As Christ Loves the [Organic] Church

Photo: Renee Kinworthy

This is a story of how men and women are destined to live.

Greg woke me up at 9:30 the Saturday morning after Valentine’s day and told me to be ready to leave in two hours. It had been a rough and tiring workweek for me, so he had already gotten the girls dressed and fed. I lumbered into the shower and wondered if I needed to be getting clean if we were going to the zoo. As if hearing my thoughts, Greg walked in and told me to dress up cute but casual.

As I thought about my favorite pair of heels, brown Steve Maddens with thin straps and pink embroidery, Greg interrupted to say, “Make sure your shoes are comfortable.” I redirected my eyes to my flat boots.

He came in again after I was dressed and told me to pack my makeup. Ten minutes later, he instructed me to bring nail polish.

By then, my phone was afire with messages. Four of the ladies from my church family were leaving Voxes to wonder if the others’ husbands, too, had told them to be ready, with makeup and nail polish.

One said, “I figured this had to be a group effort because my husband’s not a planner…but why would they ask us to bring nail polish?”

“Do you think they’re sending us to a salon and don’t know there’s nail polish already there?"

At 11:30, Greg, our daughters, and I drove north on the 101 until we reached a location with sprawling green grass that hugged a large pond. I could see the women I’ve come to know, love and need from our organic church stroll up the sidewalk toward whatever waited around the bend.

I had just finished thanking Greg and sending this text to the men of the church: “In case we forget to tell you later, we had a really good time.”

But then, just as I was about to get out of the car, I suddenly felt ugly, unworthy, like every person who saw me among those women would wonder why I was there. How had I deserved such favor? I wanted Greg to take me home. Instead, I breathed in and got out of the car, feigned a smile, and approached the ladies who gathered around our Saturday surprise: Two formally set picnic tables with a spread of salads and sandwich victuals. Two husbands donned waiter apparel. Every detail was attended.

David and Keith, At Our Service

I perked up with the company. I ate some grapes, and in truer form, yelled out a thank-you to the husbands-turned-waiters: “Your wives are going to give you some later!” The girls nudged me and pointed to the nearby children casting fishing lines into the pond. “Give you some candy,” I clarified.

We laughed and took in our surroundings again. Nicole said that before the rest of us had arrived, a bicyclist had stopped, surveyed the spread, and announced, “I don’t know what this is, but I like it!”

Gathered there under the February Scottsdale sun, we were free from work and chores and children, with the only thought on our minds being what we’d decide on for lunch.

Senta and Alexis Lunching

Alexis and Renee

Our husbands had taken the children for the entire day and left us feasting on organic food.  They came back to deliver an envelope and individual bags with rolled parchment paper within. They had even moved a car seat into first time expectant mom Alexis’ car to accommodate Carrington’s youngest daughter, who stayed with us since she was nursing and fighting the flu.

Arianne gasped as she unrolled a parchment. “These are notes from each husband to us!” We tried to contain our excitement and began unfurling paper.

Julianna and Arianne Reading Their Love Notes

Nicole read the contents of the first envelope as we asked each other what our husbands had written. She lifted up her finger, prompting us to wait. “There’s directions to a second location, and we’re only supposed to open up two notes at each destination.”

“Each destination?!?” Onlookers glanced over from under their sunglasses as we cheered. Was this going to last the whole day?

Next, we scavenger-hunted relics and statues in Old Town, with clues sent via cell phone photos. We would still be lost today somewhere in Scottsdale had Nicole not navigated all us freshly relocated Arizonans.

Photo Scavenger Hunt 1: Kiss a Statue (check out our voyeur to the right!)

Our hunt ended at the Sugar Bowl, where another envelope awaited. In it was a hundred dollars. We opened our menus immediately and announced we weren’t sharing. Nicole, Arianne, and I feasted on mint chocolate chip, while Alexis and Carrington celebrated with sundaes; Senta enjoyed orange creamsicle, Jules sipped a root beer float, and Renee partook in a Turkish coffee ice cream delight.

