Building an Intentional Church: When the Church Gets Messy

Imagine it. The church is brand new — still finding its voice, still healing from the pain of the cross, still breathless from the empty tomb. The Spirit has come, wild and wind-blown, and now people are gathering. Hungry. Hopeful. Ready to build something real. 

And then? It gets messy. 

Acts 15 opens with a fight. Not a side-glance or awkward silence kind of fight — a full-on conflict. They’re arguing about who belongs. About power. About identity. About the shape of faith. Some want to gatekeep. Others call for radical welcome. And in the middle of it all, leaders gather around one long, heated, holy table. 

Here’s what stuns me: they don’t split. They don’t shut it down. They stay. They speak. They listen. They bring their stories, their fears, their dreams — and together, they make room for grace to do what grace does best: break things open and bind them back together in new ways. 

This Eastertide, we’re not just talking about the early church. We’re talking about us. 
What does it take to build an intentional church — here, now, in a world that aches with division and longs for healing? It takes courage. It takes deep listening. It takes fierce love and holy disruption. It takes trusting the Spirit more than our fear. 

The author Audre Lorde said, “Without community, there is no liberation.” The early church learned that. And we continue to do the same. 

So, if you’re tired of pretending. If you’re craving depth, honesty, joy, repair — come. At Bethany we make room. Not just for your best self, but for your real one. 

The Spirit isn’t waiting for perfection. The Spirit is already moving. 

Peace, 
Pastor Katie