Church - incompatible with genuine community?

15 years ago, Jeff and Mary Power finished seminary and moved to the suburb of Broomfield, CO (between Denver and Boulder) with the vision of starting a church that functioned as a genuine community.  Ten years later two things were true...

1.  Jeff and his leadership team were exhausted.
2.  They had concluded that the demands of starting and maintaining a traditional church (preaching great sermons, developing meaningful programs, recruiting people, etc.) were incompatible with their vision of genuine community.

As a result, Jeff and his leaders decided to close the church down.

Over the next five years, a number of people in that church remained friends.  Recently, they asked us to help them explore the idea of starting house churches in Broomfield.

Jeff is not alone.  More than 1500 pastors a month are leaving the ministry in America.  Many are questioning if the standard paradigm of church is either consistent with Scripture or healthy for the people involved.

Here's Jeff's story...




For more on this topic see these posts ...

*The story of another pastor who resigned his church.  "Mega church pastor:  "We are completely off base with what discipleship means".   http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/2011/09/mega-church-pastor-we-are-completely.html

* "Increasing number of American's are saying "No!" to traditional church". http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/end%20of%20traditional%20church

* "The end of church planting".  http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/2011/11/end-of-church-planting.html

Traditional church organization plants 75 house churches

Sending missionaries...  across the street.

Most churches understand and practice the concept of sending missionaries overseas.  And, now, there is a growing understanding that we also need to send missionaries across the street.

Reggie McNeal, noted author and church consultant, made this startling comment to a large group of traditional church pastors, "Probably most of the people in your city who are interested in coming to your church are already there."  What this means is that tradition churches that truly want to reach the unchurched in their cities (in Denver, that's 94% of the city) will not do so by tweaking their current programs and hoping that people will show up on Sunday mornings.

Rather, traditional churches will need to develop a revolutionary missionary mentality within their own cities (ie, across the street).  The very best way to do this is to send out (apostelo) men and women to start independent (but connected) house churches.

One group that is leading the way in this innovative strategy is the San Antonio Baptist Association led by Dr. Charles Price.  (Charles' son and daughter-in-law are LK10 Coaches and church planters on Colorado's Western Slope.  See http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/2011/08/church-planting-18-months-or-1-day.html  )  I enjoyed "hanging out" with Charles at the National House Church Conference in September.  He tells the story of the San Antonio House Church Movement in the video below.

(Send this post on to a traditional church leader that you know.)









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Methodist House Churches?

I've just returned from the National House Church Conference in Jacksonville, FL.  It was a wonderful time with 180 participants, 80% of whom had never attended the Conference before.  One observation is that the Lord is increasingly drawing people in traditional churches (Baptist, Methodist, etc.) to consider house churches.  The brief interview below with Rev. Nicole Reilley, a Methodist pastor from the LA area, is one of many examples of this encouraging development.

To all of these brave pioneers who are moving towards the house church model, I feel the Lord wants me to ask a question again that I posed in a post a few weeks ago.  Did John Wesley, who was an amazing house church planter in his day, make a fundamental mistake?  And, if he did, will we make the same mistake?  To see my take on Wesley's "fundamental mistake", see this post http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-john-wesley-missed-family-church.html

Why did Wesley make this major "mistake"?  This link probably explains the reason:  http://lexloiz.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/john-wesley-and-his-wife-part-2/

The Lone Ranger and Tonto considering a CO2

Last weekend, Desi Starr and I were in New Castle, Colorado leading a Regional LK10 Conference.  On Sunday morning, Desi and I had breakfast with Lee Price (who leads the RiverChurches Network on the Western Slope of Colorado) at the New Castle Diner.  Throughout the Diner there were life-sized cutout figures of well known TV and movie personalities.  John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, etc.

Right behind our booth stood The Lone Ranger and Tonto.  Hey, I'm so old that I grew up watching these guys on TV every week.  I couldn't resist interviewing them.  (You can see Desi and Lee in the background.)


