time last Sunday after having driven by many times, noticing that your sign referred to aldea as a “community”, not a church.  That’s exactly what I’m looking for.  I was not raised in any religious tradition.  The only time I ever attended church was for funerals, weddings or occaisonally tagging along with a friend.  However, I’ve always felt a connection with the spiritual - kind of like there is a long lost friend out there that I have yet to meet - and I’ve been searching for a long time for the right environment to explore it.  I’ve tried SO HARD to believe in what other churches have taught, but I just can’t accept it all.  I have so many questions and doubts and that just doesn’t seem to fly in most churches.  Even though some people told me that they welcome seekers, I always ended up feeling like a third wheel.  I’m sure many of you know how that goes.

 I’m hoping that my initial impression of aldea is true - that you welcome us “not-so-sure” types into your fold.  I’ve longed to find a place where I can talk with people about religious and spiritual issues and learn from them (and maybe vice versa!) and have fun at the same time.  (Laughter is kind of like an essential nutrient to me)  I think aldea might just fit the bill. 

Thanks for letting me babble!

Amy

Well, after having spent the evening on my own blog…surfing the web….performing a little self psychoanalysis…. decided I’d check back in here and ………post!!!>>??????

First… let me note that this is not a well visited blog, I do see that the last post was a little over a month ago (and I think you were at the event last night?)  Just seems to be part of the general malaise that is here….hmmmm…..I guess I probably should state that all opinions stated herein are entirely my own, and that I am full aware that what I think I see is entirely from my point of view and is not informed from any other point of view and/or discussion. My observations are my own and as personal observations I recognize that they may entirely be wrong.  But I think I see malaise and I’m not quite sure why.  I know bits and pieces of the story.  I know that the transition has been very hard, very rough, and very discouraging.

But as an outsider I see the multitude of possibilites.  The places where God is at work; and I think I see glimpses and peeks of the future maybes for this place.  You all should be so GRATEFUL for what is happening here.  There really is no place like this in Tucson (at least that I am aware of : )  )   

I fit no place else.  I have questions…multitudes of questions.  I see shades of gray that never were possible in my former incarnation as an evangelical/anabaptist.  I see a place where I can be… and when you learn my story….well, let’s just say that in my life I have learned full well not to trust christians in particular with the reality of my life….  My God, this place is like an oasis in the desert. 

Kevin and Dave…. I have so appreciated the fact that you both talk to me and allow me to harp on my issue so much.  Right now it is a big piece of me… I know that it is not all of me, but this process is still so fresh that it seems that I don’t talk about much else and I sometimes feel sorry for you to have to talk to me knowing that I will probably talk about this aspect of my journey….AGAIN….(ad infinitum) - lol.   I appreciate your concern and listening.

On the other hand…. other than Sandy and Bobbie (who get to listen to the same tapes - lol again) you are the only one’s who have really bothered with me.  Sometimes good (since lately I have not been my normal extroverted self, but have sat and seen just who would approach me….)  mostly bad.  I really desire to be known and to have a spiritual community that can take me where I am and help me find where God is in the midst of this.  It’s a tall order that I ask…. take me, take my family, take my wife with the full knowledge that this family may not survive…and at that point can you handle me, my wife, and kids with that delicate balance that will be needed?   I wonder. 

God, I’m getting maudlin.  Must be the hour.  Or maybe its the genetics coming through.  Next I’ll be singing show tunes. 

The Getting to know you activity was ok from my point of view.  I sat as has been my modus operendi  for a while.  I just don’t have the energy to expend at this point especially since I do travel for the job more than usual and am always “on stage” so to speak. It was a good event for thirty-something people with kids.  Outside that demographic, very easy to allow the birds of a feather to flock and watch from the outside.  It might be helpful to be more intentional about being inclusive.

I have other random thoughts as well.  I’ve invited the former worship leader from the church plant to come tomorrow.  He is 22  and has had a very rough journey as well….too many churches here do not accept us and he has yet to learn the pain of that truth. He landed….finally….at a Presbyterian church, but like me is searching for something that is open and affirming and not stuck in the last century (or in the case of the Presbyterians stuck in the seventeenth century.)  I asked him to come and see what God might speak to him at Aldea.  It would be good for him to come and I hope God does indeed speak to him here…. it might be the start of a good outreach to our demographic which has been sorely neglected by the church and has a tremendous need to connect to God in a place that is indeed living in a postmodern world.

Pax

Jim Brunk

Dear Aldea community - Hi! My husband and I visited a few weeks ago for the first time. We have several friends who attend and have been considering finding a new church home for a while. We are loyal (if such a thing ) Methodists and reluctantly looking for a new church. It’s been a tough search - we want the same principles but with a contemporary message and service, which has limited our choices. Unfortunately, our church was evicted from their building when the County acquired the property and has relocated really far away from us.

It’s a tough decision to make to switch churches  - we are close to our church friends and involved in the leadership. However, with the distance and a pastor change that recently occurred, we have had a hard time attending and find our spiritual life lacking.

