Sunday in retrospect
Last Sunday night was the first gathering for our church plant, and I've been sitting at my PC for a while now (a couple of days actually) trying to summarise and reflect on what happened.
The only words that are coming to mind are: overwhelmed, joyful, encouraged, challenged, excited, affirmed in my faith, and not just a little bit fearful (in the good sense).
For a long while now, there has been a small group of people carrying a vision in their hearts for a plant onto the University Endowment Lands. A number of people gathered together to hear about this vision on Sunday, and in the process we were able to light a little spark in their hearts as well (or fan a little brighter the flame already there). I won't say that everyone who came had this experience, but judging by the responses I have had via email, or by phone, or in person, the response was significant.
A number of people have already sacrificed a lot for this vision, and will continue to do so, because they are convinced that this is a God-breathed venture. God is calling many people to own this: it is not my vision, I didn't ask God for it, but I own it now and love it. It is God's plan and He has asked me to carry it, along with many wonderful and godly people.
So on the night Reid Johnson and I shared what God has been doing (as much as we perceive of course!) to bring this vision to a "time such as this". Reid began UCM (University Christian Ministries) on the UBC campus almost 23 years ago. Since that time he has also desired to see a church planted on the campus as well, another ministry to compliment UCM and reach the people UCM can't. He has been praying to that effect through the intervening years.
About 18 months ago the vision began to pick up some momentum: the elders and board of PGCC (my church) identified that the "still small voice of God" was telling them to prepare for a church plant by Jan 2005. At a subsequent AGM the board recommended to the members of the church that we set aside $50,000 of "seed money" to prepare for that time. This was quite a challenge, because 50G is a reasonable amount of shekels, but it was done in faith and God has honoured their faith. They also wrote it down into a 'vision document', which like many such things, was written, shelved and forgotten about. But I found a copy of the document and there it is, plain as day: a directive to begin a work of extension.
Over roughly the same period of time, I began to get a little uncomfortable. A lot of folks at church were saying strange things to us (Melissa and I), frightening things, like: "we really don't think you guys are meant to leave Vancouver"; and "gee, wouldn't it be great if you could stick around after you're finished at Regent." I knew in my heart that God was stirring the pot, switching it up, messing up our hair, poking us in the ribs...
And then it came. Our Snr Pastor Lawrence Rae, invited Melissa and I to stay in Canada, join the PGCC staff as a church planter, and head up the work onto the campus. After a number of months praying, fasting, waiting, talking, reading, wrestling, and contemplating (etc!), we agreed. This was the will of God. Immediately after (like within seconds of) saying "yes", the dreams began and the joy rose up like a flood!
At about the same time, a piece of land on the campus was offered to PGCC. A piece of land! There is NO LAND for sale on the UEL that is available to private investors. NONE. The developers ALWAYS know about it before anyone else. They ALWAYS outbid everyone else. But "here", says God via some lovely Lutheran folks, "have some land. And while we're at it, you might as well buy it for far less than it is worth on the open market, is $300,000 less OK?" Is it OK?! You better believe it. So, after a lot of blood, sweat and tears by our Assoc. Pastor Mr Greg Laing* (who negotiated with banks and lawyers and the vendors and the PGCC board and ...) we now have some land on the campus. One lot back from the corner of Wesbrook Mall and University BLVD. And we are praying for more land, because we need the property next to the one we own. The one right on the corner. This one may not be as easy to come by, but nothing is impossible for God.
