at Wycliffe College, 5 Hoskin, Toronto

March 29, 2012

Reception 6:30pm Dinner 7:00pm

We are extremely pleased to welcome Pastor Beth Fellinger as our guest speaker for our Institute of Evangelism Dinner on Thursday March 29th. Over her 30 year ministry, Pastor Fellinger has planted churches for three denominations in urban, suburban and rural locales. Beth is currently the lead pastor at Destination Church, a new church plant with the Christian Reformed Church in St. Thomas, Ontario.

Share in Pastor Fellinger’s experiences, stories and passion for Christ:

“Benevolent People versus Benevolent Funds”
which will include an interactive exchange with Pastor Fellinger and dinner guests.

Please Join Us on March 29th!
Single ticket: $75.00 Table for eight: $600.00 Sponsor a student: $75.00
Call (416) 946-3535 ext. 2558 to reserve your ticket today.
Email: events@wycliffe.utoronto.ca - Please RSVP by March 20th, 2012.

People I met:

• A pastor considering planting in Austin, TX, a population he describes as very post-Christian
• A church planter from St. Kitt’s who planted his first church “by accident” but now plans to start another
• A pastor wanting to revitalize a dying congregation using church planting lessons
• A planter in California serving a population of Chinese & Hispanic immigrants
• A bi-vocational pastor in California who planted a church with a particular ministry to ex-cons, like himself.
• An engineer turned church planter in Portland, with a 4 year old church of 300, who described how web software is enabling church members to help one another.
• And many more!  I wished I had more opportunities to meet other Canadians (nary a one), Anglicans (I met a few), people familiar with Fresh Expressions (none) or people trying to connect with the non-churched (several).

I did go to a specific networking session to meet some US Anglicans, but this was no highlight!  As I shared the kinds of Fresh Expressions I am working on, trying to connect with completely non-churched people by serving their needs and building communities where discipleship happens and worship can arise, I noticed that US Evangelicals were thrilled.  They are not as secularized or post-Christian as Canada, and so church planting for them is focused on the dechurched, but they could see this is where they’re headed and want to know more.  The US Anglicans, however, seemed dumbfounded.   This was depressing.  I’m sure that’s not representative of everyone, but it’s who I met!

One overall impression: Canadian Anglicans are way ahead in thinking about reaching the non-churched.  American Evangelicals are way ahead in starting new worshipping communities for the dechurched.  We both have something to learn from each other!

Some of the big themes:

• Doing multi-racial ministry was a huge theme.
• Proclaiming the gospel as both a personal justification, and also about the Kingdom, of God.  One speaker described this as the gospel on the ground, and the gospel in the air.  They are trying hard to balance both ways of describing the same gospel, after decades (or longer) of polarity.
• Anti-Consumerism – This was a real thread among the speakers.  It stood in stark contrast to our surroundings – a Southern Baptist mega-church with a Starbucks in it, at a conference with booths representing major Christian publishers, church planting organizations and anyone else who had something to sell!  The deals were great, and I appreciated the free stuff, but it was a curious contrast with the anti-consumerist message.  I’m still sad I didn’t win any of the three iPads, however!
• iPads – So many speakers made jokes, or used the iPad as an example of what’s wrong in society.  But there were three available to be won at booths downstairs!
• Attractional & Missional – There is a growing sense that the church, as a whole and locally, can be both attractional and missional.  In Canadian Anglican circles, we are calling this the Mixed Economy.  In the US, they are using the language of being attractional AND missional, to the point of running a conference and publishing a book named AND.
• Jesus – Last but definitely not least.  There was a real trend to get beyond labels and movements (missional, attractional, church growth, emergent, whatever…) and simply follow the movement of the Holy Spirit, and follow Jesus.  There was a desire to strip away what is not of God, and simply plant the gospel in communities.

And finally, some of the surprises:

• The conference began with communion, not distributed to our seats, but done “drive-by” style.  I hadn’t expected that at this conference!
• The conference ended with an invitation to be anointed.  Same surprise!
• The size of the conference – I knew it would be big, but not 3000+ big!
• The free books and resources – my luggage was way overweight!

