There are two ways to “do church.” One way is to set a table at the church for people to come and take. Who usually shows up? Since it’s first-come-first-served, church people get there first. So, the second way is to set a table out in the community. We take the table to people and serve them where they are. Almost every month of the year we have a table set somewhere. Sometimes, it’s serving a group of fifty and other times six hundred or more. It is always exciting, and a lot of work, but is it ever worth it!

The Journey started as a seed of possibility. A few people met in a small group. Two groups started. Then a third. Now eight groups. Soon, three more. Almost a hundred people in Cell Groups that meet as the church. What if The Journey started a movement of churches made of cell groups within two generations in NE Tennessee?

In June of 2004, Tom Bier and his family moved to Johnson City from Michigan. A small group of folks caught the vision and on October 16, 2005, the first public worship was held with about forty-five in attendance at Daniel Boone High School in Gray.

In late 2006, an offer was given to lease/purchase a renovated church in Gray. The Blueridge Fellowship of Grace Brethren churches graciously offered to get a ministry center going again in their building on N. Roan St. (one and a half miles North of Boones Creek Rd.). The challenge to The Journey with a building is to keep cell groups and setting the table on the outside the main place of  “church”.  Church is a movement without walls! What if our building became a Community Center? What if it could be used 6 1/2 days a week? What if it served the community!? What if people could come to a coffee house in the church, sit all day with their laptop and coffee in a sacred space, full of God’s peace and joy? What if the prayer and Spirit life of that property nurtured the birth of another similar “Community Center” in two to three years?

Don’t just be a Sunday pastor watcher. Join the whole move of God in The Journey.