Those of you who were there on Sunday know the rest of the story: God has given me a very specific vision for the plant. The church MUST be a missional church. And that DOES NOT mean that we will all get full of evangelistic fervour and run around handing out tracts to everyone we see. No no no no no no no! It has to be more personal than that. People don't want to meet Christ through a little booklet that explains the "four spiritual laws". They want to meet Christ through a person. They want to see Jesus with skin on: through a human being. So, the vision of this church is to create opportunities for that to happen (and not just through big rallies and evangelistic outreach programs). What we need to create are "neutral spaces" or "proximity spaces". Places that non-believers are happy to go into, but are not "programmed", so there is room for casual friendships to emerge. A cafe perhaps. I mean a real cafe, like the old French salons. A place of activity, creativity, discussion, debate, friendship, music, poetry, art and life. A place where people will go with their friends and sit, sip a good coffee, eat a pastry or two, and talk about life. I don't mean a branded, Fourbucks-type place. At this cafe you don't walk in, buy your coffee in a paper cup and walk out. At this cafe you come in, sit down, and enjoy the atmosphere. This cafe is a refuge. A safe-place. A warm haven. A place where believers will meet each day before opening to pray for the customers, where the staff will learn the name of regulars and try to find out some of their story, their life. Not just so that they can "get someone saved", but because that person needs to meet Jesus: because that person is valued by God, and thus, valued by us. I could go on, but I'm already getting a bit preachy. Suffice to say that I want to create a space where the Christian world and the Non-Christian world can meet and intersect: creating room for the spirit to work in people through our contact; in people who would otherwise never have any other connection to the believing community. For those of you interested in this kind of thing, I encourage you to read The Shaping of Things to Come by Mike Frost and Alan Hirsch.
This idea is not new, but it is still fairly underground. The best example I've seen is here. This is a ministry run by a church in Houston. It isn't restricted to cafes. There is a shoe-seller in San Francisco who is trying to do the same thing through his shoe store. The store is called the "Subterranean Shoe Room". Here is an example of a recent art show he held in his store (warning, the images at this art show are not what you might call "Christian", but then the dude is trying to reach people who live pretty far from church culture... just the sort of people that no-one else will reach). Here (.pdf) and here are two other articles about just this sort of ministry. The first is specifically about the sub-shoe room, and other creative type ministries in the same vein. The second is about the larger cultural trends that these kind of ministries address.
The other side of the coin for this plant is, of course, the traditional church stuff: worship, family and kids ministry, leadership development and discipleship, healing and deliverance etc. All of this I value - very much so. I want to make sure we develop this, and do it well. In fact, I think key to our growth and vitality as a church will be family ministry. There are a lot of families on campus. More than people realise, I think. I believe we need to find a way to support them, and help them, but as to how we're going to do it, at this stage I don't know. We need some creative minds to think and pray about it. One such creative mind, Erin Cooper, has already stepped up and started to walk with us in this process. Erin will be leading the development of our Kids ministry next year, which is (of course!) also a big change in her 'life plans'. But, she has heard God's call. Bless her!
I don't want this church's ministry to be totally centralised. I want it to be grassroots. This needs to be a church of people thinking creatively and praying earnestly for the area, letting God lead them - taking risks. Since we won't have a large facility we'll have to approach our ministry in this kind of way: less emphasis on programs, more on relationship building. Some programs are good and needed, 'programs' are not the problem. The problem arises when 'programs' become the only way to do ministry.
I also mentioned on Sunday that I value the 5-fold ministry: Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher; as well as the gifts of the spirit in general. Part of my fundamental philosophy of ministry is the CENTRAL importance of these gifts within the life of the church, especially amongst the leadership. If you don't believe me read Eph 4:1-16. Paul specifically equates the operation of these ministries/gifts to the health, maturity, strength, and mission of the church. Read the passage again. Read it carefully. It is very powerful.
So much more to say! But this blog is already long enough. Glenn Innes emailed me today and suggested that we start a kind of collective blog for the plant community. Not a bad idea. Perhaps we should do just that. Not sure how though. Any thoughts?
To cut a long story short, Sunday night was awesome. We worshipped, prayed, shared some history, spoke about the future, counted the cost, asked God to help us discern His will, and we honoured the Lord for His faithfulness. God is good. Personally, I am very excited about this.
Please pray for this venture and for all the folks involved: specifically, Erin Cooper, Reid Johnson, Tracy Moar, Arthur Howard, and Melissa and I. These are the folks who (so far) form the core leadership. We need your prayer! And if you happen to pass by the Lutheran Campus Centre at UBC, pray for the land - ask God to give it to us!
Finally, a big thanks to all my wonderful friends (I don't want to name you in case I forget someone and cause offence - but you all know who you are): you sustain me, you help me to keep my arms lifted, you bless me. May God kiss you in return.
*Please take a moment if you see Greg to thank him, hug him, buy him a Christmas present, shake his hand, encourage him, pray for him... this process just about put him under. It is very complicated for churches to get loans, and Greg arranged it in an impossibly super-fast fashion (and it almost cost him his health and sanity).