That’s all for now.  I definitely hope to attend another year, but not alone.  I was an anomaly in three respects – being Canadian, and Anglican, and focused on the non-churched as well as the dechurched.  I would have gained so much more having some conversations with other pastors at the pub after each day, but most of the other pastors there did this with their own teams, and aren’t allowed to enjoy a beer anyway!

Anyone interested in attending the next one?  It will be focused on AND – being both missional and attractional.  Definitely worth attending with a Canadian Fresh Expressions team…and at least one round is on me!

The workshop was with Bob Harrington, a Canadian now living in the southern US, working with the Restore Training Center, all about the training of msisional church planters.  The host church’s web site is http://www.harpethcc.com/ but he also works with Stadia.

He defines coaching as asking questions to lead people.  A few different terms not to be confused:

1. Dictating – Tell people what to do
2. Teaching – Give info so they know what to do
3. Mentoring – Sharing previous experiences so they know what to do
4. Coaching – Coming alongside, asking questions to draw out answers/decisions
5. Releasing – Letting people go, assuming they know what to do.

A mentor goes ahead and pours themselves back into someone else, while a coach comes alongside and draws out questions.

A consultant comes as an expert, sets an agenda, brings expertise, gives solutions and content.  A coach brings expertise in asking good questions, helping a person articulate their goals, and gives process.

• Relate – Share Life
• Reflect – Share Struggles
• Refocus – Share Needs for Help
• Resource – Share Insight
• Review – Share Top Ideas, Suggestions & Input

Settings are 1:1, 3′s, Clusters of 4-7 or Groups of 8-16

A church planter has:

1. Never done this before – needs someone who has
2. Does not know “normal” – needs someone who does
3. Feels alone – needs an unconditional supporter

A few more soundbites:

1. You must find a good coach who has planted a church
2. The coach needs basic training in the science of coaching (i.e. Converge tools)
3. Need a coaching covenant/contract
4. Coach should visit the location and team before launch and within 12 months after launch
5. The planter must sense the coach cares and will be there in a crisis (this takes 6 months to sense)
6. A good coach can acts as a predictor of success – they can sense success or failure

Group Coaching of 8-16 people looks like:

• Head coach guides meetings
• Meet monthly for 6-12 months
• Meet all day
• Everyone has the same background training
• Everyone comes prepared with a top resources read, or a 1-page summary written
• Praxis is the focus
• Tangible Kingdom is a good resource for missional coaching.

Brenda Salter McNeil is a well known speaker who focused on racial reconciliation using Acts 1:8.  She described reconciliation in “Samaria”, when people are so different they say “God ought to do something about ‘those people’” can follw this cycle:

Two other lines: Church as a “radical third culture people that create a whole new reality”and, “when we engage difference, the differences we engage transform us.”

Shane Claiborne is a well known author and founder of the “Simple Way” community in Philadephia.  Transformation is:

• more than a doctrinal statement
  • we need a rule of life, too.
  • more than ideologies
    • Ideologies don’t demand much of us, but our practices do.
• more than good vision
  • Everybody here wants a revolution but no one wants to do the dishes
• takes a neighbourhood
  • • Stayers
    • Returners
    • Relocators
• takes imagination
  • One of my greatest temptations is to be a church planter

Our community doesn’t need more churches we need a church

• The mega-church is so 1980’s
• We can’t tell a kid to stop selling heroin if we don’t have another way to feed him
• re: Palm Sunday – “We’re just the asses that get to bring Jesus in.”

Dave Gibbons is lead pastor of Newsong, an international multi-campus church.

• Everything has changed
• I know when I was a kid, I got saved 100 times and they still counted me every time
• Maybe our metrics should be to have no foster kids in any city where Christians live.
• Don’t join a movement (he warned that the megachurch movement became the multi-campus movement and became the organic movement, then the missional movement) but instead join the movement of God.
• Walk the streets, the streets will speak to you.

