I'm contemplating something. Those who know me might see that as a problem. I have the habit of getting all excited about projects, and many of them don't see the light of day. Books I've wanted to write, bands I've wanted to start, a church I've wanted to plant... the list goes on. I'm a dreamer, and I dream of influencing people for Jesus. For the Gospel. To see lives changed for the glory of God through the Gospel of Jesus. That's my dream, my vision, my mission. And now that vision has a new possible outworking.
I've been critical of the 'online church' like LifeChurch.tv. I believe that church isn't simply something that people 'go to' or 'watch', but rather communities of redeemed people on mission together. And I couldn't see how that can happen in an online venue, but my mind is changing. A few months ago I met with a friend of mine, someone who used to be a part of a youth group where I was the pastor. He had been saved through the ministry at that church, but had since drifted away from the community and the Gospel. I was able to encourage him in the Gospel. A few weeks later I reconnected with another 'kid', from another previous youth ministry, who also needed a reminder of the Gospel. For the past year I've also engaged with a number of friends on Facebook and twitter, Christians, non-Christians, skeptics, atheists, and everyone in between. I realized that there are a number of people in my life who I do minister the Gospel to, but sporadically, infrequently, and because of that, probably ineffectively.
When we were dreaming of Access Church, we thought it might be effective to further the Gospel message by posting our sermons online through iTunes podcasts and vodcasts and YouTube. I have personally been built up in the Gospel through pastors* on iTunes and I wanted to give freely as I had freely received. When it became clear that Access Church wasn't going to be a go, I started thinking of developing my sermon series, 'Losing My Religion' specifically for YouTube to see if I could effectively minister the Gospel to people in that venue. That thought has been at the back of my mind for about three months.
Then this week I received an invitation from churchleader.com to download a free ebook on "The Art of Online Ministry". It was an easy read, particularly because it was articulation what I've wanted to do in so many ways. And now, I'd like to explore the idea of launching an online church.
Great! Another project.
Well if there's one thing I've learned in all my starts and stops, it's that I can't accomplish much on my own. The ebook also confirmed this fact. It says that it needs to be a team that does something like this. A team to own it and develop it. The investment, both financial and time, is much smaller than, say, church planting. But people have to own it together. Particularly, the team needs to include:
- A Captain
- A Network Catalyst
- At least 2 Prayer Room Volunteers
- Chat Room Hosts
- An Administrator
- Video Production
- Worship leaders/team
- Others
The beauty of online church (say, Access Online) is that it's manageable by a small group of committed people. The people don't have to physically meet together, or be in the same geographical region. It has low overhead. And it's effective. It can continue the mission of seeing lives changed for the glory of God through the Gospel of Jesus. It can spark conversions, communities (both virtual and actual) and maybe even physical churches. I can participate in it while providing for my family full-time, and while I'm also involved in my family's own church community.
As for the potential pitfalls of launching an online church, such as those I've already identified in this post along with others, I'll be addressing those in upcoming entries. But I've come to understand two things: 1. That virtual community IS a legitimate form of community (I'll be unpacking this further in later posts) and 2. That church ministry online doesn't have to stay online, but when appropriate can extend to physical meetups, mission, care, etc. Also, my mind has expanded from picturing online church as simply posted sermons to realizing the power of online chat, chat prayer rooms, polls, etc that contribute to building community online. Web2.0 (or 3.0?) might make online community a legitimate form of church.
My next step is to continue dreaming. I'll be developing two sermon series: 'Losing My Religion' (which I was planning to preach for the launch of Access Church in Aldergrove), and 'What Jesus'. Each series will be 4-5 weeks in length. I'll develop and record it in raw footage.
I want to know if anybody else is with me on this. I won't go unless there's a team. I want to hear from you. Have you experienced online church? Do you have skills I've listed above and are you willing to use them in this mission? Would you like to hear more about my vision, goals, plans, experiences, and life? Are you intrigued to know more about the Gospel, which compels me to keep trying, even though I may not succeed?
Drop a line in the comments below. Repost this on your twitter, Facebook, and blog. Let's see if we can get some momentum on this, by the grace of God!
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Friday, April 22, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
To Help the Unchurched Feel More Comfortable in your Pews
Here's my disclaimer: I am not unchurched. I was raised in churches; fellowship Baptist, Pentecostal, Charismatic, evangelical. I'm not the target, and this isn't a "how to" because the target is a moving one. "The Unchurched" isn't a generic, broad demographic, despite the efforts of Lee Strobel, Bill Hybels and others.
However, I have found that many churches don't consider how unchurched people feel in their gatherings at all. This REALLY bothers me. I've tried to make it bother my less, by convincing myself that our Sunday gatherings are really for Christian fellowship, not for outreach to non-Christians at all, and so why should we really think about "their" comfort? But that argument feels empty, given the command and commission of Christ to disciple the unchurched. Nothing in the epistles says that we should set anything up that hinders people from coming to Christ.
The simple truth is this: if you have an environment that is hostile to people who haven't been brought up in church, which many churches do, then you won't have anybody new to disciple. Your church will die with your generation, which is a great sin and tragedy.
So here are some pointers. Things that I have observed not just at one church but at many, who really WANT to see more 'unchurched people' at their services, but make it incredibly difficult for them to attend.
1. Clothing and Attire. Yes, I'm beating 'that drum'. And yes, I know it's an old drum to beat. But it still bears repetition. Nothing will turn off a non-churchgoer faster than the even unstated expectation that when you go to church you dress up in your Sunday best. Is it a sin to wear a suit on Sunday? Nope. Neither is it a sin to wear ripped jeans or a t-shirt. Francis Chan argues for wearing the same clothes to preach in on Sunday as he wears in worship throughout the week, to diminish the divide between the sacred and the secular. I partly agree with him on this. I would say, wear the clothes you would wear out. Anywhere. Going out to a friend's house, would you make sure to dress in a button-up collared shirt? Then great - wear that to church! Would you wear a nice, well fitted t-shirt? Great church attire too! Maybe you'd wear a collared shirt one week and a t-shirt another - great! But you probably wouldn't wear the threadbare comfy old sweater that you got in college and you lounge around the house in, to your friend's for dinner - then don't wear that to church. The key is making the people around you comfortable - particularly unchurched people.
2. Music. Yes, another old drum. But for different reasons (a different beat) The 'worship wars' of the 1990's focused on what I'm comfortable with, what kind of music suits me best. It was a consumerism that drove the fight, as James 4:1-2 tells us. What I'm advocating here is to think about the unchurched in our style, type, length, and content of our music selections. Do they want wordy, slow, drawn out hymns? Do they want upbeat choruses? Do they want contemplation, or fun, or somewhere in between? This sounds remarkably like a 'seeker sensitive' bit of advice, and maybe it is. But too many churches spend too much time trying to figure out the wants of their congregation without ever considering the needs of the dying world. I'm also not an advocate of 'dumbing the worship down' - I deeply believe in solid theological content in our worship singing - that's likely what people will remember far better than the content of the sermon. But dragging out slow hymns, played like we were returning to 1955 middle America, isn't what I would call 'progressive'. Neither is worship singers trying to sound (or look) like Michael Bolton or U2.