CO2?  This is a "church of two".  This is a simple but profound concept that was central to the ministry of Jesus but which has been largely overlooked by today's traditional church.  This tongue-in-cheek interview actually demonstrates how simple church planting becomes when you understand the CO2 concept.  For more on CO2, see the right column of this blog.

Hi Yo Silver!

(If you have no idea who the Lone Ranger is, check out the second video below.)

The Foundations Course.  Want to learn more about CO2?  This fall, LK10 will be offering The Foundations Course, a six week experience designed to teach the spiritual values and practices that make up a "church of two".  The Course involves weekly learning assignments, group conversations with your cohort and individual coaching.  More information on this in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned!

Church planting: 18 months or 1 day?

Back in the late 1980's I planted a "traditional" church.  What a difficult and laborious process!  It took about 18 months and involved many hours spent in demographic studies, committee meetings, budgeting process, locating a facility, developing a worship team and a children's ministry, gaining approval of my denomination, etc.


I decided that I never wanted to go through that again.


The way churches were planted/birthed in the New Testament was infinitely simpler.  This was one of the themes we developed at the Regional LK10 Conference last weekend in New Castle, CO.  New Castle is located on the Western Slope of Colorado about three hours (depending on traffic!) west of Denver.  Desi Starr and myself led the Conference for Lee Price who has developed a network of churches called the River Churches.  http://www.riverchurches.org/index.html


In the video below, Lee and Desi talk about the simplicity of planting churches and about the two churches that were started as a result of the Conference.





The Foundations Course.  Want to learn more about this kind of New Testament church life?  This fall, LK10 will be offering The Foundations Course, a six week experience designed to teach the spiritual values and practices necessary for this kind of this kind of life.  The Course involves weekly learning assignments, group conversations with your cohort and individual coaching.  More information on this in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned!

10:2b - From Eastern Europe to central Texas

The fourth of seven practices that the LK10 Community is committed to is obedience to Jesus' command in Lk 10:2 to "beseech the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers". Jim and Cathy Mellon (as well as many others) have been praying this prayer for the Killeen area of Texas. See http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/2010/09/102b-virus-1.html

So, what does it look like when the Lord of the harvest answers that prayer? See the video below for Wade Adams' (thank you, Wade!) interview with Roger Russell. Here are some of the things that jump out at me...

1. Roger is an experienced, mature "worker". (Sometimes we ask that God would send us people who are "fully formed".)

2. Roger has undergone a "radical personal transformation" from "strategic planning" to listening to God.

3. Roger is clear that God has called him to central Texas to plant churches. He has a vision for that region and then the whole country and the world.

What jumps out at you in the interview?

Note: Roger and Wade and Jim are part of an MRT (an apostolic team) that meets at a Starbucks every week to listen for God's instructions re church planting in their part of Texas.

John

The 10:2b Virus (2)

The Luke Ten Community is defined by seven core practices. Anyone who is seeking to live out these practices qualifies to be part of this Community. These practices are spelled out in The LK10 Invitation which you can read here: http://lk10.com/media/lk10_visionpaper_2_0.pdf

Here's Practice #4: Praying Lk 10:2b

In LK. 10:2, Jesus made a startling statement. In front of Him were 84 (12 + 72) church planters (“sent ones”, apostles). That sounds like a lot to us, but His evaluation was that it was only a “few”. Apparently, He saw the need for many more. And, in addition to identifying that need, He gave the solution. He commanded them to engage in the practice of “beseeching the Lord of the Harvest for more workers”. In this context, workers are both people of peace and more church planters.

We engage this practice with our CO2 partner (as well as others) for the region we are called to as close to daily as possible. This relentless widow lady in LK. 18 is our model for this kind of tenacious praying.

Key quote: “The 10:2b Prayer is the leadership solution.” -Kenny Moore

In the video below, Jim Mellon tells of some amazing answers to this prayer. Notice the wide variety of harvest workers that the Lord of the harvest has sent to Jim and Kathy. Notice also how naturally mission flows from this kind of praying.

More from Jim tomorrow.

