I lead a ministry community for young adults called Element. Last year a Vanderbilt Divinity grad student asked if she could "use" Element for a congregational case study in her coursework. Despite our reminding her of the fact that we do not consider ourselves a church, she was not dissuaded, received approval from her professor, and was then welcome to speak to anyone and everyone who entered the sphere of our weekly gatherings, from regular attenders to first-time visitors.

I'd like to share the results of her study with you. This is obviously flirting with pride here, especially as much of her study involves appraisal of yours truly, but I'm just dang proud of the people I get to attempt Christian community with, every last one of them, and so I thought I'd share this as a way of publicizing what can happen when a pathetic start-up focuses on the gospel first. It has some interesting insights about young adults and young adult ministry, and reflects on the relative effectiveness or ineffectiveness an approach like ours might have.

If you know of someone between the ages of 18 and 30something in the Nashville area who is interested in connecting with other followers of Jesus, maybe this might convince you to send them our way. :-)

Note: It's a little long, even with some judicious editing on my part. She focuses on "style" and appearances a bit much for my taste, but I realize that's just part of the study and is valid for evaluation. I have excised portions that could be construed as critical of third parties, but anything that could be construed as criticism about me personally, in the interest of objectivity, I have left in.

Check it out after the jump . . .


"Element Profile" by Christine Howard

Introduction

In the suburban Nashville neighborhood of Bellevue, not far from Interstate 40, there is a sign for Bellevue Community Church (BCC). A long, wooded driveway leads into the 280 acre campus of the church. Among this enormous church’s many programs is Element, BCC’s ministry to college students and young professionals. According to Element’s attractive, contemporary Web site (it does not usually produce paper materials), the ministry’s goal is “to cultivate a growing, redemptive environment for real spiritual growth and connection to God and others” and to bring “Nashville's emerging generation into a fuller discipleship to Jesus Christ and a greater vitality in Christian community.”

Element is a local manifestation of the broader movements within North American Christian communities to acknowledge and address the high church dropout rate of young adults after high school. To Element’s leadership, this means that a young adult ministry cannot simply be “more of the same”. As a member and former deacon of a 300 year old mainline church in the Northeast, Element’s model was unfamiliar to me when I began my research. In the course of this paper I intend to sketch the general contours of this unique community as I have come to understand them in terms of history, demographics, practices, theology and leadership.

History

The history of Element begins with the history of BCC, which started in 1988 as a small Baptist congregation meeting in a middle school. In 1989, the group hired Dr. David Foster as a full time pastor. A year later, the church changed its name to Bellevue Community Church, which according to the church’s website, better reflected the community’s “passion which was and still is reaching out to those who are unchurched or tired of the way church was being done”.

By 2000, BCC had grown into an “interdenominational” megachurch on the 280 acre campus called Hope Park nestled in a hilltop woodland. During the summer of 2006, the church of approximately 2,500 experienced significant upheaval in the wake of the elders’ decision to fire Dr. Foster. The decision was made over time with significant input from BCC staff, who had been involved in an ongoing struggle with the church’s pastor. The church elders informed the enormous congregation after the decision had been made, but were careful to explain the situation to congregants. Many members of the congregation were unaware that there had been significant, ongoing conflict between their popular, charismatic pastor and the rest of the church leadership. It had been under Dr. Foster’s leadership that the church had grown from 40 people in a school to its megachurch status. This was an extremely challenging time for the church and it resulted in the loss of many members.

During this crisis period, Jared Wilson, a member of BCC, blogged thoughtfully about the experience. His blog became a locus of conversation for many involved in the church, and it was through this blog that Chris Thomas, Element’s founder, came to know Wilson. Thomas, a BCC staff member, had begun a small bible study group for college students and young professionals because he sought a small community within his own age group that could foster both friendships and lives of discipleship. He and Wilson talked for the first time over coffee, discussing their ideas and perspectives. Ultimately, Thomas brought Wilson on board as a volunteer leader and preacher. In February 2007, Thomas and Wilson, along with an eleven-member leadership team, expanded Element to include two weekly bible study sessions, a monthly volunteer opportunity and a Sunday evening worship service with preaching, live music, a podcast and strong audiovisual support. Nine months later, this remains the primary format of Element, although informal parties, dinners and movie nights also pepper the group’s schedule.