3. Sharing, including the announcements and prayer. When I bow my head to pray, I want to pour out my heart for the things I care about. The lost - yes. The family in our neighbourhood who's house got broken into - definately. Famine in central America - without a doubt. Susanne's grandmother's nursing home roomate, who recently had another stroke - not so much. Who is Susanne? Why aren't we praying for other stroke victims by name? What about my own grandmother who has her own issues to deal with - why can't we spend time praying for everybody's relative or friend or life story? Praying for specific people in specific situations creates an elitism in a Sunday morning gathering. Those that nobody knows don't matter, while those who 'matter' get prayed for. Don't pretend it's not true. Otherwise there would be no sermon, no music, just prayer - and the prayer service would last far longer than the hour-and-a-half allotted time.
Prayer needs to happen - that's part of community. That's what community groups and prayer meetings, and even prayer chains, are for. But specific prayer requests don't need to take place on Sunday mornings. It's rude and distasteful. So are announcements that pertain to certain segments of the gathering. I don't care if Verna is holding a potluck dinner for the seniors, or that Laura is meeting with youth leaders. I don't know Verna or Laura, and it makes me feel left out, and out of place. "If you want more information, just talk to Laura". Yea, I'll get right on that.
On a sidenote, putting these things in the weekly bulletin doesn't help much either. First-timers will likely spend the sermon time looking at the bulletin to find out what they've got themselves into. If all they see is 'family news', they'll feel left out and likely not return. And btw, even if 'family news' takes up a small section of the bulletin, that will be all they see.
4. Assumptions, assumptions. People on stage not introducing themselves. The Pastor not introducing himself. Not clearly explaining what 'greeting one another' means, or when AND WHY to stand, sit, kneel, etc. When you make the assumption that everybody already knows everybody and what's all going on, you're probably right. However, if it so happens that a newcomer JUST MIGHT be there, again they'll feel left out - because they ARE being left out in the dark.
5. Preaching. One of my favorite preachers, Tim Keller, has said that we should preach as if we were talking to people completely unversed in the Bible. Now, to you this may seem like he's advocating watering down of the Gospel but if you've heard Tim Keller speak you'll know he gets deeper than the majority of preachers today. The way he communicates, however, is respectful. He wouldn't say things like "you all know the story of Noah's Ark", or "who hasn't heard of the council of Dort". Instead, he respectfully explains what he's talking about. He cautions preachers to preach to the unchurched, even if your congregation is full of those who were born in the pew, and you will get unchurched because somebody will think, "hey I think Joe could really get what this guy is saying," and will be more inclined to invite Joe the next week or month or year. If you fault on one side or the other, lean towards offending arrogant Christians who think they're too advanced for your explanations, rather than unchurched who feel like you're talking over them.
6. Greeting. Just about every church has a greeting team, and just about every church's greeting team is a big FAIL. Many people have said they'd prefer to walk into a church WITHOUT a greeting team than to be so obviously ignored and shunned by people who are meant to be looking out for them. I have to agree. Maybe 'greeting teams' are passe. Who really needs an usher to find a seat for them? Who needs a cold handshake and colder smile when they walk in the door? Especially as they're juggling their coffee, kids and possibly a Bible in their two hands?
Greeting can be done WELL, but unless it IS done well, I think it's more of a detriment to a welcoming environment than a help to it.
7. Decor. I think this is LOW on the list; if everything else is in place this shouldn't matter as much. However, there are certainly ways that you can decorate your church sanctuary, foyer, etc. that discourage people from engaging in your church. When too much care is put into setting up the Christmas tree, so that people are afraid to touch it or even go near it, you've lost me. When there are signs on the doors to the sanctuary saying "no food or drinks" (or children, elderly, crippled, lame, blind, etc) it's a clear indication of what the priority is - clean upholstery over people. You can care TOO much about your decor. You could also care too little. Too much space with not enough people is a no-no. People feel comfortable when their space is 80% full. Any less than that, and they feel like they're on display. Nice pieces of art (not Christian kitsche) goes a long way, especially if it's original. Stark white walls are not pretty, and neither is dirt on the ceilings near the warm air intakes. People get a sense of whether they're valued at a place by the way it looks and makes them feel. Value your guests.
The point in all of this is to become INTENTIONAL about reaching the unchurched. There's been a big movement towards focussing on the church SCATTERED, but when the church is GATHERED how well are you doing in mission? I think we could all find ways to take steps that value our unchurched guests. Please leave your comments below if I'm missed something, or if I've missed the mark on anything!
However, I have found that many churches don't consider how unchurched people feel in their gatherings at all. This REALLY bothers me. I've tried to make it bother my less, by convincing myself that our Sunday gatherings are really for Christian fellowship, not for outreach to non-Christians at all, and so why should we really think about "their" comfort? But that argument feels empty, given the command and commission of Christ to disciple the unchurched. Nothing in the epistles says that we should set anything up that hinders people from coming to Christ.
The simple truth is this: if you have an environment that is hostile to people who haven't been brought up in church, which many churches do, then you won't have anybody new to disciple. Your church will die with your generation, which is a great sin and tragedy.
So here are some pointers. Things that I have observed not just at one church but at many, who really WANT to see more 'unchurched people' at their services, but make it incredibly difficult for them to attend.
1. Clothing and Attire. Yes, I'm beating 'that drum'. And yes, I know it's an old drum to beat. But it still bears repetition. Nothing will turn off a non-churchgoer faster than the even unstated expectation that when you go to church you dress up in your Sunday best. Is it a sin to wear a suit on Sunday? Nope. Neither is it a sin to wear ripped jeans or a t-shirt. Francis Chan argues for wearing the same clothes to preach in on Sunday as he wears in worship throughout the week, to diminish the divide between the sacred and the secular. I partly agree with him on this. I would say, wear the clothes you would wear out. Anywhere. Going out to a friend's house, would you make sure to dress in a button-up collared shirt? Then great - wear that to church! Would you wear a nice, well fitted t-shirt? Great church attire too! Maybe you'd wear a collared shirt one week and a t-shirt another - great! But you probably wouldn't wear the threadbare comfy old sweater that you got in college and you lounge around the house in, to your friend's for dinner - then don't wear that to church. The key is making the people around you comfortable - particularly unchurched people.
