Big Decision, little steps

Yes.

I am going to plant a church.

Not because I think I can do it better than another church or another psator, but because i believe this is a good and right thing to do. Now. Here. And not doing this would be wrong for me.

Questions I (mostly) have short answers to:

When? Saturday evenings, once or twice a month, starting April 7. Easter weekend.

Where? Our house

What? A very simple, small, Jesus-focused gathering. Probably some scripture about Jesus' death and resurrection, some music, some teaching from me, and sharing and praying from anyone who wants to, communion for everyone who wants a taste of grace. . .

Questions with longer and less complete answers . . . How? and Why? and Who?

More to come on those things soon, very soon.

Oh, what is the name of this church-to-be? For now, and again, "Streams of Grace".

Let it flow!

"that's not a church . . . "

As Joe and I have been seeking to follow the vision God has given us, we have had a few very frustrating meetings. One of those was our first assessment interview. When we shared some of the 'outside-the-box' ideas for our potential church plant, we were told, "That's not a church, its a ministry." We were frustrated, confused and a little bit ticked.

Yes, it is a church, it is also a ministry, and a Kingdom work, and a community.
How are those other things not a church?

See, when you tell a 'regular church-goer' that the main thing you will focus on is not the Sunday morning assembly with 3 songs and a sermon -- well, its a big stretch for them to see how you could de-emphasize that and still be a church. By definition, church has to be 30 or more people meeting every week to listen to a preacher, collect an offering, in a room with a sign that says 'such-and such church.'

All the other stuff - like praying together, sharing meals, serving the lost and broken, discussing how the Word and the Spirit are transforming us, having meaningful conversations with people who don't know Jesus, creating beauty, seeking justice, loving people. . . well all that stuff is good, but it is extra, "it's not church!"

Not that they think that this is a bad idea: a storefront art gallery with live music and a prayer space, right in the middle of an urban community - where un-churched people can connect with grace-giving Christians - and Christians can gather to worship and learn and create and be a community. They say, "Great idea, go do it!"

BUT they also say they won't support it as a church plant, because it won't look like church the way they do it. "It's just not our DNA." Which feels rather like: "Sorry dear, it won't look like the rest of the family, so we don't feel comfortable helping you give birth to this baby. Go ahead and do it on your own; maybe we will adopt it later on."

So after months of hoping for support and blessing from what has been my church 'family,' and despairing to the point that I've seriously considered aborting this vision - I've realized that maybe they are right.

What God has conceived in my heart does not look like "church." It doesn't have the same desired outcome as most church planting models. I can't force this dream into a process that is designed to produce a 'normal' church and expect it to become something else. I'll be fighting to fit in and stay true to the calling - and I can't accomplish both of those. So we can either let go of the dream - or let go of the desire to be accepted within a limited definition of 'church.' Guess which one God is asking us to pursue?

How long does this take?

People keep asking me 'when?'

I keep asking the same question.
I think the answer is: longer than I want it to. . .
and WAY longer than Joe thinks it should.

I like that there's a process for assessing and coaching church planters - I don't like that it necessarily involves administrative work which takes time.

I just finished filling out a 12 page application, which I will turn in today. And then I will wait, hopefully not toooo long, before the district church plant coordinator sets up an assessment interview. I think that's supposed to be a 3-hour deal, with Joe and I answering behavioral questions to determine if we are 'ready' to plant a church. There are supposed to be 3 people, all pastors, on the assessment team - just getting that scheduled is going to take time!


So I got this "Timeline for church planting"
It is graphically cool - but doesn't actually have any actual increments of time on it.
http://reachmore.foursquare.org/articles/10,1.html


So, is this going to take 6 months? - 2 years? 40? We hope to have our assessment interview in February, go to Church Planters Intensive in March or April, start meeting soon after and 'go public' in August or September.
We may be crazy, however.

Don't pray that we'll have patience, please! But you can pray with us for God's timing.

Streams of Grace - vision and values

Spiritual and Social

Transformation, through:

Redemptive Relationships

Experiences & God-Encounters

Artistic Expression

Missional Ministry

Sacred Spaces

of

Grace

Renewal

Acceptance

Creativity

Encouragement

first meetings

Thursday Joe and I sat down with our pastor, Mark. We sketched the basic vision and values for our new church - and talked about the location and the format some.
This afternoon we will meet with Pastor Richard - the District Supervisor for Arizona Foursquare.
The next step in the formal process is paperwork, of course, and then an assessment interview.

I'm feeling confident and excited - today at least!

We're Expecting!!!

Newsflash

Joe and Adriene are starting to blog about our new big adventure, and we invite you to eavesdrop and join in the conversation.

We are going to plant a church - some time in 2008.
Joe says 10-12 months, Adriene is thinking it only takes 9 months to grow a baby, so it should take about the same time to gestate and birth a church, right?