Both my husband and I had a mental checklist for a new church home. We never really wrote it down- but would just give each other a disppointed look after visiting a prospective church. We were wary of non denominational churches. We both felt strongly that women are not treated as equals in leadership roles. We were also brought up to discuss and interpret the bible as Methodists and felt this was also lacking when we visited several prospective churches.  After a discussion with Sylvia, we learned that your church was quite different.

So we were so happy to find your church!  I realize (from discussion with friends and reading your blog) that you’ve gone through a lot of change lately.  I wanted to add my comments so you would analyze (and perhaps use to recruit new visitors) what we thought were the highlights:

 - loved the message (Dave Fleming that Sunday); it was applicable to today’s life AND bible based; loved that we had “food for thought” that we spoke about later in the day.  Dave is an excellent speaker!

- nursery: This is important and harder to find than you would think in the community. We have a two year old and were happy to see 6+ little kids there with two supervisors.

- loved the music! Just the kind of music we like to hear during service and very similar to our home service.  We enjoy the relaxed environment, the casual dress and the coffee allowed in service. Our other church was also like that.

- loved the community focus tables. Our home church is also very involved in an orphanage, food banks, etc.  Community involvement is so important.  Church is a great place to build awareness of needs.

- loved the idea of the village groups. We have not participated in an adult bible study group for over a year and have felt it lacking. The idea of “village” resonated with both of us.

- loved the location. Our home church previously met in high school auditoriums, office buildings etc and liked that Aldea was in its own building. I really hope the financial situation improves so that you can keep it.

- Noticed a Sunday school area. We have a 4th grader so we’ll have to check that out soon.

So - in short - we loved your church!  We both walked away with big smiles on our face and have done a lot of “word of mouth” promotion of your church to our friends. Plan to see us again in the near future!

Lea Peterson

i am writing the following with a heavy heart, saddened by the news that Tom and Jared have resigned their positions on staff at aldea. faced with this news, i have decided to air some things that i coulda-woulda-shoulda said a couple months ago, but felt embarrassed to say, thinking others would find my view naive or ridiculous.

last december annette said something to my husband, erik, that changed our lives forever, and i am indebted to her as she finally opened his eyes to our dire situation and got him to jump off the cliff we were trapped on. we were on the brink of financial crisis with a house we could not afford, bills we could not pay, a job that erik despised and could scarcely muster the fortitude to get to on a regular basis, and we were not going to last one more month before we were utterly, completely broke.

the house we owned was erik’s beloved home, the one he grew up in, and his last substantial tie to the life he had when his parents were alive, his sister was well, and life was sheltered and joyful. annette said to him, “erik, consider that maybe the problem isn’t that you can only stand to work part time. Maybe the problem is that you have a lifestyle you cannot support while working part-time. Until you change your lifestyle, you are always going to be wrong, every second of the day, every where you look. you are not going to be doing enough, have enough, be enough, as long as you have this house as living “proof” that you are failing.” (my paraphrase, but you get the gist.) within a week, we listed the house on the market, sold it 3 weeks later, and are slowly digging ourselves out of the mess we stayed in too long.

where does aldea fit into this for me? when we started talking about the financial problems at aldea a couple months back, my first thought was simply, why not just sell this building if we cannot afford it? but it seemed this was not an option, as the talk from the staff seemed to be that aldea will cease to exist if we can’t keep it. so i figured i must be mistaken, that there must be something about this building that if we lose it, we fail. but maybe we just have different priorities.

i disagree with focusing on member growth in order to get more money. we claim to be a community that desires to live out the example of jesus, and i see a disconnect when we are more focused on our finances than on making a difference in each other’s lives and the lives of our fellow tucsonans. i pray that the resignations of jared and tom are proof enough that we need to change, because it is the people in our community that make aldea what it is, not a building.

maybe aldea has all the members it needs right now in order to be impactful. when did more become better? the people that currently come to aldea, myself included, are barely scratching the surface of what we dream to be about; how is a larger membership going to change that?

dave was pretty harsh at the end of our first financial discussion a couple months ago. but he was right, and it was the sting of truth that convicted me that i was not committed, that i expected someone else to do “it,” that my only thought was to show up on sunday when i felt like it, leech off dave, kevin, tom, and jared, and my part was done. how immature and misguided on my part. it is disappointing that i see a similar attitude in others as well. it’s like we want someone to chew up our food and feed it to us. if jared and tom were not enough to inspire us to truly start practicing the daily presence of jesus, to be transformed in order to touch the lives of those around us, then i believe that no increase in member population will do it.

i am committed to the dream of aldea. i believe it can become a reality, but i think some changes must be made. i ask that the staff prayerfully consider the *posibility* - however remote - that we are on the wrong path by keeping this building. is it time to jump off the cliff and let go? or is it time to fight for what we have? i understand there are many ramifications of selling, and many people would be affected. would it be objectionable to sell our building and buy a more modest property for cash - someplace large enough for renewal center to remain on church grounds - or find a donated space for our use on sundays, or rent something for a hundred bucks months, or simply hold sunday gatherings in someone’s house?

