I had a conversation with a new friend this week about the potential of CityWell churches and along with the philosophical, theological and biblical questions came this very pragmatic one: "So how will this start?" What a fine question!
As in other posts I feel compelled to remind myself and readers that I have never done this before, so at least part of my answer has to be, "I really don't know." However, that is not all I have to say. I think we have some great pointers in the scriptures, particularly the book of Acts, where we find several models of church planters in action. More than that, we find in Acts examples of intentionally multi-ethnic churches and the accounts of their beginnings. There are also many thriving multi-ethnic congregations around the country that serve as guides to those of us hoping to follow in their footsteps.
In Acts chapter 8 we find that persecution has broken out against the church and many of the followers of Jesus have scattered. In verses 4-5 we read: Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. Two very significant things strike me here. First, everyone preached the word. The scattering that occurred did not include the apostles; they stayed in Jerusalem. These preaching refugees were ordinary folks (these ordinary preachers are an example of what I am looking toward in the earlier post, Ordinary Leaders).
Second, and these verses are instructive for how a church like the CityWell must begin, Phillip decided to go to Samaria. He didn't accidentally end up there. Philip was a Jew (a Hellenist to be precise, but this just meant a Greek speaking Jew), and Jews never accidentally went to Samaria. He intentionally crossed lines of culture and race to share with these people the good news of Jesus. Likewise, CityWell churches will only be churches for all people if we are intentionally churches for all people. In our culture a multi-ethnic congregation can almost never happen without such intentionality. We will have to determinedly form relationships with people of varying backgrounds, races and cultures, and, like Philip, we will do so explicitly because of Jesus, who transgressed every social, cultural and religious boundary in his ministry of reconciliation.
The narrative continues: And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. Philip's impact in Samaria was a matter of word and deed. So it must be with the CityWell churches. First, Philip's message was unapologetically about Jesus; so will ours be. Second, in our calling to seek the welfare of the city (Jeremiah 29:7), we will begin and continue as servants of our city, whose deeds give credibility to our message. Notice two things about Philip's deeds: first they address people's spiritual and physical needs, and second, they are marked by the power of God. I believe the church can and must engage the city and it's needs in these same ways today.
So, the short answer to how we start is this: We will prayerfully and intentionally seek to build relationships across lines of class, race and culture, believing that God will bring together exactly the right people to begin the CityWell dream. As these relationships form, we will begin to share our lives together, seeking God's will and power to become the church we are called to be. We will pray like crazy. We will worship together and encourage one another. We will look for ways to serve the city in the name of Jesus. We will share our vision with anyone who will listen and trust God to draw people. All of this we will do long before we launch public worship services because we are talking about planting a church, not just a worship service. CityWell churches will not begin with a pre-fab, cookie-cutter model; beginning with a general vision to be a church for all people centered around the life, teaching and calling of Jesus, the details of our vision and plans will develop as we go, as we consider the intersections of our context, the people God brings to us, and the call of the scriptures. If these churches come to be, there will be no doubt that this is a movement of God! I pray that it will be!
Acts 1:8, Jesus tells the disciples to share the good news to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth! After Stephen's stoning, the believers were naturally fearful for their own lives. They all scattered and finally followed Christ's orders. It seems as though the Lord will always get us where he wants us, and he'll use great and terrible things to get them done. This seems to be the case here. I wonder what great or terrible thing he will used in individual lives as well as within Durham proper to grow such an ethnically diverse body of believers.
ReplyDeleteDon't put that evil on me, Ricky Bobby!
ReplyDeleteYou make a strong and frightening point, John. We certainly see a common pattern at play in Acts 8: cross and resurrection. Out of death (literal and figurative) God brings about new life. There is also the great paradox that in losing our lives we find them, that in dying to ourselves we find true life, and that in our weakness and suffering God's strength is complete and we find His grace to be sufficient. I have no idea what challenges lay ahead, but I believe that the last word is always God's and it is always a word of life. So, with trepidation, but borne up by faith, we press on!