The first was Reggie McNeal, of the Leadership Network.  He described the Missional Church this way:

1. The people of God (we are not planting an “it” but a “who”)
2. partnering with Him
3. in his redemptive mission
4. in the world

Some soundbites from Reggie.  I didn’t find he had much of value to say – mostly preaching to the choir in a humorous, but overly dramatic performance:

• Jesus didn’t say “I’ve come to give you church that you might have it abundantly”
• The point is they’re not coming!
• re: Build it and they will come – “When are we going to get over it?”
• Be the church where we’re already assigned
• Churches are like airports, they are not designed to be the destination
• Is the city better of because we’re here?
• “We had a good Sunday” – so what?  Is the quality of life better in our community?
• Why does any kid leave school reading at a grade 4 level when our churches are full of people who can?”
• Get off your donkey and do something
• We are here for life

The second part was an interview of Alan Hirsch and Ed Stetzer.  Hirsch is the founder of the Forge Missional Training network, and Stetzer is a well known writer and analyst of church life in America.  Stetzer mostly spoke about metrics beyond “nickels, noses and numbers” suggesting we measure metrics like how many friends people have outside the church, and whether leaders are modelling what they teach.  Hirsch spoke a great deal about risk, including these soundbites

• We have domesticated life and the idea of God
• I can’t find one book on the theology of adventure or risk as it pertains to God.  This affects us, makes us risk averse and safety obsessed.
• Jesus is wild and uncontrollable.
• Church should be like Jesus, and if not, something is fundamentally wrong: unchristlike, boring, insecure, and fearful of one another.
• Leaders must model risktaking.

The third part was Efrem Smith, who I described in an earlier post as the planter of a multi-ethnic church in Minnesota.  He was a very different speaker in plenary, he was clearly in “preaching mode” and drawing on his theatre background in what made for a very energetic sermon.  I appreciated a few things he said, but found he took a few exegetical liberties that left me looking for substance beneath the energy and hype.  Some of his soundbites from this talk:

• God desires to advance his Kingdom through our transformed and transforming lives and churches.
• Church Planters are bridesmaids for Christ & his church.
• Kingdom Urgency: Alert, Aware, Heart Open
• The day Jesus came, the NASDAQ of heaven went crazy.  God gave us Kingdom capital.
• Be a Star Trek church planter, go where no man has gone before.

• A core team is vital to multi-ethnic planting.
• It should equip and empower people serving with you around something that’s very important.
• Can’t separate being a multi-ethnic church from being compassionate.
• His dream was, God willing, a multi-ethnic church of 1000+ impacting the city.  Someone said, if you see 1000, you’d better get out of the city, because suburban middle class people will not go into the city.  Efrem’s church proves otherwise, that it is possible to be Christ centered, multiethnic, in the heart of the city with all its challenges, and see the Kingdom of God advance.
• Pour some principles and practical theology into core team.
• Kingdom labourers
• Three texts:
  • Acts 2
  • Matt 9
  • 1 Cor 12
• Their core group’s worship = potluck meal, one or two songs, low key, sat on stool with music stand as people sat around tables taking notes, bible studies.
• Pour in the core values
  • Evangelism & Outreach
  • Experience of Worship
• If I say my church is multi-ethnic, it can’t be all black
• Develop a group embodying these values
• How do you create an ethos, values, culture amongst your core team, so they practice amongst each other, what you want them to carry to the surrounding community?
• Recent college grads are looking for a post-black, post-white, post-brown church.
• They’re confused if we’re preaching making disciples of all nations but the church doesn’t live that.
• As we digest one another’s foods, we must be willing to digest one another’s stories.
• You want to weed out the people who are just there for the next cool church
• We weren’t going to try and do all kinds of music to reach all cultures.
• The core group was moving from being multi-ethnic to reconciled when they:
  • Started forming their own small groups
  • Started having dinner together
  • Moved beyond hyper-sensitivity to racial issues
• It’s best when people serve not where they want to serve but where they’re wired to serve
• We are all here to serve.

• How do we “behold” Jesus and let his glory transform us?
• Constantly preach the gospel to yourself
• Isn’t Ephesians 1-2 just the gospel?
• God’s working on a plan much bigger than you or I
• There are too many people involved in the church for it not to be messy
• Be about the one who saved you to the mission, not just the mission
• God is at work. The church doesn’t need to be saved.
• The church needs faithful men and women who will preach the Gospel out of a pure heart.
• God was doing stuff before Luther or Calvin
• Church planting isn’t a new thing.
• Acts 2 went really well and then there were the Corinthians.
• This job is not better than Jesus Christ.