2. Music. Yes, another old drum. But for different reasons (a different beat) The 'worship wars' of the 1990's focused on what I'm comfortable with, what kind of music suits me best. It was a consumerism that drove the fight, as James 4:1-2 tells us. What I'm advocating here is to think about the unchurched in our style, type, length, and content of our music selections. Do they want wordy, slow, drawn out hymns? Do they want upbeat choruses? Do they want contemplation, or fun, or somewhere in between? This sounds remarkably like a 'seeker sensitive' bit of advice, and maybe it is. But too many churches spend too much time trying to figure out the wants of their congregation without ever considering the needs of the dying world. I'm also not an advocate of 'dumbing the worship down' - I deeply believe in solid theological content in our worship singing - that's likely what people will remember far better than the content of the sermon. But dragging out slow hymns, played like we were returning to 1955 middle America, isn't what I would call 'progressive'. Neither is worship singers trying to sound (or look) like Michael Bolton or U2.
3. Sharing, including the announcements and prayer. When I bow my head to pray, I want to pour out my heart for the things I care about. The lost - yes. The family in our neighbourhood who's house got broken into - definately. Famine in central America - without a doubt. Susanne's grandmother's nursing home roomate, who recently had another stroke - not so much. Who is Susanne? Why aren't we praying for other stroke victims by name? What about my own grandmother who has her own issues to deal with - why can't we spend time praying for everybody's relative or friend or life story? Praying for specific people in specific situations creates an elitism in a Sunday morning gathering. Those that nobody knows don't matter, while those who 'matter' get prayed for. Don't pretend it's not true. Otherwise there would be no sermon, no music, just prayer - and the prayer service would last far longer than the hour-and-a-half allotted time.
Prayer needs to happen - that's part of community. That's what community groups and prayer meetings, and even prayer chains, are for. But specific prayer requests don't need to take place on Sunday mornings. It's rude and distasteful. So are announcements that pertain to certain segments of the gathering. I don't care if Verna is holding a potluck dinner for the seniors, or that Laura is meeting with youth leaders. I don't know Verna or Laura, and it makes me feel left out, and out of place. "If you want more information, just talk to Laura". Yea, I'll get right on that.
On a sidenote, putting these things in the weekly bulletin doesn't help much either. First-timers will likely spend the sermon time looking at the bulletin to find out what they've got themselves into. If all they see is 'family news', they'll feel left out and likely not return. And btw, even if 'family news' takes up a small section of the bulletin, that will be all they see.
4. Assumptions, assumptions. People on stage not introducing themselves. The Pastor not introducing himself. Not clearly explaining what 'greeting one another' means, or when AND WHY to stand, sit, kneel, etc. When you make the assumption that everybody already knows everybody and what's all going on, you're probably right. However, if it so happens that a newcomer JUST MIGHT be there, again they'll feel left out - because they ARE being left out in the dark.
5. Preaching. One of my favorite preachers, Tim Keller, has said that we should preach as if we were talking to people completely unversed in the Bible. Now, to you this may seem like he's advocating watering down of the Gospel but if you've heard Tim Keller speak you'll know he gets deeper than the majority of preachers today. The way he communicates, however, is respectful. He wouldn't say things like "you all know the story of Noah's Ark", or "who hasn't heard of the council of Dort". Instead, he respectfully explains what he's talking about. He cautions preachers to preach to the unchurched, even if your congregation is full of those who were born in the pew, and you will get unchurched because somebody will think, "hey I think Joe could really get what this guy is saying," and will be more inclined to invite Joe the next week or month or year. If you fault on one side or the other, lean towards offending arrogant Christians who think they're too advanced for your explanations, rather than unchurched who feel like you're talking over them.
6. Greeting. Just about every church has a greeting team, and just about every church's greeting team is a big FAIL. Many people have said they'd prefer to walk into a church WITHOUT a greeting team than to be so obviously ignored and shunned by people who are meant to be looking out for them. I have to agree. Maybe 'greeting teams' are passe. Who really needs an usher to find a seat for them? Who needs a cold handshake and colder smile when they walk in the door? Especially as they're juggling their coffee, kids and possibly a Bible in their two hands?
Greeting can be done WELL, but unless it IS done well, I think it's more of a detriment to a welcoming environment than a help to it.
7. Decor. I think this is LOW on the list; if everything else is in place this shouldn't matter as much. However, there are certainly ways that you can decorate your church sanctuary, foyer, etc. that discourage people from engaging in your church. When too much care is put into setting up the Christmas tree, so that people are afraid to touch it or even go near it, you've lost me. When there are signs on the doors to the sanctuary saying "no food or drinks" (or children, elderly, crippled, lame, blind, etc) it's a clear indication of what the priority is - clean upholstery over people. You can care TOO much about your decor. You could also care too little. Too much space with not enough people is a no-no. People feel comfortable when their space is 80% full. Any less than that, and they feel like they're on display. Nice pieces of art (not Christian kitsche) goes a long way, especially if it's original. Stark white walls are not pretty, and neither is dirt on the ceilings near the warm air intakes. People get a sense of whether they're valued at a place by the way it looks and makes them feel. Value your guests.
The point in all of this is to become INTENTIONAL about reaching the unchurched. There's been a big movement towards focussing on the church SCATTERED, but when the church is GATHERED how well are you doing in mission? I think we could all find ways to take steps that value our unchurched guests. Please leave your comments below if I'm missed something, or if I've missed the mark on anything!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
We're Looking for D2 Christians
(with some of what I learned at churchplantingbc's Day With Hugh Halter)
Not that we think that Christians necessarily are at different levels, or statuses. But it can’t be ignored that not all who call themselves “Christian” are in fact disciples of Jesus, trusting in Him for their salvation and living their lives for Him. Beyond that, it’s apparent that some Christians are content with calling Jesus their Lord and Savior, attending church and maybe Bible study, raising their kids to fear God, and having a positive affect on people they come into contact with. We call people who fit into this category “followers of Jesus”.
Then there are those who are a little bit more hardcore about their Christian lives. It could be said they’re somewhat more ‘radical’. This is your typical missionary, pastor, worship leader, etc. Those for whom Christianity is more than a label, but a way of life. Of course, I recognized a long time ago that not all radical Christians are in fulltime Christian service, and not all in fulltime Christian service are radical Christians. But some people receive the call to become a disciple with more intentionality. We call people in this category “apprentices of Jesus”.
Apprentices are those who take the directives of Jesus, particularly those of ‘loving your neighbour as yourself’ and ‘go and make disciples’, and ‘go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation’ seriously. They learn to ‘obey everything that’ He has ‘commanded’, particularly the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. They are those who have not only made the decision to follow Jesus, but who have made the second decision to live out His mission.
First Decision Christians, or rather those who remain ‘followers’ and never become ‘apprentices’ of Jesus, tend to be consumeristic and protectionistic. They want what’s best for them and theirs – the safest neighbourhoods, the best schools, the biggest houses, the most secure jobs, the best looking friends and family, no conflict, no messiness, to enjoy life in Christ. In contrast, Second Decision Christians, or those who decide to follow Jesus and also make a decision to become like Jesus, will work to put the priorities of the Kingdom ahead of their own comfort, advancement, security, or image.
