sunday in the park...

Sunday morning in the park…
The plan for the tampa underground was to be in our new building – an old warehouse on the strip [7th Avenue] in Ybor City – for Sunday gathering beginning Sunday, 2.8.09. It almost happened – except for the city of Tampa…
The contract was signed over a week ago – a real miracle for us – to find a 20,000 square feet home in Ybor that we could afford. I guess there are some advantages to a down economy. Last Sunday, we bid goodbye to our temporary home – the HCC Performing Arts Theater – and were ready to move on. The theater was very nice – way too nice – it never really felt like home to us. Our passion is to reach the poorest of the poor in the hidden places of our city – we needed a more appropriate home. We thought we had found it in our warehouse at the corner of 7th Avenue and 13th Street in Ybor…
Then came the barriers that radically challenged our dream – the man confronted our youthful exuberance. Not enough bathrooms – you must provide more. Where are the sprinklers – you must provide a safety system in case of fire. OK, these seemed reasonable enough. We want to serve our people well and we want our kids to be safe. But then, the biggie – a zoning issue… The zoning is fine for ANY assembly of people EXCEPT for the purpose of public worship – NO public worship allowed!
So, what are we to do?
The big picture is still fuzzy and unsure – but what about THIS SUNDAY?
The answer – outdoor worship in Borrell Park – the homeless park in the ‘hood. The text simply said: Join us in Borrell Park from 11-1 and bring food so we can share a meal together. I contacted all the folks in our home church with the change in plans and we started to plan – something told me to bring some EXTRA for the homeless who would be hanging out on the fringes of the park.
We decided on hotdogs, chips, drinks and potato salad…
When we arrived, we sat down at a table with friends and spread out our food. At the edge of the park, I spotted some gentlemen who were sizing us up – there were four guys lounging on some park benches. They were looking at us, but NOT coming our way…
I fixed four hotdogs on a plate and headed out to meet the guys. One left abruptly saying he wanted nothing to do with us. But, Willie from LA, Willie from Seattle and Donnie from FL were thrilled with the dogs. In fact, soon they were ready for more – they soon found their way over to our table [with some of their friends who joined in]. Way too soon, our loaves and fishes were gone [and I couldn’t pray more into existence]. Our home church lamented: Why didn’t we fix more?
In retrospect, next time I will bring a grill and cook up a load of dawgs for anyone who is hungry. But today, I am filled with the joy of knowing we did this church thing kinda like Jesus would. Outdoors – NO walls to separate! Hungry people heard the Word of life and had their stomachs filled as well! The Good News was both shared and demonstrated. I am sure the experience tasted great for Willie, Willie, Donnie and their friends – no doubt they experienced God’s love in a very practical way…
My biggest regret – I ate one of those tasty dawgs [loaded with mustard] – wish I would have saved it for one of the guys we had to turn away…