Demographics and Social Ecology

Element is located in the Bellevue area of Nashville. According to the 2000 US Census, the area around BCC is 87.9% white. Black or African American is the second largest racial category at 6.5%, with Asian third at 3.2%. Not only is it a largely white area, it is also fairly young, well educated and wealthy. The majority of the area’s population is between 25 and 54 years of age, with the largest concentration between 35 and 44. It is a fairly well educated population, with higher education levels than the United States as a whole, having 85.8% compared to 80.4% of the population with high school or higher and 33.9% compared to 24.4% with a bachelor’s or higher. It is also wealthier than the US average with a median household income of $55,495 as compared to $ 41,994 nationwide.

Anecdotally, Wilson believes that participants are drawn primarily from Bellevue, Kingston Springs and Alton, but Element does not keep statistics. There is also not an official group membership roster, but Element’s electronic newsletter reaches 107 people. However, according to Wilson, the vast majority of these contacts have never been to any Element event since the list dates back to the summer of 2006 when Thomas assembled a contact list. Worship attendance is also not kept officially, but during my study I found that it ranged from twenty to over thirty, including those who participate in producing the service.

The target demographic for the group is college age through young adult. Since “young adult” is a vague term, it encompasses individuals in a wide variety of life stages and ages. Although I have met a few attendees in the 18-22 age range, the majority of those who attend Element are past college age, but still in their twenties or even early thirties. From my interviews and conversations, I gather that Element attendees who are no longer in school have a variety of professions from dental hygienist to investment banker, and from professional ballet dancer to technology executive.

At Element worship services, the attendees are almost all white, with a very small amount of representation from black or Asian community members and visitors. Wilson has explained that the homogenous racial and ethnic makeup of the group is unintentional and characteristic of the area. Another member of Element’s leadership team noted that when the group first got going, they made an effort to place posters and postcards in all of Nashville’s neighborhoods.

Looking around at an Element service, it is immediately apparent that Element is not a place of tragic hair. The group is young, primarily white and nicely dressed. Personal styles run the gamut from pop-punk-princess to perfectly preppy business casual, but everyone looks contemporary and well put together. Element, on the whole, seems to be in line with the surrounding neighborhood.

Practices: Worship, Fellowship, Study and Work

Element’s founder and leadership team conceive of Element as a community, not simply a young adult program. Along with a weekly worship and fellowship opportunity, the community also includes bible study, a monthly volunteer opportunity and numerous informal social gatherings. Element Sunday evening worship is the entry point for those coming in to the community, and none of the individuals with whom I spoke who had begun attending within the past few months were participating regularly in bible study, although the majority indicated that they might like to in the future. Element began as a bible study for the young adult demographic and still offers two bible studies, one is for young married couples and the other is open to anyone. Those longer-term members who attend the bible studies place a high value on them. According to one committed member of Element’s leadership team, bible study is when he sees that “ministry is not just theory, it becomes very real when participants talk about their lives during bible study”*. Often this leads to very personal revelations and even breakdowns. Another Element leader suggested that “Element is fundamentally a story of individual stories of friendships and life transformations that grow in an exponential way”.

Even the way that Element handles it’s monthly volunteer activity is based on relationship. The leadership of Element has teamed up with the leadership of a Nashville charity, Cottage Cove, to form an ongoing commitment. During the weekly announcements that follow the service, Jared has used this kind of language to refer to Element’s “commitment to Cottage Cove”. This commitment includes a regular tithe and regular service activity. This strong sense of relationality underlies much of Element’s practice. It is even present during worship through an unusual seating arrangement, the casual atmosphere and the emotional and personal openness and authenticity that pervades each sermon.

