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Jared Witt l November 30, 2017 “The God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath. The God of the New Testament is a God of grace.”
Most of us who have been raised in the church have heard this statement, or one like it, so many times that it has never really been analyzed rationally. It's one of those fragments of a thought, which we absorbed at such a young age that it never occurred the thinking part of our brain to question it. My experience with Bible study groups is that, even when this statement is brought up for questioning, people assume it at such a fundamental (or philosophers would say, “axiomatic”) level that, even if we were to all sign paperwork agreeing that it is untrue, it would sneak its way back into the conversation next week. After all, what else is the point of Jesus if not to let the angry Old Testament God wail on him a bit until the Divine anger at sin is spent, and he (very much a "he" in this way of thinking) can go back to being relaxed and easy-going again? Castle Church Community Development Team l November 19, 2017 Castle Church has broke ground on its permanent digs—an 11,500 SQFT production scale brewery and taproom—set to open in early 2018.
But the church is the people and we’re tired of waiting, so we’re setting up a biergarten communion group right on site as the building is going up. We’ll actually get to watch the building and the community “growing up together,” week by week, as the physical space we’ve been dreaming of, and so many of you have supported, becomes a reality. Everyone is invited. Literally. This isn’t a bait ‘n’ switch. If you are made of some kind of tangible matter and take up physical space, you are welcome at our table. Aaron Schmalzle & Jared Witt l November 13, 2017 At Castle Church, we say, “If you showed up, you’re one of us,” and that was certainly the case this last Saturday as droves flooded east Orlando for our largest craft beer festival of the year. CCBC upped the festival ante again this year, adding to our solar paneled beer trailer a wind turbine, which means we are not only harnessing (ironically) the hottest thing in the solar system but the power of the wind to chill and serve our beer on 100% green energy. The line at our station was so relentless, they went through our festival parameter beer supply in just three and a half of the five scheduled hours, as a few thousand of our closest friends lined up to hear our story, spin a wheel for a chance to win a Beer for Life memberships (we had a winner!), and more importantly than all of that, to taste our brews.
Jared Witt l November 10, 2017 If your church disappeared tomorrow, would anyone notice?
My friend and colleague here in Orlando, Pr. Derek Hoven of Salem Lutheran Church, asks this question as he consults with other congregations that are in the midst of a leadership transition. Membership excluded, would anyone in your immediate neighborhood/town/world care if the whole thing just evaporated in a poof? Sometimes the question strikes people as a little harsh. But, then, sometimes questions strike us as harsh when it is not actually the question but the answer we’re forced to give which is unpleasant. |
Mashing in.On how Castle Church is stirring up a movement from a brewery in Florida. Archives
July 2018
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