• Enthusiastic beginner
• Disillusioned learner
• Capable but cautious contributor
• Self-reliant achiever

A few other soundbites:

• Jesus wants to give us a heart attack
• Who would have put their money on a Jewish rabbi and his 12 inexperienced followers?
• Servant first, leader second
• Jesus first, others second, you third
• If you mention Jesus, he does all the marketing/work
• Eternal life as not real attractive to those whose lives aren’t working right now.
• 5 habits of leading like Jesus
  • Solitude
  • Prayer
  • Study of scripture
  • Small vulnerability group
  • Remember God’s love
  • Go to an ego-anonymous meeting and get over it.

Chan shared his upcoming transition as a response to Jesus’ call to deny himself and simply trust in the Lord again.  He looks forward to “serving in obscurity” and “being a human” again.  He says Sunday’s announcement made for a rough day, but was so thrilled with his wife’s part of the announcement that he played it on video.  She described feeling a “gravitational pull to safety” for her and her family, but will push against it in order to follow Jesus out of the suburbs, and into the inner city.  Chan suspects his resignation will lead him to inner city Los Angeles, but plans to do prayer walks in other major cities first, as well as spending time in Thailand to fight human trafficking.

He describes this as a return to following Jesus as the Bible describes.  He laments the contemporary Christian ability to take Jesus’ commands metaphorically, particularly the Great Commission.  He illustrated this beautifully describing a scenario where, if he told his daughter to clear her room, she might respond by saying “Dad, I’ve memorized your command” or “I’m having friends over to discuss how making disciples might look in my life.”  Chan wants to move on from this disobedience, so that he and every Christian can identify whom they’ve discipled in response to Jesus’ command.

He describes the church as a “system that makes it okay to disobey” commands like the Great Commission.  He says he instead feels called to “humble myself to give a picture of Christ”.  He goes on, “I’m not called to be an awesome megachurch pastor, but am called to be a picture of Christ.”  He takes inspiration from the story of Vaughan, a youth pastor whose trips to impoverished villages are described by youth as “the closest thing I’ve every experienced to walking with Jesus”.  He realized, “my life does not look like Jesus.  I can rationalize and justify it, but…”

Chan was a convicting speaker, not least because he was actively living out his message.  He is sacrificing the fame, fortune and safety of suburban megachurch ministry to follow Jesus.  He “wants to go back” to a childlike faith.  “If I read the Bible for the first time, I would never conclude I needed to pray some prayer, but I would conclude I need to follow Jesus.  If I read the Bible on a desert island, I’d never decide I needed to start a Sunday service, my priority would be discipleship.

We then watched the first public screening of the new BASIC video series, watching the session on the “fear of the Lord.”  Chan convincingly recaptured the fear of the Lord as the beginning of faith, and the responsibility that “teachers” of faith have to model this, and all Jesus’ way of life, to our congregations.  “We can’t get mad at the people, we’re the leaders.”

Lots to ponder, hearing Chan’s teaching, and seeing him live it.

He began with a warning that much of what passes for Christianity today is actually a Moralistic Deism.  He says this has occurred because the gospel was simply assumed, and church culture focused on teaching about sanctification at the expense of justification.  He defines the former as a process, where we join with God to become more and more like him, and less like us.  He countered this by preaching through the book of Ephesians when he first arrived at The Village Church, at the time a church of 160 people, and now numbers in the thousands.

Matt then shared two ways of telling the gospel in four points, both true, but often portrayed as if they are mutually exclusive.  One is the gospel “on the ground” – beginning with the action of God, then humanity, then Christ, then response.  The other is the gospel “in the air” – beginning with creation, then the fall, redemption and consummation.  He skilfully reconciled these two as one gospel, both fully dependent on the atoning work of Christ.  His entire talk was driven and connected by scripture passages, particularly here as he illustrated the fullness of the gospel with scripture about what we are saved “to” and “from”.  I think this air-ground distinction will be helpful in teaching the gospel in Christianity 101.

In a later Q&A – he was asked about transformation of legacy churches.  He shared a few principles from his arrival at the Village Church, particularly that elder saints be asked to help in transformation.  He then told the story of an older church member who he enlisted to disciple and teach life skills to young men.  After some time in this ministry, the man said, “as long as young men keep coming to Christ, I don’t mind the music.”

All around, best talk of the day, thanks to both the content and the man.  They are clearly one and the same.