If the weather is good, around 6:15 on Sunday evenings, Element attendees often gather to chat on the front steps of The Onion, the white onion-shaped structure on the BCC campus where the group worships. Often the children have not yet disappeared into the trailer that holds the childcare area, so a shy girl in a tutu or a giggling blond boy is likely to sidle up beside the grown ups. The close relationships between Element’s core members means that a given couple’s kids are likely to be comfortable around a number of the other adults in the group. After conversation about life’s events and sundry social gatherings begins to wrap up, the children are shepherded toward their playroom and the adult worshipers slowly begin to filter in through the front door of The Onion. Worship begins each week at 6:30.

Inside the round, high ceilinged tent the lights are dim, round tables made of silver metal are scattered before a stage and ringed with matching silver chairs. Attendees sit at tables in small groups, inviting anyone looking lost to join them. Each table is set with a single votive candle. The floor is concrete, intentionally splattered with paint in primary colors. There is a rug on the stage and one on the main floor, they are modern looking and in Starbucks-style neutrals. Dark red and beige cloth is gracefully draped from the point in the roof down the walls, giving the space a comfortable, womb like quality. At the back there is a table set with Starbucks coffee, bottled water and cookies. A raised platform at the back of the room holds the controls and technicians for the audiovisual equipment. The stage has theatre style lighting in many colors. There is a screen for projection and two televisions. At the front of the room the stage is set up for a band, and in front of the stage is a black music stand on the concrete floor.

The structure of an Element service is simple, with two main parts: live Christian rock/worship music and a “message” or sermon. Wilson always gives the sermon, and some members refer to the music portion simply as “worship”. Between, before or during these two sections a prayer may be given, either by Wilson, a member of the band or another member. The order of these worship elements varies. Sometimes the music portion is first, sometimes the sermon, but in most cases, the two primary elements are of approximately equal duration. The service tends to last around an hour and a half, but can easily go long.

The musical portion of the service is loud. The all-male band includes a drummer, keyboardist, bass player and sometimes two guitarists. One or both guitarists sing and sometimes one of two young women sings as well. The musical selection occasionally includes a contemporary rock arrangement of a traditional hymn but is more commonly composed of contemporary Christian worship music. During each song, the lyrics are shown on two plasma televisions, one on either side of the stage, and projected behind the band on a large screen. Behind the lyrics, on each of the three screens is a colorful moving background—perhaps a cityscape or swirling yellow circles, flowing water or rippling red blood. The Onion’s colorful stage lighting is changed by technicians for each song. Between songs, one of the singers will occasionally choose to give an impromptu prayer. During this musical portion of the service, all attendees remain standing, some raise their hands in the air, palm open. Often someone in the congregation will drop to his or her knees in spontaneous prayer while the music rages on . . .

The sermons at Element are tied together into series. Each series lasts for a variable number of weeks and centers around a theme. Sometimes the theme is explicitly biblical, and sometimes not. For example, the preaching this fall has covered two series. The first was called “Exodus: The Wandering Life of Discipleship” and the second was “Rated R: Relationships”. Each series has a hip, well-designed image that is projected behind Wilson and displayed on the television screens when he begins his sermon or “message”. This image is also displayed on the website for the duration of the series, where a visitor can hear a podcast of each message. For the Exodus series, this unifying image was in dark, neutral colors with a grunge-like distressed look and showed an arrow with the title of the series. For Rated R, the image was a black and white photograph of a young man and woman with the title of the series in a box that was made to look like a distressed version of a rating sticker like one might find on a CD with adult content.