We love D1, or First Decision Christians. We know that they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We serve them, pray with them, depend on them, love them, work for the Kingdom with them, learn from them, guide them, help them, and minister to them. But we are looking for D2, Second Decision Christians. We need them to work with us for the advancement of the Kingdom in Aldergrove. We need them to impact their friends, relatives, and neighbours. We need them to buckle in with us if Aldergrove is going to be transformed by the Gospel. We need them to work at their jobs with excellence, to befriend their neighbours and seek ways to serve their communities. We need them to open their homes to others, and to give of their time to Gospel Community that includes other D2 Christians, D1 Christians, pre-Christians, non-Christians, never-gonna-be-Christians, and those who think they are Christians but don’t follow or depend on Christ.
Discipleship involves community, mission, and worship. D2 Christians are continuously developing intentionally in all three of those areas. We invite you to develop in those areas with us, and to join with us, in developing a D2 Access Church.
Not that we think that Christians necessarily are at different levels, or statuses. But it can’t be ignored that not all who call themselves “Christian” are in fact disciples of Jesus, trusting in Him for their salvation and living their lives for Him. Beyond that, it’s apparent that some Christians are content with calling Jesus their Lord and Savior, attending church and maybe Bible study, raising their kids to fear God, and having a positive affect on people they come into contact with. We call people who fit into this category “followers of Jesus”.
Then there are those who are a little bit more hardcore about their Christian lives. It could be said they’re somewhat more ‘radical’. This is your typical missionary, pastor, worship leader, etc. Those for whom Christianity is more than a label, but a way of life. Of course, I recognized a long time ago that not all radical Christians are in fulltime Christian service, and not all in fulltime Christian service are radical Christians. But some people receive the call to become a disciple with more intentionality. We call people in this category “apprentices of Jesus”.
Apprentices are those who take the directives of Jesus, particularly those of ‘loving your neighbour as yourself’ and ‘go and make disciples’, and ‘go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation’ seriously. They learn to ‘obey everything that’ He has ‘commanded’, particularly the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. They are those who have not only made the decision to follow Jesus, but who have made the second decision to live out His mission.
First Decision Christians, or rather those who remain ‘followers’ and never become ‘apprentices’ of Jesus, tend to be consumeristic and protectionistic. They want what’s best for them and theirs – the safest neighbourhoods, the best schools, the biggest houses, the most secure jobs, the best looking friends and family, no conflict, no messiness, to enjoy life in Christ. In contrast, Second Decision Christians, or those who decide to follow Jesus and also make a decision to become like Jesus, will work to put the priorities of the Kingdom ahead of their own comfort, advancement, security, or image.
We love D1, or First Decision Christians. We know that they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We serve them, pray with them, depend on them, love them, work for the Kingdom with them, learn from them, guide them, help them, and minister to them. But we are looking for D2, Second Decision Christians. We need them to work with us for the advancement of the Kingdom in Aldergrove. We need them to impact their friends, relatives, and neighbours. We need them to buckle in with us if Aldergrove is going to be transformed by the Gospel. We need them to work at their jobs with excellence, to befriend their neighbours and seek ways to serve their communities. We need them to open their homes to others, and to give of their time to Gospel Community that includes other D2 Christians, D1 Christians, pre-Christians, non-Christians, never-gonna-be-Christians, and those who think they are Christians but don’t follow or depend on Christ.
Discipleship involves community, mission, and worship. D2 Christians are continuously developing intentionally in all three of those areas. We invite you to develop in those areas with us, and to join with us, in developing a D2 Access Church.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Access Mission Week
Please take note of the absence of the plural 's' following the word 'Mission'. This is NOT a 'Missions Week' like the sort that have become run-of-the-mill in many missions-oriented churches (God bless them!). We will NOT be standing up missionaries to foreign lands, night after night, hearing over potluck cream pie and bad coffee stories of orphaned children, slim getaways, and miraculous healings (as cool as those stories sometimes are!).
MISSION Week instead is a week of mission. I've been thinking of this for a while, and struggling with it.
Access Church NEEDS TO BE a 'Missional' church. We can't exist unless we are one. But how do we establish that ethos, that core value, that DNA right from the get-go. The threat, or the really good reason NOT to do a "Mission Week" can be read about here. Basically, mission becomes an event rather than a lifestyle. I understand that threat, and I get those who would criticize Access Church as being another event-driven-quasi-missional-but-really-not-so-much church plant.
My argument, however, is that to BECOME a missional community, we need to invite people to MISSION, not to some worship service program. Whatever we invite people to, however we start out as a church plant, is what will continue to mark us for years to come. Whatever we invite people to WILL HAVE TO BE AN EVENT - otherwise, what could it be?
"Hey do you want to come get involved in my church with me?"
"Sure... how?"
"well, we're really missional, which means intentionally loving people the way Jesus does, so uh... yeah..."
"okay, so how could I get involved?"
"well, yeah.. you could start by um... praying for .... uh, the people you work with..."
"okay, so how is that getting involved with your church?"
"um, well you'll be doing the same things we're... um I mean I'M... doing, and that's sort of like being involved.... ya gotta understand we're MISSIONAL, not ATTRACTIONAL, so we don't really have anything we're calling people to..."
I gotta be honest with you... whether you're trying to reach Christians or non-Christians, that's a really difficult way to start a church.
So, it's important, no ESSENTIAL, to have something to invite people to. The question is, 'what?' Most churches start with a worship service, build a group of people, who they then plan to take on mission in their community (ok, some churches don't have a grasp of mission, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt). That's OK. In fact, that's what we've been trying to do. And in a way, we'll continue to do something like that.
But what if the MISSION exists before the worship service? What if we start by bringing together people who really want to impact the people of Aldergrove, start by practically serving our town, and from there build worship and discipleship times?
So, there's where I get the dream of Access Mission Week. We can call people in Aldergrove to a week of loving others, serving others, giving freely as we've received freely, showing God's love in practical ways. We'll organize projects, like free car washes, litter pickup around the town, lawn mowing, dog walking, babysitting, yard cleanup, business exterior scraping and repainting... We'll make the name Access Church first synonymous with caring for the community, then associate it with FAITH, MISSION, and COMMUNITY.
When? I don't know yet. Who? People in Aldergrove, and hopefully Mission Teams (again, no 's') from other places. Am I crazy? Probably. Stay tuned for more information.
MISSION Week instead is a week of mission. I've been thinking of this for a while, and struggling with it.
