I know that this is possibly a controversial subject, but I wanted to comment a bit more on what I was talking about in my post on the 21st November. After going to college last Wednesday and talking to some of my fellow students I was struck by how many of them had been thinking about this subject recently. It seems that it's something God is putting on lots of people's hearts, I for one can't stop thinking about it. But I'm not sure what God wants me to do about it. Hopefully he'll clear that up soon.
It also seems that it's not just us trainee youth workers that are considering it either. I was reading Steve Chalke's new book "Intelligent Church" (which is well worth a read people - very challenging!), and I came across this paragraph on the subject of incarnational church, and I was wondering what other people were thinking - comments please!

"If God is incarnational, and the church's task is to be part of God's mission, this principle must be ours too. An inclusive church will be a congregation open to all - a community for those displaced. It will be an environment in which the unloved and the unlovely find refuge and belonging. It will be a refuge to the homeless, a family to the forgotten, a friend to the lonely and a place where the outcasts of society can enjoy life in all its fullness. An inclusive church will not be made up only of people who have life sorted. Instead it will almost certainly include drug-users, alcoholics, people with mental health problems, the homeless, the unemployed, single mothers, ex-convicts, prostitutes and so on. It will be a church where the imperfect are perfectly welcome. It will strive to ensure that it is accessible to those who can't walk, or hear, or see, or speak. In short, it will be a home for those who need one"