Wilson preaches with a wireless ear mike, and in casual, youthful clothing. He is almost always barefoot. Although that decision may strike visitors as especially uncommon, and Wilson is well aware that it is unusual, the reason behind it is not stylistic or spiritual but simply practical. Wilson said simply, “I'm very hot natured and the spotlight they put on me turns me into a human heat pump, and I discovered one night that being barefoot on the Onion floor kept me considerably cooler.” While the decision may not be stylistic itself, Wilson’s willingness to both do something odd in order to be comfortable and to be so frank in explaining why, points to a unifying theme in Element’s worship—a general sense of honesty and authenticity. This casual, barefoot preacher also speaks from the floor, not the stage. He stands only a few feet in front of the first row of tables and has only a small music stand to hold his notes and a bible. There is no pulpit. Before Wilson became involved in Element, the group asked him if he would be willing to preach from the floor because of the power lines on stage and the set-up for the band. They were concerned that he would feel slighted. On the contrary, he was very pleased with the arrangement since he “didn't like the idea of speaking "from above" people anyway”.

Those who are new to Element’s worship often express surprise at the way Wilson refers to the stories of his own life during sermons. New attendees who stay with the group cite Wilson’s honesty as one of the prime reasons they stay and one of the things that set Element apart from other worship options. While long time participants are no longer surprised, they are still apt to comment approvingly or ask, “How many preachers would be willing to say [fill in the blank with something from the day’s sermon]?” Wilson has spoken openly about his heroes, flaws, struggles, family, etc. One worship included a montage of images of people, some happy and healthy, some miserable, debilitated and ill. There was even a photograph of protesters holding signs that read, “God hates fags!” Wilson was a little teary after the montage and the message that followed focused on suffering in the world and the complexity that surrounds understanding the intense suffering of another. During the Reformation Day service, Wilson told a very personal story of lying face down in the carpet crying, when he felt like his life and especially his career were going badly. Regarding this decisions in favor of personal vulnerability during worship services, Wilson says,

I think the best teachers use examples from their lives not purely of success or accomplishment ("See? You should be more spiritual like me.") but of brokenness and vulnerability ("See? This is meaningful to me too, I'm not just speaking theoretically or telling you what to do -- I'm in this boat with you.") In addition, it would be really disingenuous to get up and always talk about how the problem we all suffer from is sin and the problem with the Church is that we have downplayed that truth and ignored that truth, and then go on to downplay or ignore it in my own life.

Not only is honesty and authenticity conveyed through Wilson’s personal testimonies and somewhat accidentally through his manner of dress and the room setup, but also through his manner of speaking. He is a conversational preacher, and very engaging.

This focus on authenticity pervades Element worship, in spite of the fancy lights and rock music. From worshippers’ spontaneous responses, to musicians’ spontaneous (and sometimes awkward) prayers, to all participants’ “normal” dress to Wilson’s manner of speaking, an element of surprising honesty is almost always present. As for Wilson’s part in this, his reasoning is:

I also think, generally speaking, young people are sick of b.s. They sense inauthenticity very quickly, so even if I was talking about how awful I've had it or times of my own brokenness, but I was doing it in a manipulative or emotionalistic way, they'd see through that pretty quickly too. The vulnerability and authenticity has to be actually vulnerable and actually authentic, not just plays at appearing so.

At least through my conversations and formal interviews, Wilson’s suspicion about this hunger for authenticity is borne out by the participants’ reasons for participating.

Not only is authentic worship one of those reasons, but authentic relationship is as well. This aspect may begin to some degree with worship, in that the service itself and Jared’s speaking persona (which is, as a he hopes, quite similar to his non-preaching persona) helps newer attendees to feel that they know people at Element and that Wilson is someone to whom they could speak. However, the relational nature of Element worship is nurtured primarily outside The Onion--it is manifest in Element’s other core programs and activities.

While a mainline congregation may gather for coffee briefly after service, Element has a meal. Every worship ends with a late night dinner at a local bar and grill, which the vast majority of those in worship attend. The restaurant pulls together several tables and the twenty or so young adults and children find seats as they trickle in. Those who help to clean up The Onion are the last to arrive. People often start to leave after an hour or so of conversation, but it is not at all unheard of that a small handful will still be talking three hours later. Conversation can run the gamut from theology to personal lives. This aspect of Element reflects the sense of all of my interviewees that relationships and relationship building is central to Element. Even a relatively new attendee, who does not attend Element bible study, said that one of the key things at keeps her at Element is the sense of support that she gets from being part of a small, intimate Christian community.