Access Church NEEDS TO BE a 'Missional' church. We can't exist unless we are one. But how do we establish that ethos, that core value, that DNA right from the get-go. The threat, or the really good reason NOT to do a "Mission Week" can be read about here. Basically, mission becomes an event rather than a lifestyle. I understand that threat, and I get those who would criticize Access Church as being another event-driven-quasi-missional-but-really-not-so-much church plant.
My argument, however, is that to BECOME a missional community, we need to invite people to MISSION, not to some worship service program. Whatever we invite people to, however we start out as a church plant, is what will continue to mark us for years to come. Whatever we invite people to WILL HAVE TO BE AN EVENT - otherwise, what could it be?
"Hey do you want to come get involved in my church with me?"
"Sure... how?"
"well, we're really missional, which means intentionally loving people the way Jesus does, so uh... yeah..."
"okay, so how could I get involved?"
"well, yeah.. you could start by um... praying for .... uh, the people you work with..."
"okay, so how is that getting involved with your church?"
"um, well you'll be doing the same things we're... um I mean I'M... doing, and that's sort of like being involved.... ya gotta understand we're MISSIONAL, not ATTRACTIONAL, so we don't really have anything we're calling people to..."
I gotta be honest with you... whether you're trying to reach Christians or non-Christians, that's a really difficult way to start a church.
So, it's important, no ESSENTIAL, to have something to invite people to. The question is, 'what?' Most churches start with a worship service, build a group of people, who they then plan to take on mission in their community (ok, some churches don't have a grasp of mission, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt). That's OK. In fact, that's what we've been trying to do. And in a way, we'll continue to do something like that.
But what if the MISSION exists before the worship service? What if we start by bringing together people who really want to impact the people of Aldergrove, start by practically serving our town, and from there build worship and discipleship times?
So, there's where I get the dream of Access Mission Week. We can call people in Aldergrove to a week of loving others, serving others, giving freely as we've received freely, showing God's love in practical ways. We'll organize projects, like free car washes, litter pickup around the town, lawn mowing, dog walking, babysitting, yard cleanup, business exterior scraping and repainting... We'll make the name Access Church first synonymous with caring for the community, then associate it with FAITH, MISSION, and COMMUNITY.
When? I don't know yet. Who? People in Aldergrove, and hopefully Mission Teams (again, no 's') from other places. Am I crazy? Probably. Stay tuned for more information.
Vision:Access
Faith | Mission | Community
This past Sunday, we 'launched' or 'unveiled' (or whatever other word you want to use) our vision for Access Church. The idea was that we would gather a group who might be somewhat interested in joining us, cast the vision, and see who sticks around. Our hope was to gain a greater 'core' of Aldergrove residents to join in the vision and mission of Access with us. Did it work? To a degree, yes. But I think that the real 'results' of the vision spiel (as I like to put it) will be seen in the lives of those who heard and were inspired, whether or not they join us at Access Church. To that end, I would like to make our vision spiel available to you, our faithful blog reader, to inspire you whether or not you ever enter into community with Access Church.
Our vision for what our church will become rests on the three pillars of faith, mission and community.
Faith is what comes first. A church that doesn't start with that isn't a church - it can be a service organization or a social club, but it's not a church. Our faith is more than a few creeds listed on the wall - it's a living faith which directs and reflects all that we do. Our faith is more than scripture memorization, a love for Old Testament stories, and a belief in a god. Rather, it's rooted in the Gospel of Jesus - and we see all of Scripture through the lens of that Gospel, as pointing to that Gospel, as telling the story of that Gospel. In the vision for Access Church, faith isn't separate from mission and community; rather, it gives structure and purpose to those other pillars. Our faith is in a God who stepped out of heaven to come to earth, in order to seek and save the lost (mission) and to bring reconciliation between God and man, man and man, man and himself, and man and creation (community).
Mission is essential to any church. A church without mission is nothing but a relic, a castle, a fortress for the faith. Sure, it defends its creed, but at the expense of living what it claims to believe - to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Mission is about going into the world, living in the world, being involved in the world. What's the big deal? You ask? Aren't we all in the world? Yes, but there's a tendency for Christians to try their best to stay away from the world, to build up the fortresses and protect themselves and their loved ones from the big, dark world. But instead, Jesus told us that we ARE the light of the world. Our job is to take the light of Jesus into the dark world. We can no longer blame the darkness for being dark - we can only look at ourselves and ask why the light hasn't gone into those dark places. So the vision for Access Church is to be involved in our world, our neighbourhoods, our community, Aldergrove. It's not easy, especially in a culture where individuality and self-reliance are high values. We need to be bridge-builders between people, builders of community, not just between culture and the Gospel, but between people and people. We need to show God's love in practical ways intentionally. We need to give freely as we've received freely, to live generously.
Community has received a lot of lip service in a lot of places. Already I've mentioned it here. But a church that isn't a community isn't a church. This is the attractional piece to what it means to BE church - and attractional isn't bad when it's balanced with mission. How can we do mission together, if we don't have community with one another? What are we calling people to in inviting them to the Gospel when community doesn't exist? The vision for Access is that it will be a Gospel Community - one that involves Christians and non-Christians, one that's a movement, on a journey, one that's intentional and enjoyable and life-giving. Friendships between men, between women, and between men and women need to be central and purposeful. Somebody has said that friendships are the building blocks of spirituality - where relationships are stunted, friendship with God and spirituality is stunted. But Gospel Community goes beyond friendships. Somebody else has said that community is where your least favorite person lives. This kind of community takes commitment, and this kind of intentional commitment to community is what will mark Access Church as much as what we believe and how we live it out.
I dream of a community of restoration, of reconciliation. I dream of transformation in Aldergrove - economic, relational... people caring about their neighbourhoods in new and radical ways. I dream of recovery, of hope, of vision and purpose. I dream of Aldergrove in the nation's news as a community turned around, a source of light for all of Canada. This can happen as we embrace Faith, Mission and Community.
I dream of people swarming to the heart of downtown Aldergrove, the corner of 272 and Fraser, now known for violent acts and exploitation, and lifting up unshakled hands and voices in praise to Jesus, who has set them free from the oppression of sin, both in their personal lives and in their community.
Join us in dreaming and visioning a new future for Aldergrove, for what will happen when the Gospel impacts this town, as we live out our faith, mission, and community.
(to hear the Vision Spiel audio, click the title link or click here)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Pre-Launch Service #1 is behind us!
After years of dreaming, months of planning, and frankly weeks of stressing, we have begun our journey - the "Journey to Hope in Aldergrove", as we're calling our Access Church pre-launch series. Last Sunday, October 4 2009, we held our first pre-launch 'preview' service for Access Church at the Kinsmen Community Centre in Aldergrove. There were about 15 people in attendance; some of those were family, some part of the 'Access Mission Team' from other churches, and some were interested in becoming participants in our new community. Others were there just to check it out.I preached a sermon called "Journey to Go
d" examining what a god is, how in some way we all have 'gods' that we serve, that we trust in to save us from what we consider to be personal hell. Then we looked at the God of the Bible, and that He is The legitimate God, not made in our image but we in His, not predictable or tame but just as we'd expect of the King of the Universe, on His mission, His agenda, ruling by His own wisdom not ours. You can listen to the sermon here - yes, we're already podcasting on iTunes!
