It started in our house. They used to be prayer meetings. Only Christians were invited, until I decided that it should be open to other views.
Early on it was just friends, and all you wanted was a bible study with a group you could choose; a way of replacing the restrictive environment of the church’s small group structure at the time.
I wanted to expand it. To break with the bible study paradigm, and create a more open pluralistic environment.
You challenged me at every turn. You made a consistent effort to keep the groups focus on the character of Jesus, or cementing a distinct christian culture into the group. Slowly, as the number of local friends started to wain, your attitude changed. Then, and only then were you even remotely willing to allow my pluralist paradigm to be part of the group.
Your goal for the groups was to create little prayer cells that would grow into churches on their own. It was my idea to grow the current group with an open paradigm to allow multiple views to be heard, acknowledged and discussed. That was never what you wanted. You have not created anything, you took my ideas and ran with them because they actually reflected an open mind. Because they were more accepting, more compassionate. You didn’t want them then. You ran with those ideas when they were ‘en vogue’… When you could use them for your benefit. When I was trying to get this off the ground myself you could have cared less about any other view than your own.