Some soundbites:

• Thanksgiving (the day his cancer symptoms began) did not surprise God.  God controls our cells, even the mitosis, everything that happens inside the cells.
• Even on your best day you are a stench to God!
• Justification – Saved by Christ, and Sanctification – Submit to Christ
• The Discovery Channel tries to explain the resurrection every Easter, because there is something there that needs to be explained.
• So many people can say Jesus died for their sins, but can’t say what happens next.
• We are not building a ladder to heaven
• We were created for glory, not fellowship.  Fellowship is one part of glory, but not all.

A question for commenters: Is Moralistic Deism the prevailing religion in Canada?  Or something else.  Perhaps just deism?

The first speaker was Mark Batterson, who pastors NCC, a multi-site church in Washington DC that meets primarily in cinemas and subway stations, but also run DC’s largest and top-rated coffee shop, housed in a former crackhouse.  Mark’s talk focused on the guiding passage of his ministry, Matthew 10.   He shared the importance and implications of being called to mission.  A few soundbites:

• We don’t want just good ideas, but God ideas.
• We often remember what we should forget, and forget what we should remember.
• We don’t minister for God, but to God.
• Why do we emphasize the image of Christ on the cross so much more than the image of the Lamb on the throne?
• Insecurity is the curse of our pastoral tribe.  Our authority comes from Him.
• We don’t have the power to make the gospel relevant.  All we can do is make it irrelevant, which is simply being irreverent.
• We spend so much time learning about our target demographic in church planting, we neglect learning about who we are.
• A few best practices:
  • Let vision define budget.  They only increase their budget 5% a year, and draw up a separate wish/miracle list.  New church locations are always wish list items.  This is the God-sized vision.  It avoids having to look at the budget every week to see if we can afford what we’re doing, and lets you rejoice when something new becomes possible.
  • Tweak the little things and mix up the routine.
  • Free market small groups
  • Redeem technology

At all the other fresh expressions I had approached people with interest and questions…

This time my plan had been to just enter as if this was my first time there and see what happened…

I arrived in the Northern Quarter of Manchester just before lunch.  As I roamed the streets trying to find my way to Nexus café I took in my surroundings.  The streets were crowded with 18 – 35 year olds, sporting vintage clothing, piercings, tattoos and dread locks – their bodies the expressions of their art.  I stuck out like a sore thumb…

I guess I can’t be all that incognito…

Passing the vinyl exchange, porn shops, and environmentally friendly shops – I found the entrance to Nexus on Dale street – an art display entitled “she laughs” adorned the front window and walls as I descended the stairway.  A pleasant server greeted me and took my coffee order, and I settled into the black leather coach at the rear of the cafe as my vantage point for observation.

Nexus had started out as a Methodist church outreach to the club crowd on Saturday evenings.  Open until 5am, the café was a safe place for clubbers to grab a cup of coffee and wait for a cab.  One particular evening a local artist had stumbled into the café and was inspired.  This would be the perfect place to display the art of the community – the money was raised – and Nexus – ‘art café’ was born.

I scanned my surroundings trying to find any evidence of the Christian roots that had begun this place – or of the emergent Christian community Sanctus 1 that met here on Wednesday evenings – but found none –

Only two things stood out to me – first – that this café was completely contextualized for the Northern Quarter surroundings – and second – the server was the most friendly I had met since being in the U.K.

I now had 1 more question to add to my list for Ben Edson – pioneer leader for Sanctus 1 and now an ordained Anglican priest – was the absence of any identifiable Christian link a conscious one?

Ben and I are now sitting down for coffee – a PK – Ben had been a part of the Manchester Music scene and coming back to minister to 18 – >35 – left of center – art types was for him a ‘coming home’.  Ben was brought back to faith by the Lee Abbey community – was evangelized not by individuals – but by community and has sought to create the same feel in Sanctus.  His desire was to facilitate a community where Christian’s could be discipled in a setting accessible to those exploring faith.  “We are Christians” he says “but we don’t need to have it all sown up”.  A handful of people in their community don’t believe in God, and yet have aspirations to believe in God.  Sanctus, for them, has become a safe place to begin that journey.

Manchester’s city center has had a residential boom of late from 1000 in 1991 to 20 000 in 2006 mainly in high rise single residence flats – “lonliness is a real issue” – say’s Ben – so we have used our virtual presence and creativity to build community where before there was none.