We had plenty of refreshments - coffee and cookies and fruit and juice and water. "Access Kids" took care of our two little guys, Caleb and Carter. We offered the Lords Table to believers - Welch's grape juice in plastic shot glasses and bread cut from a loaf. Darrin Climie lent his carpentry expertise to making a cross for our use. We were lent a sound system and rented some microphones. Dan Stewart did a great job of leading us skillfully in worship. There was great community through conversation that happened. All in all, it was 'church'.
We arrived at 9am to start setting up (a
ctually, I think we got there at 9:10), but we began with prayer. We were finished the service by 12:05 and out of there by 1:00 when the dog obedience class showed up! The Kinsmen Centre was a fantastic place to hold the service, though there are a few lighting and space issues we need to re-think.
Thank you to all of you who participated. Thank you also, to those of you who have prayed with us for this. It's just the beginning. Our hope is that many of the people there on Sunday will return next month with someone else. At Alcoholics Anonymous, there's a policy that once you join you start actively looking for someone you can sponsor - we want something of that same spirit at Access - to be actively pursuing others you can bring along in the journey.
The next Access Pre-Launch Service is November 1 at 10:30 at the Aldergrove Kinsmen Community Centre, 26770 29 Avenue.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Where Two Or More Are Gathered? Or more than that?
Over 8 years ago in springtime 2001 I joined 22 of my best friends on a two-week houseboat trip on Shuswap Lake. It was a great time of young adults hanging out together, partying all night on the deck, sleeping away the hot days, watching movies piled up on top of each other on a single couch, playing card games, praying and worshiping, just doing life together for two weeks. We decided on the last night to do communion together, so we got the bread and wine out, I said a few words about 'where two or more are gathered', together we are a church, and we partook.
Now, there's nothing wrong with that. It's one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I'm so glad for the memories - both of the trip and of that communion experiences. But was it 'church' that we were experiencing on that boat?
I've been reading a book that seems to agree with the 'where two or more are gathered' concept. Like many other books in the genre, it alludes to 'doing church differently', explaining that after all, church is simply a getting-together of Christians. It could be at a bar, on the beach, in a boat, at a warehouse, wherever. As long as somebody says "Jesus" in a non-expletive way. But is that true? What is it that makes a church? Is 'church' a gathering or a meeting at all? These are, of course, questions that have been running through my head, things that I have to have solid answers for as I'm embarking on this church planting venture.
First, and most importantly, no I don't believe that church happens just 'where two or more are gathered'. I DO believe that a special manifestation of the presence of Jesus is present where two Christians gather in His Name, but the context of the verse referred to, "where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them" (Matthew 18:20) is how to properly deal with a brother who sins against you. Where two or three agree in Jesus about how to deal in love with a sinning brother, He gives His blessing.
Although this has implications FOR the church, it has nothing to do about DOING church. I wish people would stop proof-texting what they WANT the Bible to say, and start doing according to what it DOES say.
So what does the Bible say about church? First of all, Jesus established church as His own. He told His disciples, "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18) upon Peter's confession that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the Living God" (Matthew 16:16). The church is Jesus'. It belongs to Him. It's not 'my church' that I'm planting, it's Jesus'. He cares about it and for it more than I ever could. It's His body on the earth (Colossians 1:24) and His bride into eternity (Revelation 19:7-9). And the rock that it's built on is the confession of Peter, which was revealed to Him by God (Matthew 16:17). God is building the foundation of the church in the lives of believers.
In a real sense, the church IS the people. We don't GO to church, we ARE the church. Whether we're gathered or scattered, we are Jesus' church as we keep the confession that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
But how can we BE the church, and specifically, do we NEED to BE the church gathered? What is the benefit of that, and how should it happen? To start, we read in Hebrews 10:25, "let us not give up meeting together". The immediate context tells us why - so that we can encourage one another, spur one another on to love and good deeds, warn one another against sinning, remind one another of the great love of God and how we responded to it at first, and to remind one another of the Gospel.
Some people have told me that while they are still Christians, they have rejected the church. The New Testament Church doesn't exist anymore, they argue. What was the New Testament Church, I ask. They respond with Acts 2:42-47, which says that the earliest believers "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer... All the believers were together... they continued to meet together... the Lord added to their number". It says nothing about 'true Christians' leaving the fellowship in search of something better. So these frustrated Christians abandon the modern-day expression of church in order to engage in something that looks less like church than anything in Scripture - non-attendance. Blogging. Talking theology over a beer or a coke. Leading somebody to a Christ without a bride.
Instead, we need to look at what the earliest Christians did and why, and how we can relate those principles into our own cultural situation. They 'devoted themselves to the apostles teaching' - our churches must be places where Scripture is taught. The Apostles' teaching is available to us by the miraculous preservation of their words in Scripture. At some 'churches', Scripture is not preached. It might be referred to, but not preached, not taught, not 'unpacked' or opened up. At others, the pastor deems himself to have the wise and life-changing words and instead of Scripture, they exclusively preach their own special revelation, or tips for a happy marriage, or what their family was up to this week. Where and when church happens, Scripture and the Gospel is taught and preached. Secondly, they devoted themselves to fellowship - devoted, like committed. It is a group of people who are committed to one another, to gather together, to fellowship with one another. Third, they devoted themselves to 'breaking of bread' as Jesus had demonstrated the night He was betrayed. They shared communion together, and the church has not stopped since. Church is where communion is experienced. Finally, they devoted themselves to prayer. Church is where people pray. I had a conversation with friends about the responsibility for the church to be a place/gathering of corporate prayer. It shows in what we call "worship time", in "family time", in "ministry of the Holy Spirit time". It disarms me that so many 'mature Christians' are disengaged during times of prayer, and fully engaged during times of teaching. But I digress.
We go on to read in Acts 2 how all the believers were together, they continued to meet together, and the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. We read that 'wonders and signs were being done by the apostles' and that people were 'selling their possessions and goods, and they gave to anyone who had need'. These are the outworkings of a church that preaches Scripture, experiences communion, and prays, committed to one another and to meeting together. That's what I'm looking to start up in Aldergrove.
Nothing's wrong with blogging (I hope!). Nothing's wrong with talking about theology over a beer (I know!). The Church is very much INvisible, but the Church is also visible. Somebody made the remark that while the visible Church (that which society sees) isn't made entirely of the true (invisible) Church, the invisible Church IS entirely part of the visible Church. That means that if a person is a part of Jesus' Church, His body, His future bride, that person needs to identify with an expression of a church here and now.
