Today Coram Deo says farewell to the converted house on south 87th Street that has been our ministry headquarters for the past three years.
For the first 18 months of Coram Deo’s existence, we officed in the back corner of an office building owned by our mother church. And when I say “officed,” I mean that term loosely, since said church was in the process of renovating the rest of the building. We did our best to write sermons, counsel people, and meet for missional community despite the din of hammer drills and backhoes, the smell of paint, and the regular interruption of construction workers who needed to use our bathroom. Despite the distractions, it was a great blessing to have a sending church who gave us free office space while we got the church up and running. To this day we are grateful.
In the summer of 2007 it was time to cut the umbilical cord, and so we leased the cheapest 1400 square feet of office space we could find, which happened to be on 87th and Center near Canfield Plaza. It was pretty neglected, but thanks to the labor of some Coram Deo folks, we whipped it into shape. For the past three years this space has been the nerve center for the daily operations of the Coram Deo church community. It’s hosted missional communities, Bible studies, counseling appointments, baptism classes, membership interviews, staff meetings, premarital classes, Spring Break teams, preaching cadres, and church planters’ training, as well as facilitating the daily office work that keeps the mission moving forward.
Since 2007 our church has tripled in size, with corresponding growth in leaders and complexity, making this little office-house no longer feasible for many of these uses. God in his uncanny providence gave us a new office (more on that story later). So today, we pack up and say goodbye to 87th Street. We’ll move all of our operations to the new CD headquarters in the Access Bank building on 78th and Dodge.
Thanks for the memories, 2805. I know Kendal thinks fondly of his days fighting the spiders and rats in your dirt crawlspace to change the furnace filter. But alas, those days are behind us now. May the many coffee spills Walker left on your carpet be a nostalgic reminder of our presence.
Last month the women of Coram Deo (along with guests from many other churches around Omaha) welcomed author and filmmaker Carolyn McCulley for the Radical Womanhood Conference. The audio from Carolyn’s sessions is now uploaded and available either on the Resources page or on the Coram Deo podcast.
If you weren’t there, you can catch up on the content you missed. Or, if you attended, you can revisit the material that most interested you.
The leadership of Christ’s church is a matter of crucial theological importance. Scripture cautions us to be on guard against church leaders who teach false doctrines, promote controversies, and turn aside to meaningless talk (1 Tim. 1:3-7). In spite of these warnings, we live in a day and age when the average Christian’s understanding of biblical church leadership is anemic at best and nonexistent at worst. So at Coram Deo, we spend a lot of time talking and teaching about biblical church leadership to counteract the apathy and confusion that exists in American Christianity. Here’s a summary…
The most important leader in the church is Jesus. As Mark Driscoll writes:
The Scriptures are clear that Jesus Christ is the head of the church. Jesus is the Apostle who plants a church. Jesus is the Leader who builds the church. Jesus is the Senior Pastor who rules the church. And it is ultimately Jesus who closes churches down when they have become faithless or fruitless. Therefore, it is absolutely vital that a church loves Jesus, obeys Jesus, imitates Jesus, and follows Jesus at all times and in all ways, according to the teaching of his word. Human leadership in the church is little more than qualified Christians who are following Jesus and encouraging other people to follow them as they follow Jesus. Because of this, church leaders must be good sheep who follow their Chief Shepherd Jesus well before they are fit to be shepherds leading any of his sheep (On Church Leadership, p. 12).
Serving under Jesus are three types of human leaders in the church: elders, deacons, and church members. Church members are Christians who are following Jesus wholeheartedly and have therefore made the transition from consumers to contributors. Driscoll calls them “Christians whose eyes are capable of seeing beyond their own navels.” They have died to themselves, they see their lives as existing for the mission of God, and they give of their time, talent, and treasure to advance God’s kingdom in the world. They recognize that Scripture calls them to be part of a local church (Heb 13:17, Phil 1:1), and so they have committed to a local church body (which shouldn’t be optional according to the Bible, but sadly is seen as optional by many cultural Christians). At Coram Deo we have about 150 covenant members, as well as many new Christians who are in the process of sorting out their relationship to God and moving toward church membership.
Deacon and elder are formal offices of leadership in the church that are to be filled by church members who meet stringent biblical qualifications (1 Timothy 3). As we investigate the teaching of Scripture, we see the following principles:
Elders are appointed first, then deacons. The first step of organizing a local church is to appoint qualified elders. This was Paul’s consistent practice in New Testament church planting (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). It seems that the office of elder/overseer/pastor (these terms are synonymous in the NT) is given primacy because of the importance of sound doctrine and biblical teaching in the life of a young church (1 Timothy 1:3-7). Elders must be raised up as soon as possible in order to guard the gospel and refute error (Titus 1:9). Deacons may be appointed later as the practical ministry needs increase.