Ooh, Look, Nicole! An Envelope Full of Moolah!

Sweet Bea and Carrington

At last we were too full but giddy, off to our third destination: Alexis’ house, where another spread of food awaited: Wine (lemonade for Alexis), cheese and fruit. There, we ate kiwis and drank Pinot Noir. We relaxed, swapped makeup tips, and read aloud what others’ husbands had written to us. We didn’t do our nails.

They Know Us Well

The contents of the fourth and final envelope directed us back to Nicole’s house—where for the past six months, Greg and I have been gathering with these others weekly for organic church, a congregation without a building, whose foundation is Jesus Christ. Every week is different because each of us is expected first to arrive full of the Spirit and then invited to operate out of his/her motivational giftings[i]—whether exhortation or prophecy, teaching or leading. Every week we gather not knowing what the evening will look like, but ending the night having experienced unity. And then, because it's totally what Jesus did with His posse, and because we obviously love food, we enjoy a collective dinner—with a main dish Nicole usually makes, to side dishes, drinks, and desserts that we alternately bring. We feast!

*

As we walked up to Nicole’s house, the scent of masala welcomed us. We entered the house single file to a line of husbands and friends who greeted us with a single red rose. The table was set—with glass and silver, not plastic. During the entire afternoon, Greg had led preparations for an Indian banquet: chicken tikka masala, aloo gobi, dal, burtha, rice and naan. My husband cooks better Indian food than I, his teacher, can.

The Men Await: (L-R, facing) Jonathan, Keith, Wade, Juice, Jacob

Even those who normally would object to Indian food loved it. We took in everything—though we were already full—and made room for homemade (I know!) pie. When each delicacy set before us tastes so good, room for more remains. So we indulged.

But the night hadn’t yet begun. Most of the children had dispersed to grandparents’ homes, so the house rested with an unfamiliar hush. We looked around the table, at each other, at our spouses, and smiled.

The Welcoming Table

Jonathan announced then that the women had only received a preview of what was about to happen in the notes we had received throughout the afternoon. It was now time for each woman to be affirmed verbally by every man in the room.

His wife Nicole was first. She squirmed a bit in her chair, but as the men spoke of Nicole’s candor and brilliance, her effortless wisdom, she relaxed and smiled. Nicole is the kind of person with a gift most unique: she possesses both humility and confidence. 

Keith made Alexis gratify-cry when he affirmed her as a new wife, as a waiting mother; the others confirmed her prophetic cry in the wilderness, how she surrounds herself with Jesus to proclaim the Father’s love.

Chad, who had joined our family just weeks before, thanked his wife for her grace. And the men did not hesitate to speak over Tricia what they had first noticed—her gentle loyalty, her ability to remain. Meanwhile Chad spoke over us words breathed from the Spirit, with Scriptures that proclaimed our identities. We sat stunned that a perfect stranger-turned-brother could see such magnificence in each of us.

Greg read over me what he had penned in the scroll[ii]. The men told me they trust me—my voice, and God within that voice. I wept because to be affirmed for my contributions at church is not something I’m used to. I’m the one who gets ostracized when the Spirit opens my mouth too wide.

Wade acknowledged Carrington as the encourager of the body—the woman who ushers us into a better understanding of how valuable we are to the Father.

Jacob made us come back to Arianne at the end because he had just finished speaking over Carrington, his sister-in-law, whom he’s known since childhood, whom he regards as more than family. When we came back around to him, he waited through tears for words to finally arrive: Arianne is bold and resilient, drawing forth gratitude from her husband because he knows, like the rest of us, that life is better with her in it.

The men collectively resounded that Julianna is an overcomer, a stalwart sister who refuses to settle. Her voice may be young, but it is brave. Through her testimony, Christ will raise to life other women.

Then the men turned to Senta, whom we had met the week prior, but who had already shown herself to be one of us—a warrior in the Spirit who does not relent. Her voice is directed for battle, and the men could see that the Lord was already using her not only to bring but to receive Christ’s healing.