One of my main questions coming out of my incognito observation was to do with the lack of any identifiable Christian presence at Nexus.  Was this conscious? I ask.  “No” – he says, there are supposed to be posters in the bathrooms and cards on the tables.  Ben further explains that he is presently moving to a different ministry – and his passing off of leadership – has understandably left some things lost in the shuffle.

So what is the connection from Sanctus 1 to Nexus?  Twice a month Sanctus gives direction to the creative displays at Nexus to connect others to the Christian community.  Ben has seen his role as chaplain to Nexus – attending the various art events hosted in the café – and now even visiting one of the unchurched staff in hospital.

Just as Ben is in transition – so is Santus.  What began as an outreach to the neighbourhood has become a commuter church for those outside the community – and as original members grow – they now have to ask questions of how to care for children in their midst.  These questions will be left to Al – to whom the mantle of leadership will be presently passed.

As it’s Wednesday – at 7:30pm the café will be transformed into an emergent fresh expression of church.  I duck out to grab some dinner – descend the same stairs – and am met with crisp Sanctus posters in the “loo” and glossy cards on the table – I am greeted warmly by the barista – and offered a free cup of coffee (given that it is my first time).  After some small talk with we are called to find our seats…

The leadership of the evenings is shared amongst the members – and tonight – we are led in a ‘fresh expression of speed dating’ -  Every three minutes we found another ‘date’ – and projected on the screen were questions or activities to participate in.

Cliff Richard or James Blunt?

Tell the person opposite you something important to you.  Either pray or write words down on a sheet of paper.

Which of these is most important to you?  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father…

Woman priests and gay Bishops?

Tell the other person one thing you have done that wasn’t right this week.

The word commune appears on the screen – and we are instructed to grab a piece of bread and a cup of juice – no further instructions are given – and my “date” doesn’t know what to do – so we just talk while we each eat our part of the bread.

I have now “dated” everyone in the room…the evening concludes as every evening at Sanctus does – beer at the local pub – I have a four hour drive to London to complete – and am fearful I will fall asleep if I have a beer – Ben – not feeling well joins me as I will pass right by his house on the way to the Motorway.

I drop Ben off at home – and am left with my thoughts – was what I experienced church?  Well…we prayed…we had communion?…we confessed…we reflected on God’s word…we grew as a community.

What are the marks of church?

“Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst”

As I reflected on my “dates” – two themes had begun to arise – those who were present were either searching out a faith for themselves, or had come from communities that had faith all sown up – and had now found a safe place to explore what faith looked like for them.

Evangelism through community – Ben had called it – but I was wondering how I was going to explain my evening of speed dating to my wife…

A year ago this had been a dilapidated – water damaged – boarded up manse.

Ebenezer church had been abandoned five years ago when the foundations of the church began to crumble and the existing congregation could not afford the 29 000 pound bill to repair their church.

With the aid of probationary workers – Allen (a part time minister) repaired the manse – and removed the overgrowth from the vacant lot adjoining the church.

– first rebuilding the walls…

…Killamarsh is a town of 10 000 south of Sheffield along the M1 – of those 10 000 inhabitants    only 1% attend church – 100 people scattered through 3 churches –

“the harvest is great but where are the workers?”

Allen’s wife – who is often on short term missions inspired three others to join them in their work and soon those five turned into 22 adults within a year – meeting on Saturday in the living room of the manse for a service followed by a community dinner

– having quickly outgrown the living room they moved down to the church – after the work of the probationary workers had given them a workable worship space.

Admittedly a majority of the members of this new community are also attending the other churches, but some 30% of the community were previously unchurched – many of whom have now come to faith in Jesus.

One of the original members – Eileen – who joined us in our living room conversation – jumps up to grab a phone call.  When we first met her she was in the small church kitchen washing toys for the new mom and tot’s group.  She returns to the conversation joy written large on her face – another member for her group – GROW – ministering to those dealing with mental health issues.

With plans for a second Alpha course – and a new social justice outreach into the community – Allen and his team are looking to rebuild the faith of a town one life at a time.

