So in my last post I tried to explain a bit about what's beginning to take place in the infancy of this movement in Cleveland Heights. Before I continue (which I promise to try to do in this here entry), I want to pull back a bit and hit some higher-level stuff.
As I've mentioned before, we are starting a multiplication-minded missional community in Cleveland Heights in partnership with [RE]new Communities in Berea, OH. Renew is a group of folks starting down this same path, who have offered us all the help and support they can from 50 minutes drive away (or longer if the Bagley road construction project is in a particularly frustrating moment). Their lead pastor, and our good friend, Andy Sikora hopes that the Renewal he's plotting for Berea can take root all across Northeast Ohio, and we're determined to help see that it does.
So we love in three dimensions.
The curriculum (our Sheffield friends half-jokingly called it our catechism) we're using as tools for refining this process is called LifeShapes. And while all of them are important, almost none of them are worth just teaching to you. Without their immediate application, it's just a silly set of shapes and another hair-brained idea for doing ministry differently. We need to see them in action, and the triangle is the easiest one to see.
The triangle has three sides, representing the three ways that we as Christians must express love and orient our lives. Up-towards God, Out-towards the World, and In-towards our church community. We will argue again and again that all three are equally important, and lacking any of them is going to lead to an unhealthy church. (Just ask the country club down the street with the cross no one mentions on the roof, or the Jesus Theater next to that one with the GREAT preacher and a congregation of folks who've never met each other).
So in starting our missional community, we need to focus first on developing this rhythm of up, out, and in. Love God, Meet People, Live Life Better (as St. Thom's Sheffield-Crookes, puts it).
To that end, we're going to work with our cell group of 6-14 to start developing a rhythm of up and in. We're going to go through the Tangible Kingdom Primer together, we're going to do bible study together, and we're going to do all of the intentional fellowship we can muster together. This will get everyone involved on board with this new church culture (well, OLD... but different) and let us get to know one another.
As soon as we're comfortable with each other, and these principles, we're going to start intentionally adding the "OUT" piece and begin working to bring new people into the MC.
So what about the "out" piece while you guys are getting all chummy with one another?
We've got an answer for that, too. One of our first orders of business ASIDE from this early MC/Cell work, is going to be to gather some of our friends who've shown support or interest in what we're doing, and want to know a bit more, and going through the Alpha Course with them.
Alpha is basically a Jesus 101 course, and it's a great way to address questions and start conversations. So in the coming weeks, expect to see more on Alpha.
Up next (a post that may not be today, but hopefully will be) I want to get into our plans for after this first MC is up and running. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
What's Going On?
Hey everyone,
First and formost let me apologize for this extended period of radio silence. We've been busy, sure, but there's actually no real good excuse. On the upside, the lack of posts on the blog do not in any way reflect a lack of movement on the front of our planting/gathering process. Allow me now to explain what we're up to.
As most of you know, Melissa and I attended Pilgrimage 2011. The "visitor's week" and conference held by (and at) St. Thomas' Anglican/Baptist Church in Sheffield, England. St. Thom's is largely responsible for pioneering the "Network of Mid-Sized Missional Communities" style of church, through the hard work of their people, their staff, and their leaders past and present including Mike Breen, Mick Woodhead, Paul Maconochie and others.
I've written a lot about what a Missional Community is, and I'll surely do quite a bit more, but what's important to take away from what I've written is that we see the MC as the primary expression of church. If church is the body, then the truest way to express the body is living together as Christ lived. Christ, it should be noted, lived in more ways than simply attending temple... and so we see Sunday Gatherings (not referred to as services here, btw) as AN important element of church life, but not the only or the primary element. This is perhaps different than the more commonly recognized model of doing church in America. An hour a week, Sunday morning.
These missional communities are groups of 25-50 people held together by a unifying missional vision. You join up, you stay, and you have fellowship together because you are together acting as missionaries towards a specific people group, or geographic location. This mission is engaging, and the work is worth doing, and so even folks who don't believe in Jesus may come along side us for the sake of seeing our goals realized. Good for them, and what a great opportunity for us to talk to them about why we're doing what we're doing.
So, the first missional community in Cleveland Heights is starting... well, now! Melissa and I have been meeting with friends as often as we can manage, and we're looking to get together a base of 6-14 people who have an understanding of the gospel and want to get on board this method of doing church. We'll spend some time together in Bible study, to see how all of these principles we're using are actually found in places like Acts, and we'll work on developing a discipling culture together. As soon as we feel like we've all started to get a sense of things, though, we're throwing the doors open.
Contact me if you'd be interested in getting involved in this first cell group. In my next post I'll elaborate some on what's next.
God Bless.
First and formost let me apologize for this extended period of radio silence. We've been busy, sure, but there's actually no real good excuse. On the upside, the lack of posts on the blog do not in any way reflect a lack of movement on the front of our planting/gathering process. Allow me now to explain what we're up to.
As most of you know, Melissa and I attended Pilgrimage 2011. The "visitor's week" and conference held by (and at) St. Thomas' Anglican/Baptist Church in Sheffield, England. St. Thom's is largely responsible for pioneering the "Network of Mid-Sized Missional Communities" style of church, through the hard work of their people, their staff, and their leaders past and present including Mike Breen, Mick Woodhead, Paul Maconochie and others.
I've written a lot about what a Missional Community is, and I'll surely do quite a bit more, but what's important to take away from what I've written is that we see the MC as the primary expression of church. If church is the body, then the truest way to express the body is living together as Christ lived. Christ, it should be noted, lived in more ways than simply attending temple... and so we see Sunday Gatherings (not referred to as services here, btw) as AN important element of church life, but not the only or the primary element. This is perhaps different than the more commonly recognized model of doing church in America. An hour a week, Sunday morning.
These missional communities are groups of 25-50 people held together by a unifying missional vision. You join up, you stay, and you have fellowship together because you are together acting as missionaries towards a specific people group, or geographic location. This mission is engaging, and the work is worth doing, and so even folks who don't believe in Jesus may come along side us for the sake of seeing our goals realized. Good for them, and what a great opportunity for us to talk to them about why we're doing what we're doing.
So, the first missional community in Cleveland Heights is starting... well, now! Melissa and I have been meeting with friends as often as we can manage, and we're looking to get together a base of 6-14 people who have an understanding of the gospel and want to get on board this method of doing church. We'll spend some time together in Bible study, to see how all of these principles we're using are actually found in places like Acts, and we'll work on developing a discipling culture together. As soon as we feel like we've all started to get a sense of things, though, we're throwing the doors open.
Contact me if you'd be interested in getting involved in this first cell group. In my next post I'll elaborate some on what's next.
God Bless.
Watch This
Here's a video from Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington. Watch this and feel free to leave me a comment about why you wouldn't like to live like this. You'd have to be crazy...
Soma Communities - Tacoma, WA from Verge Network on Vimeo.
Soma Communities - Tacoma, WA from Verge Network on Vimeo.
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