There's so much more to say about this. What about the church scattered - that is, outside of regular meetings? What about small groups, care groups, home groups, accountability groups, evangelism, outreach, mid-sized communities, clusters, and a whole assortment of other ways of 'doing church'? Maybe I'll write about those later. But this I firmly believe - what I wrote here about proclaiming Scripture and Gospel, praying, and communion... those need to be foundational to what it means to be church.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
LEFC, A Great Church
nHere I am, the day after my last youth night at LEFC (HERO:SOULARIZE). I have one more week of sharing oxygen, office space, eight or more hours a day, vision, planning, strategy... life with the staff here. I'm gonna miss this place.
We'll still attend church at LEFC. We still want to be plugged into Cluster life (ya Chatterbox!). We still love those who we've built friendships with, and we want to continue on in relationship with the church. Not only for the people, but also for the vision.
This rally cry, this vision, emphasized over again helps make the reality more complete. Jesus Bigger.
UP/IN/OUT, the three dimensions of the Christian life. I'll be taking that everywhere I go. UP in our lives, IN community, OUT in mission. I love it, and I love how LEFC has been obsessed with seeing these realities in our values, in our programming and events, in our purposes, in our trains of thought, in our strategic planning. These values have dictated to us where to focus our budget, and what to cut out (both financially and time/effort/energy).
Darren has been a mentor and a leader to me in thinking through the implications of vision, making vision concrete through strategy and planning and implementation. Janice has been inspiring to watch as she effectively shapes the communication of vision so that others know what they're getting on board with. The others on staff, the elders, and many in the church have excitedly taken the vision to heart and run with it, creating new ways to get on board, tweaking things we've done so that they more closely match the vision. It's an exciting process to be a part of!
Wherever I go, I'll take the lessons and the vision with me. I want Jesus Bigger in my life, in community, and in the neighbourhoods God leads me into, always. To me it's not a slogan, it's not the brand of the month, it's not going to wear out. It's come to define who I want to become. I love that I've had the opportunity and the priviledge of being a part of it!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tgSRqaZb1aLQ9X0msG3RZlJCpJmg_NPnQvvzHpD17l-efFNJ5i9PDSr5uHtaZF1e9Qf3GjcXYoiZQuEDfeEe8ZLFbblGxMrXbpij1Yz4uJn0gmIK2MyATBuKtS5szrCIWZbcRD9_7TtCmqNVzdZfK3=s0-d)
We'll still attend church at LEFC. We still want to be plugged into Cluster life (ya Chatterbox!). We still love those who we've built friendships with, and we want to continue on in relationship with the church. Not only for the people, but also for the vision.
This rally cry, this vision, emphasized over again helps make the reality more complete. Jesus Bigger.
UP/IN/OUT, the three dimensions of the Christian life. I'll be taking that everywhere I go. UP in our lives, IN community, OUT in mission. I love it, and I love how LEFC has been obsessed with seeing these realities in our values, in our programming and events, in our purposes, in our trains of thought, in our strategic planning. These values have dictated to us where to focus our budget, and what to cut out (both financially and time/effort/energy).
Darren has been a mentor and a leader to me in thinking through the implications of vision, making vision concrete through strategy and planning and implementation. Janice has been inspiring to watch as she effectively shapes the communication of vision so that others know what they're getting on board with. The others on staff, the elders, and many in the church have excitedly taken the vision to heart and run with it, creating new ways to get on board, tweaking things we've done so that they more closely match the vision. It's an exciting process to be a part of!
Wherever I go, I'll take the lessons and the vision with me. I want Jesus Bigger in my life, in community, and in the neighbourhoods God leads me into, always. To me it's not a slogan, it's not the brand of the month, it's not going to wear out. It's come to define who I want to become. I love that I've had the opportunity and the priviledge of being a part of it!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Starting to Think about Church Planting... again.
Nehemiah 2:4-5 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.”
Here are my unsorted thoughts...
I am finished ministry at LEFC as of July 1, and I have a three month paid sabbatical after that. Taralyn and I will be taking our sons to Winnipeg for two weeks in the middle of July, I'm helping out with Camp Evergreen at the beginning of August, and we're speaking at Camp Tulahead at the end of August.
After that...???
I've been thinking a lot about Aldergrove. I've driven through it looking for a cafe or a coffee shop or some place I can sit and pray and watch, maybe get into some conversations with the locals. After a while of driving around I settled on Tim Hortons. I dunno... it's... Aldergrove. I think I share the same sentiment of many Aldergrov-ians. It's not a place people want to hang out in, but rather people seem to want to hurry up and get out of, go to Langley or Abbotsford or Chilliwack or Vancouver. It's a hard place, with boarded up businesses and schools, some new developments, a lot of crime, some churches that seem to be on the right page. I think the next step is to check out the demographic and social stats for Aldergrove online.
I've been thinking about church planting, and how it might look. Years ago, I was fascinated with buildings. I'd see a building for lease, drive around it, get out of my car and walk up to it, lay my hand on it and pray for a church to be planted there. These days I'm more about hanging out. Taking my laptop to a cafe, watching people, building up the courage to engage people in conversation, developing consistency and familiarity, meeting with people and getting to know their friends, talking about Jesus, inviting people to hang out together, building a community, studying the Scriptures together, finding ways to worship together, doing life together.
But all this toward what? Planting a church. That's my goal and my aim. I'm not into simply creating community and dialogue. I want church. I want preaching and worship, community on mission, elders for shepherding and accountability, baptisms and communion, UP/IN/OUT, consistency, location... those are all things that I want to see in the church I plant.
{edit...}![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uoIy6dPcpiGrNCNjEG60TBSGDO8HF-zMqPaddrGV15wI42_YPzah773Kpe06ZDdSIKEWnzeBxrUPPFG8EKPvCDKRwOtNZfCZ7K9uNlcf2cDYEyFUnG9op4ro1SUGV8uyw-ouTKmMhCNRc7Qd-cwu0=s0-d)
Here are my unsorted thoughts...
I am finished ministry at LEFC as of July 1, and I have a three month paid sabbatical after that. Taralyn and I will be taking our sons to Winnipeg for two weeks in the middle of July, I'm helping out with Camp Evergreen at the beginning of August, and we're speaking at Camp Tulahead at the end of August.
After that...???
I've been thinking a lot about Aldergrove. I've driven through it looking for a cafe or a coffee shop or some place I can sit and pray and watch, maybe get into some conversations with the locals. After a while of driving around I settled on Tim Hortons. I dunno... it's... Aldergrove. I think I share the same sentiment of many Aldergrov-ians. It's not a place people want to hang out in, but rather people seem to want to hurry up and get out of, go to Langley or Abbotsford or Chilliwack or Vancouver. It's a hard place, with boarded up businesses and schools, some new developments, a lot of crime, some churches that seem to be on the right page. I think the next step is to check out the demographic and social stats for Aldergrove online.