The main task of elders is theological oversight; the main task of deacons is practical ministry. Only one important qualification distinguishes elders from deacons: elders must be “able to teach” (1 Tim 3:2) and “able to… refute those who contradict [sound doctrine]” (Titus 1:9). There is no such requirement for deacons; they simply “must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience” (1 Tim 3:9). Elders, then, are charged primarily with the theological, doctrinal, and moral leadership of the church, focusing especially on the faithful teaching of Scripture. Deacons are charged with the practical leadership of the church under the oversight of the elders. Elders serve by leading, and deacons lead by serving.
Elders delegate tasks to deacons. While the New Testament outlines in copious detail the practical duties of elders, it offers almost no teaching about the roles and responsibilities of deacons. Based on the primacy of eldership and the apostolic pattern in Acts 6, it seems that the job of a deacon is to serve as a “pastoral assistant” under the oversight and direction of the elders. The elders delegate practical ministry to the deacons as the size and needs of the church increase. This is certainly the way the early church understood the office of deacon: “Deacons… are to be honorable and sincere in performing the duties assigned to them by the presbyters [elders],” wrote Theodore of Mopsuestia.
This past weekend Coram Deo installed two new elders and twelve new deacons. These leaders have proven themselves over time and have been carefully examined against biblical criteria. We always say that deacons and elders are recognized, not appointed; we look for people who are already serving well and leading others, and then we develop and train them for further leadership. The most recent crew of deacons spent five months in formal training to prepare them for the office. Our two new elders progressed through an even more extensive vetting process that included a series of written essays, written and oral Bible/theology exams, a family finance assessment, a husband/wife interview with current elders as well as outside advisors, and the drafting of a major theological position paper.
I’m grateful to God for His grace in raising up good, godly, qualified leaders for His church. May they have your utmost respect and confidence, and may you follow them as they follow Jesus, so that in all things Christ might be glorified.
This Sunday, May 30, there will be no 9 AM worship gathering at Coram Deo. We will have one worship service, at 11 AM, on the lawn just west of Suckau Chapel. Our whole church family will come together for this event – parents, kids, both services… everyone.
This will be a significant Sunday for our church as we culminate our Church Planting series by commissioning new elders and deacons, hearing Will Walker’s farewell sermon, and sending out the Austin church planting team.
Bring a lawn chair or blanket. Also plan to bring food or money for lunch. We’ll have some street vendors on site, including Christian Gray’s favorite taco truck guy from South O. Your ham sandwich is no match for that, so maybe just bring a few bucks!
In case of inclement weather, we’ll meet inside… somehow. Just pray for good weather.
It has been over a week since the release of our first full-length album. Eleven days ago we gathered to celebrate all that God has and is doing in our church community through this album; it was a great night of music. If you missed out on the release party, you can view some pics from the evening on our Facebook page.
Since that night, the album has been available only by picking up a physical copy of the cd at our office throughout the week or at our Sunday gathering. Well, I am pleased to announce that you can now purchase a digital copy of Doxology online at iTunes or Amazon or eMusic. For those of you who are not in Omaha or otherwise unable to get a physical copy, we hope this helps you to enjoy all the hard work and music that is on this album. For those of you who are in Omaha, please consider purchasing the hard copy, it is well worth it. If you need help in this or would like us to mail you a copy, please send me a quick note.
If you look in the liner notes of the album, you will find these words:
A doxology is an expression of praise to God; literally to speak or sing of the glory of God. This album is an expression of our community in praise to God for who He is and what He has done in the person of Jesus. May these songs drive the truths of the gospel into your heart, that it might overflow with worship of our glorious Savior and a life truly lived Coram Deo – before the face of God.
Our hope as we send this out is that the beauty of the music and the truths of the gospel, that are the lyrics of this album, might be a conduit of God’s grace resulting in worship of Him. This was the driving purpose behind the making of this album. Hymns are powerful for many reasons, two of which are: their theological depth resulting in rich gospel meditation, and their ability to unite people across all ages, demographics, denominations, and musical styles (this is especially true in the past 5 years). In light of this, we believe Doxology has the potential to have great influence for the gospel here in Omaha and God’s kingdom at large. This album is NOT merely something that we have created, rather God (the ultimate artist and creator), in His grace, has brought it about and given it to us. He has entrusted this album to us as a church body as something we are to steward for His glory.
If you consider Coram Deo your church family or if this album really resonates with you, I would ask you to wrestle with this question: What would it look like for you to steward this resource well? I do not want to answer that question for you, but I do want to challenge you that it means far more than just consuming it like we do with so many cultural goods. May the gospel not simply terminate on ourselves!
