Welcome to MOSAIC

Messy isn't a defect.

We're not all the same. We come from different places, different economic backgrounds and realities. We bring our own histories, biases, baggage, and routines. We represent different age groups, races and ethnicities, genders, sexualities, and abilities. We don't see stuff the same way. It can be messy...and we're better for it. 

One of the big things we share is trying to find a healthy expression of our true self in community as we engage the deep (and often messy) stuff of life. When we do that we more fully live into the beautiful and gifted life God intends for us, each in our own way. That's why we chose the name MOSAIC because, as we come together as unique and beautiful beings, God works to transform and create something extraordinary in each of us and in our community. 

What it means to be church is changing rapidly and radically. MOSAIC feels called to focus on growing one of these new spaces - to meet the spiritual needs of a diverse range of people, including those with limited church exposure, those looking for a new way to experience church, and those who have lost faith in church, religion...and, yes, God. MOSAIC seeks to be a community that holds everyone equally, from lifelong church attenders identifying as Christian to those who do not identify as Christian or theistic - to forge a community of love, support, and honest dialogue out of the strength of our differences. And then, to go out into the midst of our neighborhood and back to our lives and just love. Everyone.

So where does MOSAIC come from? 

We come from a long tradition here in Louisville, blossoming out of Third Lutheran Church, previously located on Frankfort Ave. We've been around for over 125 years. In that history, we've always been a bold church, on the front edge of a lot of things. And, we will be honest with you that we look at things through that Lutheran framework - a way of thinking and understanding that is intended to bring life and freedom, not death and destruction.

That's what MOSAIC is. A bold, Spirit-filled experiment that seeks to be a place of community in the Shelby Park neighborhood of Louisville - a place that offers life. In Christ.  

How does MOSAIC plan to build community?

It begins at the dinner table. Yep, that's right. Around food. Because isn't that always the place where conversations are held, relationships deepened, and our tummies filled? Yet, that's just the beginning. Each Sunday, as we gather for dinner church, we're going to cook and prepare the meal together. Everyone will have a job that draws them immediately into community, so it's a little easier to get to know people and feel a sense of belonging than if you walked into a church and sat down in a pew. Alone.

Then, around the table, we'll engage in singing, prayer, laughter, and conversation, bringing all of our own thoughts and experiences - and faith and faithlessness - to dinner. It's a model that comes directly from the ancient church where the early followers of Jesus did exactly the same thing, because that's what He did. Somehow, we trust that, in the midst of the messiness, we will be connected not only to each other but find ourselves more open to God or to the possibility of the Divine as the expansive and loving being God is. 

No strong-arming. No heavy-handed evangelistic tactics. Dinner Church@MOSAIC will be about good food. Good conversation. Good people. And Jesus.

There's more...

We want to be that open and searching place that explores this expansiveness of God, plus our own life experiences and the stuff that happens in our world. To help make sense of it. To find meaning. 

So, in addition to our gathering around the table each week, 3-4 times a year we will invite artists to help us in that exploration. The Gallery@MOSAIC intends to lift up the work of those who often don't have access to art patrons or major art markets - people of color, women, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, the economically disenfranchised, and anyone else our society likes to push to the side.  Because every artist, like God, is a creator and deserves to be part of the conversation! 

No matter what, we intend to be a place of complete welcome. For everyone. Everyone. 

Because that's who God calls us to be.

Are you interested? We hope so. Come and see.