'Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men' - Jesus.
Here's my response: let's play. Let's fish for men. Let's bring the Gospel to those who really can use it. Let's put out into deep water, let the nets down, and catch us some fish!
Jesus said these words to experienced professional fishermen who had caught nothing, nothing at all, all night long. He comes along, a carpenter, and tells them they're doing it all wrong. 'Drop your nets on the OTHER SIDE of the boat' he says. Oh, the other side! Of course! What were we thinking! Stupid us, we thought just as many fish would be on one side as the other! OK Christ, I'll do what you say... What the...
'I know how fishing works, and I know how men are. I'll show you how to fish for men.'
So I have followed Jesus, followed His leading to Aldergrove. I've said before that if I'd gone to plant a church in Vancouver, I might have a number of families with me from the start. But Aldergrove? Such a small town! Such a small pond! I've said before that Aldergrove has people who need the Gospel too. But how many are open to receiving it? We've said we're not necessarily here for everybody in Aldergrove, but for those who 'could really use' the Gospel, ie. those who are open to it. Is it feasible to start a church in Aldergrove, or should I be content with starting a Bible Study?
In Aldergrove, we currently have 3 families (and some) involved with Access Church. 7 adults, 5 kids. 12 people in a town of 12,000. Translate that to the city of Vancouver, and Access Church is a bustling 578 souls in a city of 578,041. But is that bad math? Does that even really matter? Sadly, not when the bills come due. NO, I am NOT in this for the money. But I am increasingly aware as my family grows (along with my responsibility to them) that I can't continue to fish in small ponds and keep food on the table.
So what? Do we throw our nets over to the other side of the boat? What does that even mean? Do we abandon our nets and our boat to follow Jesus somewhere else? Do we continue to lean on Him and learn from Him how to fish for men? Am I a bad leader for not being able to inspire more people to follow, or am I in the wrong place, or will it just take more time?
The conflicted thoughts of a church planter. Please post if you have any wisdom or thoughts on this.
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Monday, November 08, 2010
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Access Community...
In July 2010 we started our prime Access Community. It happened almost by accident, and it was the life saver that we needed at that point in our church planting journey.
Up till that time, we had previously attempted an 'attractional strategy', aimed at holding services and building a following through monthly gatherings. When that didn't work, I went underground, building up awareness of our mission and intention in Aldergrove. To be truthful, I was dissapointed and discouraged at that point of our journey, wondering how we would move forward. In June I encountered another Aldergrove resident who had the same vision for a church plant here, and we decided that we'd begin meeting regularly, every two weeks, and invite others to come along.
As it turned out, at our first Access Community get-together we had 16 people attend. It seemed that once we got the ball rolling, things started happening. Momentum was building. Out of those 16 people, we held on to two other families (making up three families) to form something of a 'core group'. Five months into it, we're still at three families, and we're still meeting bi-weekly (that is, every other week).
Of course, we decided to change up the schedule for Hallowe'en, believing that it was a good opportunity for all to be involved in our respective communities. We said that we would meet the following week instead. As it happened, 4/5 of my family was sick, another family was away, and so we decided once again to call off our get-together. Now here we are, not having met together for a month.
It has become apparent that meeting bi-weekly doesn't foster the kind of community that is required to maintain our momentum. We know one another to an extent, but not deeply enough to really 'be with' one another, trusting each other with our spiritual or life journeys. Yes, there have been other factors in this loss of momentum - such as the birth of our youngest son in October and the lead-up to that, the reality and dynamics of family life with small children (for us and for another family in our core), and the pressures and timelines of work, as well as the transitory nature of Aldergrove.
What this has all taught me, however, is that we need to step up our collective commitment to our Access Community. This means going weekly with our meeting together, as well as making intentional effort to get together on an unscheduled/casual/friendly basis throughout the week, and of course times of corporate prayer and worship.
A church will not be planted by disconnected core. The next step in the journey is to connect those in the core socially, spiritually, and physically.
Up till that time, we had previously attempted an 'attractional strategy', aimed at holding services and building a following through monthly gatherings. When that didn't work, I went underground, building up awareness of our mission and intention in Aldergrove. To be truthful, I was dissapointed and discouraged at that point of our journey, wondering how we would move forward. In June I encountered another Aldergrove resident who had the same vision for a church plant here, and we decided that we'd begin meeting regularly, every two weeks, and invite others to come along.
As it turned out, at our first Access Community get-together we had 16 people attend. It seemed that once we got the ball rolling, things started happening. Momentum was building. Out of those 16 people, we held on to two other families (making up three families) to form something of a 'core group'. Five months into it, we're still at three families, and we're still meeting bi-weekly (that is, every other week).
Of course, we decided to change up the schedule for Hallowe'en, believing that it was a good opportunity for all to be involved in our respective communities. We said that we would meet the following week instead. As it happened, 4/5 of my family was sick, another family was away, and so we decided once again to call off our get-together. Now here we are, not having met together for a month.
It has become apparent that meeting bi-weekly doesn't foster the kind of community that is required to maintain our momentum. We know one another to an extent, but not deeply enough to really 'be with' one another, trusting each other with our spiritual or life journeys. Yes, there have been other factors in this loss of momentum - such as the birth of our youngest son in October and the lead-up to that, the reality and dynamics of family life with small children (for us and for another family in our core), and the pressures and timelines of work, as well as the transitory nature of Aldergrove.
What this has all taught me, however, is that we need to step up our collective commitment to our Access Community. This means going weekly with our meeting together, as well as making intentional effort to get together on an unscheduled/casual/friendly basis throughout the week, and of course times of corporate prayer and worship.
A church will not be planted by disconnected core. The next step in the journey is to connect those in the core socially, spiritually, and physically.
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)
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