For those who have been able to listen to the cd, you know just how good it is and why we have been so excited about it. So what do you think, what are your thoughts on the album? What are your favorite tracks?
We have taken a few months off, but we are back on. The next installment of our monthly Film & Theology sessions is this Sunday starting at 6:30pm. We will once again be hosted by our kind friends at The Foundry, and as always there will be some popcorn, drinks, and comfortable seating. The film we have chosen for this month is Royal Tenenbaums; if you are in doubt or unfamiliar, make sure you go here to view some details (including rating) about it. See you there!
If you live near Omaha and are a current church leader, an aspiring church planter, or a mature Christian seeking further theological training… the opportunity you’ve been waiting for has arrived.
Following up on our previous announcement about Porterbrook, we’re pleased to officially roll out the plan for Fall 2010/Spring 2011 along with application materials. Interested parties should begin the application process now; applications are due by August 1 and space is limited.
Here are the major details:
Porterbrook is a church-based theological training curriculum that’s rich in content but more relaxed in style than a traditional seminary degree; think University of Phoenix, Bellevue University, community-college-continuing-education. For an overview, check out the previous post.
It utilizes a cohort-based approach to learning: cohorts of 3-5 students meet together for study and accountability as they progress through the material; all cohorts come together once per quarter for a day-long seminar.
Porterbrook kicks off this fall with a day-long seminar on September 9, 2010; additional seminars take place on Nov 18, Feb 24, 2011, and May 19, 2011.
All the details you need to know are included in the attached document (see below), which includes a curriculum sample so you can see the kind of stuff you’ll be learning and applying.
Our goal for 2010 is to facilitate 4-5 cohorts of 5 students each.
So: if you’re interested, read the attached PDF. If you’d like to apply, please get the ball rolling. We are excited about the potential to train and release future leaders through this gospel-centered, church-based, Reformed/missional curriculum. We’re also working and praying to try to land a Re:Train site in Omaha in the next 2-3 years to provide seminary-level training alongside the more simple/organic style of Porterbrook. Please be praying for God’s grace on these efforts.
We announced this past Sunday that our recording project is finally complete and copies are currently being pressed and printed. The album is entitled Doxology and is a collection of hymns. Lots of people have put a great amount of work and energy into this album, and I am anxious for everyone to hear it and celebrate with us. April 23rd we are going to have a cd release party starting at 7:00pm at Suckau chapel that is free and open to anyone and everyone. We are going to gather, listen to the Coram Deo band do all of our favorite tracks off the new record, and celebrate what God is doing in the life of our church. That will also be the first time that you will be able to get your hands on the album, so you are going to want to make sure you are there. The cds will be $10, and there will be plenty of copies for you to purchase as many as you would like for friends and family. You will also be able to get them at our Sunday gatherings starting after April 23rd, and it will be available for download at a few select online music services later in May.
I know you are all eager to listen to the album and see all of the different tracks, but you will have to wait a few more weeks. I will however let you hear one of the outtakes that didn’t quite make the official release, but is goodness nonetheless. We were just having a little fun…
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Look for more fun, promotional pieces for the album in the next two weeks leading up to the release, including an audio interview with the producer of the album.
It seems that American Christians are all about celebration. In fact, some churches have intentionally chosen the adjective “celebratory” to describe their worship style. Everything has to be upbeat, positive, encouraging (“Positive, Encouraging K-Love…”). After all, life itself is discouraging, depressing, and difficult enough; shouldn’t church be uplifting?
The Bible does indeed encourage us to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4). However, true celebration takes into account the gravity of mourning and suffering. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that lamentation is good for us: “The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure” (Ecc. 7:4). And the Apostle Peter reminds us that suffering is crucial to proper rejoicing: “To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation” (1 Peter 4:13). To put it another way: Redemption and Consummation ring hollow without a realistic assessment of the Fall.
We want to celebrate exuberantly on Easter Sunday. To that end, we gather first for a somber and melancholy observance of Good Friday, this Friday at 7 PM at Suckau Chapel. Our Good Friday worship gathering will indeed be worshipful… just not in a celebratory way. We’ll reflect on the gravity of sin, the seriousness of God’s wrath, and the dark reality of that beautiful, scandalous night.
The early Christians used to fast between Good Friday and Easter Sunday as a way of identifying with the hopelessness, grief, and pain of the early disciples. Perhaps you would find it worshipful to do the same. Whatever you do to mark the weekend, I hope you’ll not attempt to muster up a joyful spirit on Easter Sunday without embracing the fear, darkness, and lamentation of Good Friday. It’s the biblical path to true, joyful, gospel celebration.
