A recent survey sought to capture the most famous movie quote of all time. There were lots of familiar ones on the list: “Life is like a box of chocolates,” “You can’t handle the truth!” and “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” I found it interesting, however, that the number one movie line of all time was found to be, “There’s no place like home,” spoken by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
I understand the power of that sentiment as I prepare to go home this Sunday as the Homecoming speaker at the church where I grew up, Milford Hills United Methodist Church in Salisbury, North Carolina. My mom and dad became Christians because of the influence of that church in the earliest days when it was meeting at the Franklin Community Center (just as people are coming to know Christ through our services at Gordon-Conwell). It also became central to our spiritual development for Henry, Connie, Pam and me.
There are a lot of parallels between Milford Hills and Imagine Church; both began as new church starts, both spent the first years in rented space. But both are also descriptive of what I call a renewing church, and that’s what I’ll be preaching about on Sunday.
Growing up at Milford Hills shaped the kind of minister I would eventually become. It was a church that prioritized relevance over tradition. If it didn’t work, they quit doing it. (Isn’t that a novel idea for churches? Imagine what would happen in most churches today, if they quit doing the stuff that wasn’t working!) At Milford Hills, they celebrated changed lives. That became important to me, and when I became a pastor, I didn’t want to let my congregations be robbed of the opportunity of celebrating what God had done in individual lives — because I believed that was important to who we are, and what we’re about.
I agree with Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. It’s good to go home sometimes. Milford Hills compelled me to make sure our Imagine Kids and Imagine Nation Youth are raised in a renewing church where there is that kind of authenticity. And I’m so proud of the many people at Imagine Church who have that kind of vision, too. I often want to shout “Yay God!” for everything that is taking place here, and because I (and we) get to be part of what’s over the horizon in the continuing work of God’s kingdom.