Here's a YouTube clip of Donald Miller's prayer at the Democratic National Convention:

WOW! Donald Miller praying at the DNC. Interestingly, in his blog post and in his prayer he talks about our need for unity (together, hello). It's so exciting, it seems like we may actually be making progress toward greater unity and gracious dialogue.

(Also, check-out his strategic tactic to get more people to follow him on twitter!)

What do you think of the prayer? What would your prayer be at the DNC?

There's a big "C" Church (the body of Christ, His bride), and a little "c" church. The two are often confused. It seems like lots of believers think that meeting in a special building, on a Sunday, sitting in rows, mostly anonymously, singing 3-6 worship songs, and listening to a message is part of the Ten Commandments.

Bobby Gruenewald, asked a great question a few days ago:

How would you define “church”? What are the things that are necessary to call something a church?

Really it's a PHENOMENAL question in this age of video venues, internet church, mega-church, house church.

So, how do you think the bible tells us to do "church"? [What is the/Is there a] pattern or requirements in scripture? What's your opinion/preference?

Back in April, Reynoldsburg United Methodist enacted the parable of the talents in a creative way. They gave a total of $67,000 in $50 bills to the congregation, for them to invest and return the profits. Like the parable of the talents, the investees were required to put the money to work and return the whole sum to the church - who then would give all the profits to 4 designated charities. Ultimately, the church received $117,000 back - a profit of $50,000!

ChurchMarketingSucks.com shares the whole story.

Here's the best part (from Columbus Dispatch):

So many congregants came up with so many products that the church held a bazaar every Wednesday night.

There, services including financial consulting, golf caddying and calligraphy were up for sale. So were products such as homemade chicken pot pies, hand-knit baby hats and painted birdhouses.

A churchwide yard sale brought in thousands of dollars more, as church members sold clothes, toys and housewares, said Dave Stoffel, who organized it.

For Stoffel, who has belonged to the church for 12 years, the fun and rewarding part of the pastor's challenge was watching people dream up ways to raise money and learning the congregation's talents.

The best part is that it brought the congregation together and everyone got to use their gift and learn each others' gifts! Hundreds of people who usually sit docile in the pew were challenged to go out and do something and they worked together as a body, probably purchasing each others' wares, using each others' services, creating community in the body. And the church goers felt like they were truly a part of the larger group, doing something tangible together.

This idea so beautifully embodies the "TOGETHER" concept of this year's Catalyst Conference.

Could this work at your church? What other projects/ideas get the body working together like this?