John

10:2b Story (Part Two)

As Hobby and his apostolic partner, Robbie James, began praying the 10:2b Prayer (see yesterday's post) the Lord of the Harvest began arranging divine encounters. In the video below you will hear about one of those encounters with Mike Deaton, a professor at James Madison University in Virginia, and his wife JoEtta. (More from JoEtta tomorrow.)

Notice that Mike and JoEtta were already committed to planting house churches. But, two years of very limited success had made them hungry to learn. We have found this to be true for people who are answers to the 10:2b Prayer. In every situation, God has worked in their lives to prepare them. They have been "thrust out" by the Lord of the Harvest and are already motivated. You might say that "God does the heavy lifting" in preparing these church planters.

See what else you hear in Mike's story.

John

A 10:2b Story (Part One)

The DNA of our Luke Ten Community focuses on seven key practices. (To see all seven, go here: http://lk10.com/media/lk10_visionpaper_2_0.pdf )

The fourth practice is in obedience to Jesus' command in Luke 10, verse 2, part b. We sometimes call this the "10:2b Prayer". This was Jesus' solution to a specific problem. Namely, "the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few". To Jesus the answer was obvious - ask the Harvest Master for more laborers.

So, what does a "10:2b answer" look like? In this three part series, you will see three examples of harvest laborers sent out by the Harvest Master.

First, in the video below (the first of three parts), you will see Hobby Chapin who was a "10:2b answer" here in Denver over a year ago. Hobby has become a good friend and a very effective church planter in Brighton (north of Denver). Tomorrow, you will see what happened as Hobby prayed the 10:2b Prayer.

John

City Networks and Listening

We've talked about the idea that "church emerges out of listening". What this means is that we really believe that Jesus is the Head or Leader of each individual church and that, as we listen to Him, He brings the agenda for each meeting.

This same thing is true on the larger level. The house churches in Denver are connected in a relational network. Jesus is also the Head or Leader of this expression of church, and, as we listen to Him, He brings the agenda for the network as well. Church, at every level, emerges out of listening.

See below for two encouraging examples of what people in the Denver Network are hearing. One has to do with connecting women across the city. The other has to do with helping people, especially new believers, learn the Bible.

What a concept! Jesus really is the Head of His church on every level. And, He really is expert at building His church on every level (Mt. 16:18). Our job is not to do a great job of figuring it all out but to do a great job of listening to Him.

John

From Christal Haner: One of the amazing benefits of house church is the close community that we share within our own house churches. One of the more difficult areas of house church is the lack of that broader sense of connectivity within the body of Christ. For a couple years our network (ASPEN) has been putting together a semi-annual women's retreat. So far it has just been about 16 of the women from our network coming together to check in and worship together over a weekend. While I was praying about it for the Fall retreat, I felt a strong need to open up our women's retreat to the entire Denver house church network. So, we would like to invite all of the women in your house churches to be a part of our women's retreat this fall.

From Sean Hyatt: I am writing to ask for your help in praying and listening about a project/vision I feel the Lord has put on my heart. I've chosen to send this email to you specific guys & gals because I am close to you and I trust you to pray and truly listen to what the Lord might speak to you on this. Thank you ahead of time for reading this lengthy email :))

I would like to write, illustrate, and produce a new full-color home Bible study chart. We used to use these as an evangelism and soul-winning tool in the denomination I grew up in. They are designed so that you can teach an individual, family or group for about 12 weeks, an hour or two each week, in the comfort of their home or somewhere out in public in their territory. It is basically like Bible 101. Someone who is interested in learning more about the Bible (or who is simply hungry for God) can go thru this home Bible study with you and learn all about the Bible and all the major stories and themes in the Bible, including the gospel message. It is a powerful soul-winning tool for an individual or a group, and a powerful discipleship tool as well.

Before, when we taught weekly home Bible studies to seekers, at the end of the 12 or so weeks when the study was finished (since all we had to offer them was traditional church) we basically said, "Congratulations! Now that you're saved, you get to come to our church, sit on a cold pew, stare at the back of peoples heads, and marinate for a decade or so" :) ... but now that we understand organic church planting, once the study is done we can simply keep meeting weekly in their home (or the coffee shop or workplace or park or wherever), and a new church is planted with their oikos. A much better situation after the Bible study is done.

