I've always been inspired by innovation. I remember the launch of the iPhone. Steve Jobs stood on stage and announced three things: an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator. Then he revealed they were all one device. It blew my mind, and it changed the way we live. It began with someone imagining that things could be different.
I think the church is ready for moments like that too. Not in what we believe, but in how we organise ourselves.
One of my favourite stories is Moses and Jethro (Exodus 18). Moses is settling every dispute himself, from morning till night. His father-in-law watches and says, kindly but plainly, "What you are doing is not good. You will only wear yourselves out." Together they redesign the whole thing, sharing the load among capable people. Moses gets his life back, and the people are better served. It's one of the first leadership restructures in history, and it began with someone asking, "Could we do this differently?"
At Ocean Church we're trying, in small ways, to ask that question too.
We use the advice process. Instead of every decision climbing a committee ladder, anyone can make a call once they've sought advice from the people it affects and the people who know most about it. I'd love to see more ideas followed through using this process.
We meet on a Saturday, because that's when many of the people around us are actually free.
We don't have a building. We gather outdoors, in the park and on the beach, with no roof to fix and nothing between us and the people walking past.
None of this feels revolutionary. It feels more like rediscovering our roots: a church on the move, in the open air, sharing decisions together.
And the Bible is full of moments like this. The apostles creating a new role so that overlooked widows were fed (Acts 6). Peter walking into Cornelius's house (Acts 10). A mixed, unlikely church in Antioch sending Paul and Barnabas out into the world. Each time, God's people tried something new, and the kingdom moved forward.
"See, I am doing a new thing!" God says through Isaiah. "Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:19)
So what new thing might God be inviting you to try? A new time, a new place, a new way of deciding together? I'd love to hear what you imagine.