The only words that are coming to mind are: overwhelmed, joyful, encouraged, challenged, excited, affirmed in my faith, and not just a little bit fearful (in the good sense).
For a long while now, there has been a small group of people carrying a vision in their hearts for a plant onto the University Endowment Lands. A number of people gathered together to hear about this vision on Sunday, and in the process we were able to light a little spark in their hearts as well (or fan a little brighter the flame already there). I won't say that everyone who came had this experience, but judging by the responses I have had via email, or by phone, or in person, the response was significant.
A number of people have already sacrificed a lot for this vision, and will continue to do so, because they are convinced that this is a God-breathed venture. God is calling many people to own this: it is not my vision, I didn't ask God for it, but I own it now and love it. It is God's plan and He has asked me to carry it, along with many wonderful and godly people.
So on the night Reid Johnson and I shared what God has been doing (as much as we perceive of course!) to bring this vision to a "time such as this". Reid began UCM (University Christian Ministries) on the UBC campus almost 23 years ago. Since that time he has also desired to see a church planted on the campus as well, another ministry to compliment UCM and reach the people UCM can't. He has been praying to that effect through the intervening years.
About 18 months ago the vision began to pick up some momentum: the elders and board of PGCC (my church) identified that the "still small voice of God" was telling them to prepare for a church plant by Jan 2005. At a subsequent AGM the board recommended to the members of the church that we set aside $50,000 of "seed money" to prepare for that time. This was quite a challenge, because 50G is a reasonable amount of shekels, but it was done in faith and God has honoured their faith. They also wrote it down into a 'vision document', which like many such things, was written, shelved and forgotten about. But I found a copy of the document and there it is, plain as day: a directive to begin a work of extension.
Over roughly the same period of time, I began to get a little uncomfortable. A lot of folks at church were saying strange things to us (Melissa and I), frightening things, like: "we really don't think you guys are meant to leave Vancouver"; and "gee, wouldn't it be great if you could stick around after you're finished at Regent." I knew in my heart that God was stirring the pot, switching it up, messing up our hair, poking us in the ribs...
And then it came. Our Snr Pastor Lawrence Rae, invited Melissa and I to stay in Canada, join the PGCC staff as a church planter, and head up the work onto the campus. After a number of months praying, fasting, waiting, talking, reading, wrestling, and contemplating (etc!), we agreed. This was the will of God. Immediately after (like within seconds of) saying "yes", the dreams began and the joy rose up like a flood!
At about the same time, a piece of land on the campus was offered to PGCC. A piece of land! There is NO LAND for sale on the UEL that is available to private investors. NONE. The developers ALWAYS know about it before anyone else. They ALWAYS outbid everyone else. But "here", says God via some lovely Lutheran folks, "have some land. And while we're at it, you might as well buy it for far less than it is worth on the open market, is $300,000 less OK?" Is it OK?! You better believe it. So, after a lot of blood, sweat and tears by our Assoc. Pastor Mr Greg Laing* (who negotiated with banks and lawyers and the vendors and the PGCC board and ...) we now have some land on the campus. One lot back from the corner of Wesbrook Mall and University BLVD. And we are praying for more land, because we need the property next to the one we own. The one right on the corner. This one may not be as easy to come by, but nothing is impossible for God.
Those of you who were there on Sunday know the rest of the story: God has given me a very specific vision for the plant. The church MUST be a missional church. And that DOES NOT mean that we will all get full of evangelistic fervour and run around handing out tracts to everyone we see. No no no no no no no! It has to be more personal than that. People don't want to meet Christ through a little booklet that explains the "four spiritual laws". They want to meet Christ through a person. They want to see Jesus with skin on: through a human being. So, the vision of this church is to create opportunities for that to happen (and not just through big rallies and evangelistic outreach programs). What we need to create are "neutral spaces" or "proximity spaces". Places that non-believers are happy to go into, but are not "programmed", so there is room for casual friendships to emerge. A cafe perhaps. I mean a real cafe, like the old French salons. A place of activity, creativity, discussion, debate, friendship, music, poetry, art and life. A place where people will go with their friends and sit, sip a good coffee, eat a pastry or two, and talk about life. I don't mean a branded, Fourbucks-type place. At this cafe you don't walk in, buy your coffee in a paper cup and walk out. At this cafe you come in, sit down, and enjoy the atmosphere. This cafe is a refuge. A safe-place. A warm haven. A place where believers will meet each day before opening to pray for the customers, where the staff will learn the name of regulars and try to find out some of their story, their life. Not just so that they can "get someone saved", but because that person needs to meet Jesus: because that person is valued by God, and thus, valued by us. I could go on, but I'm already getting a bit preachy. Suffice to say that I want to create a space where the Christian world and the Non-Christian world can meet and intersect: creating room for the spirit to work in people through our contact; in people who would otherwise never have any other connection to the believing community. For those of you interested in this kind of thing, I encourage you to read The Shaping of Things to Come by Mike Frost and Alan Hirsch.
