Unchurch, Part Two (Pancakes and Jesus)

What do you do when you are confronted with the realization that your vision of the Church doesn’t mesh with what you’ve always experienced? What if your family’s livelihood was dependent on that former reality?

Eric Vardeman faced just that kind of crossroads. As a worship leader and a former teaching pastor, Eric was ‘knee deep’ in an expression of church that he no longer could agree with. With his family’s support, he walked away.

I asked Eric to give a little background on what led up to that point of decision: (5:20)

(Visit the blog at chrisediger.com to listen to this audio)

So Eric & his family found themselves in an unfamiliar space - fully devoted to God, but unsatisfied with the only expression of church they had ever known. They tried going with friends to other churches, but kept running into the same unsatisfactory place each time.

Eric recounts how one morning his teenage daughter asked him, “Dad, can we just fix pancakes & do church here at home today?” Thus began a weekly tradition of “Pancakes and Jesus.” I asked him about the journey after they had walked away from the institutionalized church, and what Church looks like for them now: (7:05)

(Visit the blog at chrisediger.com to listen to this audio)

For Eric and his wife, the concern over their children’s experience with Church was an important part of their decision. I asked him to reflect a little bit on that and what the aftermath has looked like in relation to the spiritual journeys of his kids: (2:11)

(Visit the blog at chrisediger.com to listen to this audio)

The journey for Eric and his family wasn’t a simple one; nor was it one that they took lightly. I asked him to share how he would counsel someone, or what words of advice he would share, if they found themselves in a similar place… what would he say? (11:12)

(Visit the blog at chrisediger.com to listen to this audio)

You can follow Eric’s journey with Pancakes & Jesus at pancakesandjesus.com. If you’d like to connect with him, or if you have any questions, he invites your feedback at eric@biggerrock.com.

Tomorrow we’ll look at another story of someone seeking the Kingdom outside the walls of the traditional church…

MORE OF THE UNCHURCH SERIES…
Be sure and catch the rest of the Unchurch series…

• Unchurch, Part One (Introduction)
• Unchurch, Part Three (Kauzbots & 2nd Chances)
• Unchurch, Part Four (Survey Results)
• Unchurch, Part Five (We Are Not Alone)

Posted 07.07.2009

Sorry. Commenting is no longer available for this post. In most cases, you may leave comments up to 30 days from the time a post is published.