David, at last, turned to his wife of three months, Renee, and reminded us of her quiet strength, the lovely sagacity, the faithful impartations of a wife who though she be but new, is fierce. The men invited her to share even more of her artistry.

And when the men finished speaking, the women were filled.

What Communion Looks Like

This is the story of how our organic church became a family.

This is how Christ revealed to us that He is making us whole.

This is how we entered into the next two weeks—of spiritual warfare and discovery—in which many of us have been confronted by our hidden fears; and, because the others are near, we overcome.

The Monday following our Love Saturday, I was slandered and gossiped about in a non-church setting. Immediately, I contacted my church family because I knew they would speak truth to and over me. Their words bolstered me as I confronted the conflict directly. My family's prayers were with me as I sat at a much less inviting table to plead my case. Knowing my church body trusted my voice empowered me to be stalwart in this fight, where my trustworthiness had been maligned. But I was not guilty of the words some had indicted. Then, as if it had never happened, by Tuesday afternoon my name had been cleared; my reputation, restored.

Though it has been difficult reentering an environment not knowing who thinks what about me, I do it anyway with the courage of a woman unconditionally loved, with the mark of Christ: the knowledge that my identity is not dictated by people’s arbitrary opinions or callous behavior but by the standard of Jesus Christ who reigns in me. When He speaks on my behalf, I cannot feel ugly, unworthy, or afraid.

He invites me to the banquet table and asks that I sit next to Him. 

This is how I learned my greatest lesson in love: sometimes, even if we’ve only just met, if we have been joined by Spirit, we usher in the triumphant Christ who loves us as we are, who serves us and satisfies us until we are full, and then feeds us again. He pronounces over us words that only He can write; He presents us to Himself in splendor.

In our partaking with each other in Christ, in whom we are co-heirs, we receive the Father. The Father, in Christ, inspires His sons to prophesy truth over His daughters, and this gives His daughters peace.

Sisters: (L-R) Jules, Nicole, Renee Ronika, Renee, David the Amazing Server, Senta, Alexis, Arianne.
Photo by Carrington

Just So You Know What We're Really All About:
(L-R) Renee, Greg, Jonathan, Nicole, Carrington,  Bea, Wade, Arianne,  Jacob, Riv
at Keith and Alexis' Wedding

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[i] The Motivational Giftings: Administrator, Apostle, Evangelist, Exhorter, Giver, Helper/Assistant, Leader, Mercy, Prophet, Server, Shepherd, Teacher. To learn more, stay tuned for an exciting adventure the girls and I are putting together!

[ii]Greg’s swoony note to me; it's too well-written not to share:

Renee,

In The Lord of the Rings, there is a character named Galadriel, an Elf-Queen. She’s interesting, in part, because she’s as tall as her husband, and ultimately more important to the story than he is. Tolkien wisely emphasizes her because the narrative was considerably male-dominated until the time she is introduced, and the femininity brings much needed balance; but she reminds me of you for certain commonalities: her gifts make her attractive and influential in other people’s lives; she discerns things about people by looking at them; she knows their secrets; yet she is someone others can trust with personal knowledge; she’s old (although Elves never age)—more like thirty-five hundred than thirty-five—and her age has yielded wisdom; her sufferings made her stronger (as the Kelly Clarkson song says, not to mention Nietzsche); unlike you, she doesn’t talk a lot, but she communicates telepathically, enabling people to know her mind clearly and without guile; also, when presented with temptation, she emerges blameless, embracing humility instead of defiant self-focus. These are all qualities of Christ and of you. I know that even a list of qualities can’t make two people even close to equal, and indeed you remain unequaled in my eyes; but I appreciate how writers, in creating characters, can elucidate the perception of people in our own lives. So here’s to the most important person in my life: the perspicacious, candid, loquacious, much-needed, ever-young, wise and beautiful, Renee Ronika.