scottish soldier and pastor,Mr George McCloud(17 June 1895 – 27 June 1991) once said:
"I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the centre of the market place, as well as on the steeple of the church. I’m recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a Cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves, on a town garbage heap at a crossroads of politics so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek. And the kind of place where cynics talk smut and thieves curse and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died and that is what He died about. And that is where Christ’s people ought to be and what church people ought to be about."
When we get stuck in "doing church" mode, planning for who will bring the food to cell this week, getting caught up with "what songs are working", saying we're doing well because we're at church 3 or 4 days a week...then we have missed the point...and we will soon get bored and infighting, critical attitudes and inevitably religion will set in! PJ Smythe of God First Church in johannesburg speaks of a "doing church" culture as, "...pastoral-driven (prioritizing caring for each other and creating a beautiful church culture) rather than mission-driven (prioritizing reaching the unchurched).
We invite people to church on Sundays, we take it to them during the week.