How would you describe our church? What makes it different? In a previous blog (found here), I thought I’d have a go at describing our Ignite community, choosing just 4 characteristics. Last time I shared how mission is what drives us and that we can try new things when we have permission to fail. Here are two more –  

Teams are Better 

Rather than have a single person lead, we’ve tried to be as team focused as possible. We have 4 part-time staff working from 1 to 3 days/wk (more info on us here!). And then of course, everyone else, some who invest more hours than us paid ones! 

As a team, we seek God’s vision for Ignite and UJ through prayer, listening, scripture and discussion and then use our individual gifts and training to see it worked out. People are responsible for different things (that’s helpful to make sure stuff happens) but we all generally get to pitch in and have a say.   

Being a team has also allowed us to connect with different kinds of people as each of us comes with unique personalities and interests. It’s given us greater stability too as we’re not dependent on one person or personality. 

No Spectators Allowed 

Possibly my favourite one (am I allowed to choose?) 

I hope people don’t come to our church for a polished stage and audience. It’s about getting our hands dirty. Everyone gets involved in our community. We lead and serve one another. Whether we’re inviting someone for lunch, playing music, building furniture, helping with homework or leading the community in prayer, there are so many ways to contribute, if we give it a little thought. Everyone has strengths and passions that can build us up. 

At Ignite, we can belong, before we believe. It doesn’t matter how strong you feel your faith is, or what your background is, everyone is invited to connect and take part. There is no such thing as being too young or inexperienced to share what God is doing…or too old to dream dreams.  

We hope that people feel a sense of ownership over Ignite and UJ; that they have an important part to play. Our sense of community has deepened when we’ve had to depend on each other through hard times and when we’ve stretched beyond ourselves to care for others. We’re all responsible for strengthening our church and sharing the hope that we have.  

This year has caused us to ask who we are and what we value. It’s been the same for church. We take that moment, to look at ourselves again.  What things would you say about Ignite? What makes us, us? 

Ps. The theme photo is a collection of some of my favourite ‘working together’ photos over the years