Theology and Meaning: Tradition, Contemporary Issues and Grace

Originally a Baptist congregation, BCC, and by extension, Element, retains a similar theological grounding. Wilson, the “Teacher” of Element (read: leader/pastor/preacher, etc.) describes his theology as expressed in his teaching as evangelical, orthodox and Protestant. He also identified his views with the Reformation, Calvinism and Luther.

During an interview, Wilson suggested that, although associating itself with various movements is not something Element chooses to focus on, he would align it with well known churches such as Mars Hill—a church that swims in the conservative stream of the emerging conversation. Mars Hill in Seattle espouses conservative theology, including biblical inerrancy, but has on its Web homepage a video on the life of Johnny Cash—a narrative entry point into discussing temptation. Another contemporary buzzword, Missional, also applies to Element according to Wilson.

In his role at Element, Wilson embraces conservative, evangelical and protestant theology in a contemporary context, but tries “to achieve a different culture” than the conservative, evangelical, protestant and often Baptist churches that many participants have previously experienced. Element aims to get away from “legalistic”, moralistic and works-based cultures and “build a culture focused on grace”. In fact, it is not uncommon that either during the main message of the service, or in the course of conversation, Wilson or a member of Element will speak against “legalism”. Members also speak against the legalism present in the culture or theology of other churches. Two young men specifically spoke of their childhood experiences involving churches that focused on following God’s rules as the only way that one can earn God’s love. Both men found this culture hurtful and viewed Element as having a grace-centered theology and culture.

In fact, two topics came up in every single interview that I conducted and in many less formal conversations—interpersonal relationships and grace. Not only did Wilson make it clear that he aims for a grace-driven culture, but individual community members were quick to reflect this idea as well. Early in my research a man said to me, “all the messages here contain grace.” I had not picked up on that and started to listen for it. He was right. I attended seven Element services and never once heard a message/sermon that failed to discuss grace to some extent. Then the topic started to bubble up during casual conversation—grace between spouses, grace for someone you dislike. During formal interviews I generally asked about the interviewee’s take on Element’s theology. The first answer was without exception, grace.

I asked a small group of men, who are leaders in the community, to give me an example of how grace affects their thoughts or actions. One man explained that since “as a community of believers we understand we’re all sinners desperately in need of grace” therefore “we are required by our faith to give grace & love to others even when we really don’t want to.” Others agreed and talked about the way this plays into marriage and how different disagreement is when both parties are conscious of their own sin and are endeavoring to give grace rather than having their own needs met. This concept with regard to marriage was also reflected strongly in one of Wilson’s sermons.

Several of those I spoke with both formally and informally came from conservative evangelical traditions where being good and following the rules was very important, where one individual had the impression that “God wouldn’t love me unless I was almost perfect”. Another man spoke of the way his Baptist upbringing “focused on the peripheral, like the evils of drinking and smoking” rather than “the most important part”. For this young, and many, the important part is Jesus and grace. Jared in his sermons and one of my interviewees also reflected on the relief from “burden” that is culture of focus on grace over works can provide.

However, this does not mean that Wilson or Element tries to avoid dealing theologically with “hot button” moral issues. On the contrary, the first Element sermon I heard focused on homosexuality. While Wilson clearly implied that homosexuality is wrong, he focused far more on how difficult it is to know the pain and hardship a person has been through and how important grace is. The last sermon I heard was on sex and marriage. Wilson preached strict abstinence before marriage and covenantal grace and mutual submission within marriage. He also used the word “clitoris” when explaining to married men that they should pleasure their wives before their own release. As for contemporary phenomenon of televangelists, Wilson is also not silent, he mocks individuals openly and once accused evangelicals of “considering Jesus an add-on, rather than the point of Christianity”. This especially, was a popular stand in after-service conversation.

