Co-Creation: In the Beginning, God Began to Create
In many translations of Genesis 1:1, the text reads something like, “In the beginning, when God created[a] the heavens and the earth.” However, the first verse of the English Bible also gives us our first footnote. The word “created” is likely more accurately translated as “began to create.” English majors and Hebrew scholars can let us know the verb tenses which lead to that foot-noted translation. However, the implication for changing the verb tense is that we are reminded that God’s creative engagement with the heavens and the earth is not simply a past event. God is an active creator who began to create in the beginning AND continues to engage in acts of creativity in the heavens and on the earth today. The good news is that God also invites God’s people to participate alongside God in these ongoing acts of creation. On our team, we name creatively participating alongside God as, “co-creation.”
Many of our congregations, including our new faith communities, are actively engaged in acts of co-creation. At our best, we are able to see the world as it is, long for a world which more fully reflects God’s kingdom, and then we creatively generate solutions which might help to close the gap between these two realities (“on earth, as it is in heaven”).
One way this is happening is through investment in creative communities and leaders who are striving to co-create new places for new people to gather in communion with Jesus Christ. Sometimes this happens with the co-creation of a brand new church. Other times this happens when existing churches extend their ministries to open new doors and new access points for people to gather to experience the love of God and the love of God’s people.
In this newsletter, we will be sharing two stories of passionate leaders who saw a need in their community, prayerfully sought God’s wisdom and vision, and who are now experimenting with new ways to co-create new places for new people to gather in communion with Jesus Christ.
Thank you for your ongoing support and the ways your prayers, financial gifts, and other support make these new kinds of creative new faith communities possible.