We're moving!!!

Hi all! Well we are days away from the launch of AfterHours. We have had our preview services, made adjustments with every service...and probably will continue to do so. We don't have a road map. Other services around the country have church at tables but don't have the 5-10 minutes of quite time. Other services I know of have 30-60 minutes of contemplation time but no tables. Still others have all the elements except the secular music (we don't use traditional Christian music.) Very few I know of have a service outreach element right in the service. We are starting a new thing here. Spread the word. If you know people that "don't do church" or were burned by church, tell them about it. It might be their thing. If you have a church community, good for you! This might seem very different to you. It might not even seem like church...for some people, that is a good thing!


Here is the big news...We are moving the blog! We now will be at http://www.afterhourschurch.blogspot.com/ (we wanted it to match the website and email...which by the way are: http://www.afterhourschurch.com/ and afterhourschurch@gmail.com For people that don't want to go to the website, the services are at St. Andrew Untied Methodist Church 3350 White Bay Dr. Highlands Ranch, CO 80126 ( on University Blvd. a few miles south of C-470 on the right)

Hope you are all having a great holiday season (who ever is actually reading this...blogging still seems REALLY egocentric but all the kids are doing it!). A great New Years to all and send us prayers and good vibes for AfterHours is 2009.

One Down...

Well, we got one under our belt. Enough success to make us happy, enough challenges to keep us humble. Great turn out. Maybe a lot of people that wanted to just see what all the fuss was about but that's o.k. I think people dug the vibe. We ran over because the preacher wouldn't shut up (I won't do THAT again!) Service ran 12 minutes over. Six of that was my sermon. Live and learn. What I know is that our service project (making sack lunches for day laborers) fed over 100 people the NEXT day. THAT made the whole service worth it. Anyway, if you came by to experiance it last Sunday I would love to hear your thoughts...even if it hurts. Thanks to all for the support. Next service will be Oct. 19th. Hope to see ya then.

What are folks looking for?

So here is the deal- I am hoping AfterHours fills a void for people that think you have to "do church" a certain way. It is about appealing to people that think they "know" church people because...well...they," knew a guy once who was a bigot and he said he was a Christian." What do we need to do not to be painted with the same brush stroke (and no, you can't say, "don't be a bigot"...that is a given) In short: WHAT ARE PEOPLE LOOKING FOR???

One month out

O.K. now we're getting close. We are less than a month away from our first PREVIEW service. We will do these once a month till 2009. Beginning in 2009, we go live once a week, Sunday's @ 5:15. There is some real positive energy coming out of the launch meetings and lot's of hope and laughs. Here's hoping we can create a "third place" for people (Home and Work being one and two). A place where people look forward to coming to all week long. A place of connections...no not the sleazy, Hollywood, "have your people call my people" kinda connections. More like the "connnect to others/connect to God" kinda connections. We will be making connections begining Sept. 28th @ 5:15...See you AfterHours

Happy Anniversary...to me!

Today, I (and a number of other people I know) have been at this gig for one year. One year of full time God work. Whew! I didn't break anything (to the best of my knowledge.) They have let me stay...so far. Now we are starting this new thing. A new service. Sorta church for people that don't like church. How do we prep for welcoming people (and God) in, and, at the same time, not be so polished that it looks slick and well...slick. I wanna do enough work but not so much that EVERY...SINGLE...THING is timed out and choreographed perfectly. Who wants to worship in perfection? I get the idea that Jesus focused on the relationships...you know...the love thing. I don't know how much he cared who sang out of tune. He was just glad they came to the party. That's kinda how I hope Afterhours is. I want people to know we are just glad they came to the party. I have thrown a lot of great parties in my life....I just hope this one doesn't end with the cops showing up. Here's hoping I make it to my second anniversary!

[NOTE: I was going to tag this with some sort of clever "Afterhours" tag line...but I am already tired of that...that means you were tired of it WAY before me]

And let's welcome to the service....God!

I was telling my wife Laura that back in my previous life, I opened for all kinda big shots...now I am opening for the ultimate big shot...I am opening for God! I am thinking our job is to create an environment that makes it...well...easy for the Holy Spirit for the come on in. We are to create an environment of joy. I believe this is where the spirit lives. If you are enjoying yourself...well...I think that is an open invite for the spirit. It is never about the opener or the venue. It is about creating a space that makes it easy for the main act to shine. Here is hoping that we are able to create that space...keep us in your thoughts...pray for us...send us good vibes....toast us...whatever works in your world. Know we are going to do our best to create a space of joy....here's to joy...laughter...and the spirit...and doing it all Afterhours...

Here we go...

Well, lets give this a try. Let's TRY to do something different with church. But not just to "do" something different. Can we begin to listen to the voices that say, "church just isn't for me" and instead of trying to convince them that it is, listen to them. Maybe the church they don't like is the same church you and I don't like. Judgemental, holier than thou, hypocritical...mean. Don't blame them a bit. Maybe we can show folks a different way to do church. Keep the things that we think are really important...and lose the stuff we don't quite understand why they are there. Does a service HAVE to be one hour? Does the preacher HAVE to preach 20-25 minutes (dear sweet God say no). Do we HAVE to sit in rows, all facing forward? Let's find out...

After all, things are always a little bit different afterhours...