The Rev. Joseph Kovitch, serves as priest in charge to St. Matthew’s Westerville and has had a vision of helping an inherited church slowly transform itself into a Praxis Community – realizing that being the church means you can follow Jesus, love your neighbors, share in spiritual practices, and pay attention to what God is doing anywhere you are. His office is a local coffee shop, their Sunday morning service is held at Old Bag of Nails pub and hanging out on the front porch is a regular part of his job. The Columbus Dispatch just published a great story about the journey of St. Matthew’s under the leadership of Joseph. You can read the whole story here.
I particularly like this part,
“For Kovitch and members of his parish, Uptown Westerville has become their new church home. The congregation holds Sunday services in an upper-level banquet room at the Old Bag of Nails Pub. On Wednesdays, it offers Eucharist to those passing the gazebo outside its “Pray. Think. Love.” house. And on Thursdays, members meet for Uptown Crawl, visiting a different restaurant each week to discuss theology, spirituality or storytelling….Losing the building made the congregation vulnerable but also approachable, Kovitch said. “You find that the coffeehouses, the restaurants, the campuses, the neighborhoods become a parish. And we find that Old Bag of Nails can be a sanctuary, that a 19th-century house can become a chapel, and the front porch can be a fellowship hall.”
The neighborhood is our local parish! To follow more about what St. Matthew’s is learning by following the Spirit and listening to their community – follow their blog.