Reflections on 11/24 Class

After discussing our small groups' core values at length during today's class, I realized how the value of incarnation is foundational to our lives as Christians yet also manifests itself in a variety of ways depending upon the cultural context in which a church exists. What it means to live like Christ and incarnate the Gospel within the slums of an international city differs drastically from what it looks like to do the same in a church plant located in an affluent neighborhood in Los Angeles, for example. Knowing and understanding the population with whom we desire to work is crucial. And yet, as we have discussed throughout the quarter, we must continue to remain open to the moving of the Spirit, in this case not falling trap to cultural context dictating our every decision within a church plant. Culture is a key aspect of how we live our lives incarnationally, but God is bigger than any cultural context will ever be.

Reflections on 11/19 Class

Near the end of last week's class period, as we went group-by-group and listed the core values that we felt were essential to incorporate into our church plants, I was struck by the level of creative freedom that God bestows on all of us. None of our lists aligned completely; in fact, there was often very little overlap from group to group. Yet it was clear that each one of us had taken our innermost desires for our plants and come together in community to discuss and creatively integrate these desires together. Although the outcomes may have differed significantly, the entire class was united by a common purpose--to discern the will of God and to explore creatively within that will.

Tom Sine's The New Conspirators

Conversation one of Sine’s work examines the four streams—emerging, missional, mosaic, and monastic—that have surfaced as the significant movements to renew and reimagine the Western Church in recent years. This section of the book provides a succinct description of each of the movements without resorting to absolute definitions or pigeonholing each group into specific categories. Therefore, Sine begins his book with a foundation through which to understand the new directions in which the Western Church is moving and thus which will have an influence on my own future church plant.

Conversation two then examines the impact of globalization, how the world has changed post-9/11, and how it is being influenced by the Western values of individualism and materialism. Therefore, we as the Church must make a conscious effort not to promote a direct link between Western cultural values and Christianity at large. We must also be aware that globalization and materialism have defined our eschatological hope and have a direct effect on other cultures. As a future church planter, I and my team must seek ways to combat these influences proactively.

The third section of Sine’s book continues the conversation begun in section two. This section is essential because of the way it reimages Christian eschatology as a homecoming of sorts in which God’s creation will eventually be restored and thus in which we get to participate now through the work of the Kingdom. Such a theological notion is essential for how we as the Church work to embody the missio dei and strive to be missional. Furthermore, it influences the sorts of celebrations that we have, the way in which we live our daily lives, and how readily we pay attention and respond to the injustice occurring around us—aspects of a church which are all important to consider throughout the planting process.

I found conversation four to be the most helpful out of all of the sections in Sine’s book, as it outlines specific examples of ways existing and new churches can research the cultural changes occurring around them and thus look ahead to the future accordingly. This allows a church to be proactive and combat the challenges that they might face (i.e. environmental issues, poverty and economic disparity, the declining church) while also seeking to provide positive alternatives to these situations.

Finally, conversation five of Sine’s work is important because it tells stories of specific ways in which church communities are creatively addressing the changes occurring within the world and thus within the church. This section is important for the final paper because of the wealth of first-hand accounts it provides on things like the use of ancient liturgy, missional approaches to church, and kingdom-living practices.

Reflections on 11/17 Class

Although this may seem like an obvious observation, today's work in our small groups allowed me to see the value in pursuing unity of heart and mind among the members of a church planting team. Despite any differences of opinion or in our strategic approaches, we all sought to find common ground while working to simplify our planting plans into deep convictions and foundational values. The differences in our approaches faded because we all were united in our willingness to pursue God's desires for our church, the community, and the world at large. This is a truth that I recognize that I must hold onto in any of my future planting opportunities.

Reflections on 11/12 Class (Bishop Cray)

While I found all of Bishop Cray's lecture in our class on Thursday to be thought-provoking, I especially was struck by the notion that we must approach church planting with an attitude of waiting to see what God grows out of our willingness to partner with him. The results can be as wide-ranging as a new project, an increase in new members, a new cell, or even a new church. The point, though, is not to attempt to understand or determine ahead of time what the results will be, but rather to remain patient, listening to the voice of the Spirit and moving accordingly throughout the entire process. Bishop Cray then raised the important point that churches will need to learn the skill of discernment if they want truly to see what God is doing and thus join in.

Reflections on 11/11 Missiology Lecture

Throughout Bishop Cray's lecture on the Fresh Expression Movement, I was reminded of the importance of allowing the Spirit to guide and direct a church planting or renewal movement. I think that the modern church separated itself almost completely from the moving of the Spirit (often by intellectualizing the faith). Thus, many of us in both the mainline and evangelical traditions are left to re-learn how to appropriate the sort of discernment and imagination that is needed to plant churches that are able to meet the needs of the contexts in which they find themselves.