There was a time when I was a teenager and a young adult that I was teaching multiple ongoing weekly 'chart' Bible studies in multiple homes, and winning multiple sinners to Jesus...it was a very exciting and fulfilling time. Colorful chart Bible studies also are great for teaching children or teens or young adults (or anyone without a basic biblical foundation) all the basics about the Bible, Jesus, the gospel, and the kingdom of God.

Any and all feedback or ideas, positive or negative, are welcome (truly!). I just want to get some further direction from the Lord before proceeding...

CO2 - The Hyatt Family (4)

In response to the story about the Hyatt family doing CO2, Jared Looney, a church planter in NYC, posted this comment yesterday...

We recently did S.A.S.H.E.T. as a family. That is, my wife, my five year old daughter, and me. My wife and I had practiced this tool in various settings before, but doing it as a family with our 5 year old was pretty awesome.

Isn't that encouraging! Nothing excites me more than stories of children, even young children, responding to these simple ways of doing/being church.

Today, in the fourth and last part of this interview, Sean tells how his family has shared CO2 with other families and individuals. Notice again how natural and almost effortless this is. It creates a whole new picture for the term "church planting".

Also makes me think of the title of Roland Allen's famous book: The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church.

Your thoughts?

John

Chadd & Nancy Schroeder - Guadalajara, Mexico - Part 1

Chadd and Nancy Schroeder are missionaries in Guadalajara, Mexico. Along with their three daughters, they are involved in helping to plant simple churches and helping to identify and support & encourage men and women whom God has prepared for leadership in the Church in Mexico. In this Part 1 of a conversation, Chadd shares about the work he and Nancy have been involved with in Mexico and how they underwent a major shift from planting and leading a traditional, attractional model of church to helping identify and equip men and women of peace whom God had preveniently called to lead and oversee simple/house churches.

You can follow the Schroeder's and their story by visiting their blog at this link.

Here's the conversation...

"Viral" Multiplication

This video shows the airplane traffic flow around the world in a 24-hour period. This is a good visual demonstration of how a virus, or breaking news or even the Gospel might spread virally and organically through relationships around the world. That which is simple is easier to reproduce and multiply, kind of like C02.

C02's in the Land of Enchantment - Part 2

In this Part 2 of a Two-Part conversation, Peg Batcheller, a Church Planter in Albuquerque, New Mexico, continues to share stories of the effect that C02 has had on her and others who have been practicing these two disciplines.

Kent Smith (4): Tools

What are some tools that can help people better understand and engage the vibrant community life we have been considering?

Let me suggest three:

· Keep reading—and engaging with—"Stories From the Revolution". With your help we’ll continue to work to make this blog a steady source of practical and encouraging interaction with the growing community of people on this journey. I find it really helpful to have Feedblitz send me every new post. You can do the same by signing up in the right hand column here (on the site).

· Read Centered, the ebook I wrote with some friends as a brief introduction to this vibrant life. You can now get it in either the Kindle or DNL format here: thecenteredlife.net.

· Explore the resources at: LK10Resources.com. We’ll continue to populate this site with great tools to help practitioners.



What if you feel called to join the Peace Bearers (ie, church planters) in bringing the Kingdom news to new pockets of people?

· Join LK10.com A community of practice for church planters. Connect with over 500 people from around the world who are actively exploring life on mission with God. Discover people from your area who are on a similar journey.

· Consider apprenticing with a community-of-faith-in-training. This could be informal with people in your city or region who are already on this journey. For some a great option is to consider formal training, such as the program I direct at Abilene Christian University leading to a master’s degree in missions or ministry.

These are amazing days. What is possible now has never been so before. But as always, in the midst of this, God is at work to form his Bride and to establish his Kingdom among all peoples. And we have been invited to join him—each of us uniquely—in this great mission.

As you think about our mission and what tools are available either through our community or others, what needs to be done better? What else do you think would be helpful?