Seven weeks ago Pepperdine’s new preaching minister for the University Church of Christ sat down in his new office on main campus with a dynamic vision for the future of his church and upwards of 800 books stacked to the ceiling in cardboard boxes. Today preaching minister Rich Little has inspired the congregation of the University Church of Christ to follow the heart of Jesus and to be active servants in the Malibu community. And he still has a few boxes left unpacked.
In his sermon last Sunday Little played a video clip a compilation of photos illustrating human suffering around world to encourage the congregation to live a life guided by God and to reach out to those less fortunate around us.
Dr. Gary Selby of the Communications Division at Pepperdine has been a University Church of Christ member for several years and he said watching Little take hold of the church has been powerful.
“I think he’s trying to challenge us the way that God identifies with the poor and people at the margins Selby said. It’s a challenging discussion and it gets kind of uncomfortable sometimes Selby said. There are times where he’ll put things out there and you think ‘whoa it got quiet in here.'”
Little said he has received positive feedback thus far in his time at Pepperdine. “My sense is that this Church is an overwhelmingly positive supportive The Church of Christ is a Christian denomination which holds its beliefs akin to only what is found in the Bible but as the church progressed over time some congregations followed the traditional path while others took to a more contemporary path.
“Churches of Christ are such a broad fellowship that depending on which church you’re comparing yourself to you may be kindred spirits or you may not be kindred spirits Little said.
In his first weeks at Pepperdine, Little has assessed other ministries in Malibu to get a feel for the community’s spiritual involvement.
I’ve been really trying to connect with community leaders Little said. I want to understand what their ministry looks like in Malibu.”
Little said his ministry in the University Church of Christ will not be limited by certain confines of denominational expectations but by the movement of the Holy Spirit within the congregation. “There will be people that will resonate with that and there will be people who won’t resonate with that he said.
Little’s worship is held a cappella and his liturgies hold to the Church of Christ’s three basic sacraments: weekly communion, baptism and weekly church attendance; all practiced by traditional Church of Christ congregations. However, Little adds a more dynamic twist to his services by throwing in the use of media (YouTube and student-produced clips) and charismatic preaching.
My preaching style is a little different Little said. I’m not someone who tends to stand in one place and speak in a mono-tone voice. My delivery is not traditional for some people.”
Little’s current sermon series titled “Bodybuilding gets at the question of how we continue to grow in the church God wants us to be in. What does that look like as we build our body—”body” acting as a metaphor for the church and how do we come together across different generations across different backgrounds different cultures he said.
Little’s Bodybuilding” series will continue until Oct. 24th when he will conduct a review of the University Church of Christ. “At the end of this series I’m moving into a comprehensive congregational review and we will assess our model our church model our ministries and our mission he said. We will invite every member of the congregation… to give input as to where they believe God is calling our church.”
Little’s congregational review will be conducted until the end of the year and during that time he along with the elders and ministry leaders will make a model for 2011. What does our worship service look like? What do our traditions look like? And where is the Spirit leading this church? These are questions Little hopes to answer by the start of the new year.
“So what does it take for us to be engaged in those peoples’ lives?” Selby said speaking of the less fortunate who Little has encouraged the congregation to give thought to. “Ultimately I think that’s where he’s going. He’s challenging us to at least begin asking that question.”
“I’ve always said that this church has to be one of the hardest to preach at because you have to keep PhDs and college students engaged Love said. So far he has done a superb job. Not only does he talk about theology but for example he mentioned the double rainbow last week and only the college students laughed which was awesome.”