shouldn’t the thousand dollars or more we pony up each week go to something larger than ourselves? shouldn’t the money of aldea be making a difference? how are we living in the way of jesus when we are focused on money and a building more than helping others? maybe that’s not our focus; it just feels that way to me.

i can accept that people will come and go from aldea, but it would be an easier pill to swallow if i felt that aldea was living up to its potential in the midst of this. rather, i feel we are making a half-hearted attempt to authentically be examples of jesus in this world.

jared and tom, you will both be missed. losing people who are as inspiring, as committed, and shine as brightly as you is something that grieves me to a point that words do not express. there will be a void in the heart of aldea as you were both loved so deeply. best to you both and your families.

blessings and love,

lauren

This is my first blog at aldea. I am not one to join things, which is one reason for my sporadic attendance over the last year and a half, and why I only know about 5 of your names. However, there is something I see in you all on the staff that keeps me coming back - a genuineness (is that a word?), a way of being that convicts me that my life needs changing. I figure it is time that I start investing myself in this journey wholeheartedly, so today is my first of what I hope will be many entries.

These teachings have led me back to a fantastic book of daily meditations by Emmet Fox. His writings coupled with your teachings have really convicted me that if I am holding resentment or unforgiveness towards another human being, then I am not right with God. And, man, it has been a long time (if ever) since I have been right with God. I have been the queen of resentment. I know it is time to begin letting it all go.

I had my first fantastic run-in with conscious forgiveness on Mother’s Day, when I decided to forgive my husband for something he did two days prior; I knew it was not God’s will that I be mad at him. I forgave him, then apologized to him and we were able to salvage the remaining hours of Mother’s Day. I actually found myself thanking God for my husband’s trespass, as it brought me to a deeper relationship with God and an understanding of the journey that lay ahead.

Additionally, I was remembering something that Tom said a few weeks back regarding not judging, and he referred to standing in line behind the sorority-type girl with tons of groceries in the express lane. Today it came to me that my preconceived negative snap judgments mean that somewhere in me I am holding resentment or unforgiveness - why else would I have such a reaction if I had never experienced this thing before?

Babe is up from her nap, mamahood calls.

Peace out.

You can use this space to write about the service or special anniversaries in your life.

use this space to blog your thoughts and reflections on birth, re-birth and celebration… or you can click the write a new post link on the top right of this page and create your own space to blog your thoughts…

use this space, or any space you’d like to share your stories of celebration experienced or celebration missed.

Mystery

Listening to mystery can be one of the hardest acts of listening. We often spend silent moments in conversations thinking about what we are going to say next. When we do this in conversation with others, we become distracted. The same can be true for life. When we do not fully listen to life, but ready our next response, we miss out on the voice of mystery. Mysteries after all can’t be rushed to answers. If they could, they wouldn’t be that mysterious. Perhaps this is why we sometimes close our ears to the voice of mystery. Mystery carries in its voice the power to silence us. Instead of distraction, mystery leads us to awareness. The silence we find in mystery leaves us speechless, breathless, and sometimes hopeless. But if we could close our eyes and visualize the mysteries of our lives, those mysteries that have followed us, maybe we could admit that their persistence has not been hopeless, but hope filled. The richness of their texture has in fact been what has made up the fabric of soul. The unknowns are what have invited us in to the present moment and the journey that becomes life.
This week let me encourage you to internally retrace the path that has been your life. Ask yourself,  what mysteries have stopped you in your tracks? What unanswerable moments have left you without speech? Take some time each day to relive those moments. Let their presence be felt. How have they changed your life? Where have those moments bunny-trialed your path. Some mysteries can be so sorrow-filled and leave our souls scarred and wounded, while others fill us with so much joy. Either way, the mysteries of our pasts have shaped our yesterday and I encourage you to allow the mysteries of today to shape your tomorrow.

We are starting a new series called listen here is a little description about it. Also keep an eye here to find further writings that go with he series:

Listen Up
The Listen Up series is focused on listening. Listening may be one of the most important human faculties. When we’re honest with ourselves, most of us could admit that we often listen just enough to find out if the message pertains to us, and how we can construct our responses. We fall short of deep listening. There is so much potential in the act of hearing. It is through hearing that we listen to the music that moves us. It is through hearing that I recognize my children’s voices. It is through hearing that we can discover aspects of each other’s souls. There is nothing more amazing in a relationship then when we create a miracle moment by opening our hearts. These are the moments when our loved ones pour their souls into our ears. When we listen to another in these moments, we give life.
An important question to ask then is how often do I give life through the words that come out of my mouth or heart? With this question in mind, what can we expect in the weeks ahead? Over the next five weeks we will be listening to many important voices. We will be listening to the voice of mystery, the voice of our heart and desire, the voice within our questions, and finally, our own voice. Each will present us with an opportunity to experience and give life through deep listening.
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Listening meditations can be different than breathing meditations in that you are not focusing the mind on internal silence, rather you are opening your awareness to an external sensation. During this series we will intentionally be listening for the “voices.” This could be the voices of others, the voices of our own longings and questions, or the voice of the Divine. Together we will choose sounds that represent these different voices and we will open the ears of our hearts to them.