I've been thinking about church planting, and how it might look. Years ago, I was fascinated with buildings. I'd see a building for lease, drive around it, get out of my car and walk up to it, lay my hand on it and pray for a church to be planted there. These days I'm more about hanging out. Taking my laptop to a cafe, watching people, building up the courage to engage people in conversation, developing consistency and familiarity, meeting with people and getting to know their friends, talking about Jesus, inviting people to hang out together, building a community, studying the Scriptures together, finding ways to worship together, doing life together.
But all this toward what? Planting a church. That's my goal and my aim. I'm not into simply creating community and dialogue. I want church. I want preaching and worship, community on mission, elders for shepherding and accountability, baptisms and communion, UP/IN/OUT, consistency, location... those are all things that I want to see in the church I plant.
{edit...}
Friday, June 12, 2009
Diary of a Possible Church Planter
Nehemiah 2:2-3 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad...
I got the bug years ago, and now it seems possible that it's time to act. The bug has matured. Twelve years ago I was a 19-year-old, interning at a large church in the youth ministry, and wondering why we couldn't do things a little bit differently to attract a little bit of a different demographic. I was frustrated and even angered at our cheesy christian clipart, our juvenile activities, and even our massive events targeted at our christian kids.
My youth pastor, the guy I worked under and learned from, had a lot of patience with me. He explained to me that our job as church youth workers (youth pastors) was to nurture the christian kids, whose parents were at 'big church' tithing their big bucks so that we could have a paycheck. He also told me at one point something that drastically and dramatically changed my life. He said, "you know Chad, you're not all that". As much as I was critical of the way things were, I was not the saviour. I wasn't called to be so then, and I'm certainly not called to be now.
Fast forward a few years. I'm married, I've had much, much more church experience both happy and sad, energizing and dissapointing. I have two boys of my own whom I'm terrified to bring up in the knowledge of God, and for the past 6 months at least, I've been 'sad' with what King Artaxerxes might call 'sadness of heart'. Really, it's been the same frustration I felt brewing over all those years ago.
Why do we do the things we do as Christians? Why do we say that we follow the One Who told us to go into the world, while we play it safe in our christian subculture? Why do we blame the darkness for being so bloody dark, when we who are the 'light of the world' refuse go bring light to those places? There's a school 3 blocks down the road from our church building that is notorious for being a 'dark place', and christians who want to keep their kids protected do all that they can to keep their kids away from that darkness - instead they send them to the same school most other christian parents send their kids to. So there's a conglomeration of light - which is practically not a light at all - and there's a school that gets darker and darker. And the christian parents say, 'see, I told you that was a dark place'... GAHH!
The youth ministry's been doing great. There's increasing group cohesion, missional mindset, leaders getting involved in the lives of kids outside the four walls, and excitement about what's to come. But still, there's been this 'sadness', this restlessness, this frustration, this whatever-you-want-to-call-it.
Darren, my lead pastor has recognized it. And after MUCH intense prayer and counsel and tears and anquish, has decided that the best thing for me and for the church would be to release me to find out what it is that could possibly alleviate the sadness, and do it. I'm ending my time here this summer.
My desire is to lead a church in fulfilling the great commission. I love our church, otherwise I wouldn't be so frustrated with her. But I have no option to lead her, and really, no desire to. Here I fellowship and worship, and she's a big ship to turn. I choose to leave that task to Darren. As for me, I need to find a church that I can lead into mission, a church that exists as much for the community around it as for the community within it. If no such church exists, then my desire is to plant - a thought that excites me ("yes, it's finally here!") and terrifies me ("am I really suited and ready?").
I'll keep you posted on our journey.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sGVwwTCHoNWF75z4_eP-HECfYrnUYYVpBj-7gxiaUBn4jeGngdNrolys3mHnB99gUBb-Wpb5awaPbQtXxj12roUa-OLLTvP48xXGMS0T5dSzDj6S6JlDZycRe2qRE-be84YrfbDlVOinKmwWpKFR4V=s0-d)
I got the bug years ago, and now it seems possible that it's time to act. The bug has matured. Twelve years ago I was a 19-year-old, interning at a large church in the youth ministry, and wondering why we couldn't do things a little bit differently to attract a little bit of a different demographic. I was frustrated and even angered at our cheesy christian clipart, our juvenile activities, and even our massive events targeted at our christian kids.
My youth pastor, the guy I worked under and learned from, had a lot of patience with me. He explained to me that our job as church youth workers (youth pastors) was to nurture the christian kids, whose parents were at 'big church' tithing their big bucks so that we could have a paycheck. He also told me at one point something that drastically and dramatically changed my life. He said, "you know Chad, you're not all that". As much as I was critical of the way things were, I was not the saviour. I wasn't called to be so then, and I'm certainly not called to be now.
Fast forward a few years. I'm married, I've had much, much more church experience both happy and sad, energizing and dissapointing. I have two boys of my own whom I'm terrified to bring up in the knowledge of God, and for the past 6 months at least, I've been 'sad' with what King Artaxerxes might call 'sadness of heart'. Really, it's been the same frustration I felt brewing over all those years ago.
Why do we do the things we do as Christians? Why do we say that we follow the One Who told us to go into the world, while we play it safe in our christian subculture? Why do we blame the darkness for being so bloody dark, when we who are the 'light of the world' refuse go bring light to those places? There's a school 3 blocks down the road from our church building that is notorious for being a 'dark place', and christians who want to keep their kids protected do all that they can to keep their kids away from that darkness - instead they send them to the same school most other christian parents send their kids to. So there's a conglomeration of light - which is practically not a light at all - and there's a school that gets darker and darker. And the christian parents say, 'see, I told you that was a dark place'... GAHH!
The youth ministry's been doing great. There's increasing group cohesion, missional mindset, leaders getting involved in the lives of kids outside the four walls, and excitement about what's to come. But still, there's been this 'sadness', this restlessness, this frustration, this whatever-you-want-to-call-it.
Darren, my lead pastor has recognized it. And after MUCH intense prayer and counsel and tears and anquish, has decided that the best thing for me and for the church would be to release me to find out what it is that could possibly alleviate the sadness, and do it. I'm ending my time here this summer.
My desire is to lead a church in fulfilling the great commission. I love our church, otherwise I wouldn't be so frustrated with her. But I have no option to lead her, and really, no desire to. Here I fellowship and worship, and she's a big ship to turn. I choose to leave that task to Darren. As for me, I need to find a church that I can lead into mission, a church that exists as much for the community around it as for the community within it. If no such church exists, then my desire is to plant - a thought that excites me ("yes, it's finally here!") and terrifies me ("am I really suited and ready?").
I'll keep you posted on our journey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)