In the course of illuminating what living a life of discipleship means during one sermon, Wilson explained that Jewish people are going to hell—and that this is not an arrogant statement unless Christians imply that they “deserve hell any less” than Jews or imply that they are not sinful. In regard to the difficulty of delivering that kind of truth, Wilson said, “you can be graceful about it, but that’s the truth.” Wilson shared a similar, if gentler, sentiment about hard truths in the bible while we were discussing the blend of egalitarian and complimentarian views on women among the leadership team. However, it was interesting for me to note that the women I interviewed and some of the men were either firmly egalitarian for egalitarian leaning. Element seems equipped to contain a range of views within its membership. The community seems to walk a line between the idea that, as one leader said, “because of who Christ is, we accept everyone” and the truths that Element and Wilson feel they must deliver.

Leadership and Transition

Element is in a fairly unusual position. In many ways it functions and looks like a congregation and for many of those who attend, Element is simply their church. Wilson is their pastor and leader. Element’s leadership team looks like the core group of dedicated lay leaders that one would find in most any congregation. But strangely, for Element, it is technically just a “program” of BCC. It is within the oversight of the megachurch’s director of student ministries. BCC provides the building, utilities, audiovisual equipment, an advertisement in the Nashville Scene and a $500 budget to buy pizza for the musicians. It has only been in the past month that a blue plastic bucket sits at the back of the onion, ready to receive gifts. It is never passed and checks are to be made out to BCC, with Element in the memo line. Even with a way to collect donations, none of the leadership, including Wilson, will be paid for their work.

According to Wilson, BCC has tended to view Element as an entry point into BCC—“a bridge” . . . Element is commonly characterized as small, intimate, relational, powerful, deep, biblical, honest, straightforward, authentic and focused on “deeper discipleship” for those who are “hungry for deeper spirituality” . . .

Although the transfer of ultimate leadership from Thomas to Wilson was challenging for the leadership team, some of the newer Element attendees that I spoke with remain unaware of any conflict or even the makeup of the leadership team. However, they seem to regard Wilson as a “creator of culture”, a clear leader and a prime reason to attend, much like the initial group regarded Thomas. Two young women in this newer wave of regular attendees have explicitly cited Wilson’s theology, honesty, engaging speaking style and approachability as key reasons that they continue to attend. They are drawn to the community largely because they are drawn to Wilson, who, according to one woman “is great because he’s not fake” and who, according to another woman “clearly thinks hard and researches what he says”. They feel quite comfortable talking to Wilson or sending him an email. Once again, Element has a leader who can “decisively shape a congregation’s culture”. (Carroll 2006, 25)

Although he is a busy stay-at-home-father, Wilson has been careful to make himself reachable outside of Element events, even distributing his personal mobile phone number, making it clear to the group that they still have a leader who genuinely cares for them. So, it seems that in spite of the leadership change and conflicting visions, Element really is successful at creating a relational, grace-centered, authentic community of discipleship. This clearly does not appeal to everybody. New visitors arrive each week and disappear the next. But Element’s leadership has not listed a huge membership count as their purpose. In fact, Thomas, the group’s founder said, “I wanted Christians to do life with, and bonus if we can share message with new Christians”. With that as a yardstick, Element seems to be meeting its goals, successfully building relationships and making meaning in the lives of its members.


Conclusion

In this profile I have traced the history and demographics of Element, as well as some of the group’s practices, beliefs and struggles. Element has a unique history in its birth from the crisis caused by BCC’s lead pastor, and it strives to remain unique in its contemporary style, traditional message and focus on relationship. Wilson called it “a pioneering ministry”, because although it is the young adult “small group” effort within a megachurch, it was conceived as, and remains, “a community, not a program”. While the intimacy of this community model may not appeal to everyone, it may also be one avenue of exploration as the Christian church as whole struggles to address high school graduates’ exodus from church life.