Dechurching

I have been following some comments on Neil Cole's blog about Organic church, something that God has been talking to me about for a long time now. Sometimes I listen and "get it" and give it a try and other times I just don't get it at all and get despondent or even try to join a church, which seems to often end in tears, on my part.

But there was one comment that struck me from someone in Arizona about how when they have people come to them to talk about organic church they tell them first to detox from what they are use to. This comment has sat with me a few days and then I had an email from someone wanting me to help someone out who's daughter has had a rough time at school and at 13 is going to go for home schooling. Well interestingly the first thing I suggested to her was that she deschool. Deschooling is a way of the child and parent getting all the stuff of school out of their system, detoxing, and then being able to get into home schooling without trying to do school at home or feel guilty that they aren't doing what school would be doing.
Please don't get me wrong, even though I am/have been a dedicated home educator I have nothing against schools and people who send their children there. As I write this I do wonder if I could say the same on the church front. I think I can with home educating because apart from a year and then 5 weeks in year 9 for Ben and now this year at college for Tabi we have not done school so to speak, so really apart from things I've got to get over about when I was at school :) we haven't had any issues with school at all. So can be happy with our choice and happy with others.
Now as I said I feel that organic simple church is something God has placed on me years ago and yet I have never really dechurched. I do it for a while then want to get involved so I can be a part of something. So all the things I'd started to detox on all came back, but a bit like a drug addict or exsmoker the hit is harder than before and more destructive.
Again I am really not saying that this path is for everyone and I feel I am working towards the place where i can say, as with school, that so long as people have made an informed choice and can be who they are meant to be then I have nothing against organised church in whatever form it comes in from CofE to Pentecostal, Charismatic to Catholic, but that for me, like home educating, simple organic church is for me.

And very much like the child who goes in and out between school and home school they actually are the worst behaved, hardest to get on with, hardest to fit into a group, whether that group be home ed or schooled, I think I am bouncing between the two and need to give myself permission to detox, to dechurch and then to see what God decides He wants to do with me.

For another blog but so often I try to sort out God's plan for me and really do need to carry on with where I was on the last blog and trust that His will will be done.