This past Sunday Daybreak met at the Holiday Inn “Holidome” because our normal location was used for a fun raiser by the owners of the Delaplaine. We decided to only have one service, and to have all the children (except nursery and pre-school) join us in the service. As we were setting up, an older woman (who we didn’t know) came and started carrying stuff inside our room. We stopped her and asked if she was looking for another church (I didn’t have the heart to let her carry all our stuff in, and then stop her.) She named the church, and we pointed her in the right direction. That Sunday, there were three different churches all meeting at the same location. There were several other snafus similar to this, but you get the idea.

Among our people there were various responses to this fact. Some were excited that three churches were there; perhaps wanting to see the confusion as various people stumbling into the wrong locations. Some were nervous that somehow, there would be some kind of conflict. Others were just excited about meeting in another location. But why is it that we sometimes see other churches as competition, rather than fellow soldiers who are in the same army, who fight the same enemy, and worship the same God?

There was a church who is beginning a new church in our area, and they were meeting there. They had a fleet of various trailers and huge display signs. Instead of thinking they are competition, perhaps we could learn from them, and them from us. I plan to contact their pastor and sit down over lunch to see how we can work together.

If you are wondering about the other church (there were three, right?) – they never showed. We find ourselves in the middle many churches in our area. Some are thriving and exploding, others are dying – I want Daybreak to be apart of bringing churches together for the purpose of working together to reach people for Christ. The sooner we stop seeing each other as competition the better.