This idea is not new, but it is still fairly underground. The best example I've seen is here. This is a ministry run by a church in Houston. It isn't restricted to cafes. There is a shoe-seller in San Francisco who is trying to do the same thing through his shoe store. The store is called the "Subterranean Shoe Room". Here is an example of a recent art show he held in his store (warning, the images at this art show are not what you might call "Christian", but then the dude is trying to reach people who live pretty far from church culture... just the sort of people that no-one else will reach). Here (.pdf) and here are two other articles about just this sort of ministry. The first is specifically about the sub-shoe room, and other creative type ministries in the same vein. The second is about the larger cultural trends that these kind of ministries address.
The other side of the coin for this plant is, of course, the traditional church stuff: worship, family and kids ministry, leadership development and discipleship, healing and deliverance etc. All of this I value - very much so. I want to make sure we develop this, and do it well. In fact, I think key to our growth and vitality as a church will be family ministry. There are a lot of families on campus. More than people realise, I think. I believe we need to find a way to support them, and help them, but as to how we're going to do it, at this stage I don't know. We need some creative minds to think and pray about it. One such creative mind, Erin Cooper, has already stepped up and started to walk with us in this process. Erin will be leading the development of our Kids ministry next year, which is (of course!) also a big change in her 'life plans'. But, she has heard God's call. Bless her!
I don't want this church's ministry to be totally centralised. I want it to be grassroots. This needs to be a church of people thinking creatively and praying earnestly for the area, letting God lead them - taking risks. Since we won't have a large facility we'll have to approach our ministry in this kind of way: less emphasis on programs, more on relationship building. Some programs are good and needed, 'programs' are not the problem. The problem arises when 'programs' become the only way to do ministry.
I also mentioned on Sunday that I value the 5-fold ministry: Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher; as well as the gifts of the spirit in general. Part of my fundamental philosophy of ministry is the CENTRAL importance of these gifts within the life of the church, especially amongst the leadership. If you don't believe me read Eph 4:1-16. Paul specifically equates the operation of these ministries/gifts to the health, maturity, strength, and mission of the church. Read the passage again. Read it carefully. It is very powerful.
So much more to say! But this blog is already long enough. Glenn Innes emailed me today and suggested that we start a kind of collective blog for the plant community. Not a bad idea. Perhaps we should do just that. Not sure how though. Any thoughts?
To cut a long story short, Sunday night was awesome. We worshipped, prayed, shared some history, spoke about the future, counted the cost, asked God to help us discern His will, and we honoured the Lord for His faithfulness. God is good. Personally, I am very excited about this.
Please pray for this venture and for all the folks involved: specifically, Erin Cooper, Reid Johnson, Tracy Moar, Arthur Howard, and Melissa and I. These are the folks who (so far) form the core leadership. We need your prayer! And if you happen to pass by the Lutheran Campus Centre at UBC, pray for the land - ask God to give it to us!
Finally, a big thanks to all my wonderful friends (I don't want to name you in case I forget someone and cause offence - but you all know who you are): you sustain me, you help me to keep my arms lifted, you bless me. May God kiss you in return.
*Please take a moment if you see Greg to thank him, hug him, buy him a Christmas present, shake his hand, encourage him, pray for him... this process just about put him under. It is very complicated for churches to get loans, and Greg arranged it in an impossibly super-fast fashion (and it almost cost him his health and sanity).
posted by Timbo at 1:12 pm
1 Comments:
Tim, I love you, man. It's impossible not to catch your excitement reading this (and yes, I did read the whole thing.) Prayer is a yes. God is good. Amen.
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