Reflections on 11/5 Class

Discussion during Thursday's class raised the important issue of how we need to be proactive in including people from all walks of life in our church plants/renewals in order to avoid the socioeconomic, racial, and gender homogeneity that often occurs at the leadership level. All people need to be empowered to become leaders in the ways in which God has gifted them, including the poor and the marginalized. This idea speaks to the importance of mentoring and raising up individuals from a variety of backgrounds to meaningfully contribute to the growth and purpose of the church plant.

Bob Roberts Jr.'s The Multiplying Church

Chapter one of Roberts’ book examines the difference between the West and the two-thirds world and how the West has focused on church planting movements and trying to reconstruct a new church based on frustrations with the old. The two-thirds world, on the other hand, has seen an organic, Spirit-led growth of the church that is rooted in hope and excitement. Such a glaring distinction raises several questions for me. One, what are we in the West failing to see and how can we learn from the rest of the world? And two, how can we in the West work to become a part of the larger global church movement? In order to begin to answer these questions, I wonder if we need to focus not on what the West specifically needs but rather what the Church has to offer that can transcend culture.

Roberts then argues in chapter two that a global church planting movement is bound to happen at some point in the future, especially considering the rapid globalism that is spreading around the world. If we agree with Roberts and anticipate such a movement, this raises questions for those of us desiring to plant churches in the West regarding the need to alter our outlook and shape what we do now in order to help to usher in such a movement.

While I am not sure that I agree with everything that Roberts argues in chapter three (e.g. when he states that every church should “tithe” ten percent of its membership to plant other churches), I do believe that the model of networking that he describes holds great value for the church planting process. I believe that the local church needs to expand outward, with leaders starting new groups which can later develop into new churches rather than part of a church’s population merely breaking off in order to start a new congregation.

In chapter four, Roberts argues that the most important reason for starting a new church is the pursuit of transformation. In order to pursue such an end, I think that we first need to ask questions such as what needs to be transformed in the community in which we are seeking to multiply churches? How do we incorporate the missional, incarnational, and contextual elements of such transformation into what we do on the practical, ground level?

Chapters five, six, and seven examine what Roberts terms the “prime players,” or those individuals who have a key role in the church multiplying process. He reinforces the idea that all people play a role, not merely the planters alone. Chapter five looks at the “apostolic fathers,” or those older leaders who have a vision to start churches out of their own churches and thus mentor and send out younger leaders to do so. Chapter six then examines the “daredevil sons and daughters,” or risk-taking, entrepreneurial planters. Finally, in chapter seven, Roberts discusses the importance of using the gifts and skills of all of the disciples who comprise the Body of Christ. All three of these chapters reinforce for me the necessity of truly knowing all of the individuals that comprise a church planting team so that their particular giftedness can be used to its fullest potential.

In chapter eight, Roberts examines the importance of not focusing on the actual church that is being planted to the exclusion of ignoring the community and the transformation that needs to occur in society. Such a point underscores for me the need to utilize careful research and to invest a significant amount of time in coming to understand the structural makeup of the community in which I desire to plant a church.

Roberts then moves outward even further in chapter nine to argue that although a church plant may start in and for a community, it ultimately needs to look outward to the needs of the world at large. This chapter resonated with me as I feel connected both with the West and the world as a whole and believe that we as church planters can benefit when we take our focus off of the West and look instead at the institutions and processes that span the globe.

In chapter ten Roberts advocates for starting a church-starting center in an existing church. This chapter does not necessarily apply to me at this point as I am not sure whether or not I will ever use this approach to plant a church.

Chapter eleven reminded me of the importance of not losing sight of the more practical side of the church planting equation. While we should trust God to supply all of our needs, we must not ignore the processes of planning and education (e.g. in relation to budgetary needs).

Finally, in chapter twelve, Roberts discusses several of the pitfalls and difficulties associated with working with people and coming together as a missional family in a church plant. I believe that in the beginning of any new planting movement it is important to be proactive and on the lookout for all of these issues, as people coming together in such close community have great potential to bring about more harm than good at times.

Reflections on 11/3 Class

We began class on Tuesday discussing the important role that grieving plays in the initial stages of a church plant, as those individuals on the planting team must come together and share their hurts, frustrations, and losses from past church contexts. I must admit that I never thought about the importance of including a therapeutic element in the planting process. Without first sharing those hurts and losses and working through them, it is next to impossible to create a new expression of what it means to be the Church. New churches that are rooted in past bitterness and pain are only bound to fail.