I had been here a year ago – as a tourist myself – and had literally fallen into a fresh expression of church at Wesley Methodist Church conveniently located between the Roman Ruins and the center of town.  A Café aimed to connect to local residents – stay at home mom’s – and tourists – manned by a retired Methodist minister from Canada (of all places) named George.

Today I am in Chester as a different kind of tourist – to see a year later how this fresh expression of church is faring – a longitudinal study.

As I round the corner Wesley Methodist Church is covered in Scaffolding – plastered with artists renditions of the final product.  The church is closed.  That was a quick longitudinal study…

A coffee cup and arrow catches my eye – pointing me two buildings up to the Welsh church.  Another coffee cup above the church welcomes me through the door.  There sitting at the welcome table is my old friend George – with only a few quick exchanges he remembers my name – along with my questions last time I came in – asking how my wife and son are doing…he has a gift.

This time I have more questions – so after his quick tour of the Welsh church – he takes me upstairs to see the relocated Café – and we sit down for a cup of coffee.

As we engage in conversation a continuous stream of people come through the doors – Mom’s with Kids, Grandma’s and kids, office workers and seniors.  George seems to know every one of them – constantly leaving our conversation to acknowledge them by name with a few brief exchanges.

Turning back to me he says…

That’s ‘Alice’ she’s an Athiest – still working on her…

That’s ‘Nick’ he’s an alcoholic – this place has kept him sober – each day he checks in– and writes his prayers in the prayer request book at the door.

That’s….and the conversation continues.

Sporting a dog-collar – George describes his role as the ‘chaplain for the street’ – even praying in the pub for the manager’s family life.

What do you do here? – I ask.  “I pray with people and lead them to Christ” – as quickly as if I had asked him what he had for breakfast.

In his retirement the Café has become his ministry – he along with a team from Wesley Methodist church run the café.  When I asked a member of the team why they continued during the construction – which only would have been a mere 12 weeks – she gave me an odd look saying – ‘we couldn’t give up on the relationships’ – and then with a smile – ‘and it keeps us out of trouble’.

Why do people come here?

The peace – responds George – every other café in the city you would feel quickly rushed out of – so the next person can line the cash register with their hard earned money.  Here Mom’s can bring in their own food – feed their babies – socialize – and spend time in community – the play area had been empty when I arrived – now two babies where playing together while Mom’s looked on…

As I bend down to grab my Camera to get a picture of George with the café in the back ground for the blog – my eye catches the Alpha sign – each table’s center piece is a card inviting them to the next ecumenical Alpha course

…come for a leisurely cup of coffee leave with ‘something more to life’…

As I make my way back downstairs – I spend some time speaking with the ladies attending the fair trade store – as the conversation moves to why I have so many questions – I speak a bit about my pilgrimage to see fresh expressions…

“Oh”…their eyes light up…”you should check out St. Peter’s at the center of town – they have been doing this for over twenty years…”

That’s worth a visit I thought – a Roman Catholic Fresh Expression…

A quick walk gets me to St. Peters – the location of the Towne Crier – through the door – café tables have replaced 80% of the pews – almost all full of people enjoying a leisurely cup of fair-trade brew…

On the walls you find the history and vision of this café – but I decide I need to hear it in its flesh and blood reality – I approach the first server I see – May I ask you a question – Why are you doing this café – without missing a beat – “to be a Christian presence in the city center…

[I think I have a fresh expression theme so far – they know what they are about – and why they are doing it]

…this church only has 2-3 services a week – we wanted to keep the Christian presence central.”

Why would someone come here – when there are so many other places to get a cup of coffee? – “the Christian presence in the people who work here” he responds – out of the corner of my eye I see the servers not only picking up the dirty coffee cups but engaging people in real conversation – and even at times – says my new friend – pastoral counselling – this takes the Starbucks mandate to remember everyone’s name and coffee order to a whole new level!!!

Apparently this Christian presence has had it’s impact – one of the tour companies in town encourages people to attend the café at the end of their tour – saying it is a good, reasonable cup of coffee in a great environment – “having 52 people come in all at once is a bit much” he says as he scans the team of long-time church goers…

As I walk away from St. Peter’s I pass a dozen café’s with all the well known logos– none are as busy as St. Peter’s or Wesley Methodist – the attractiveness of the presence of Christ???

Oh – and by the way – says George – the Chester Towne Crier is a born-again Christian!!!

My trusty SatNav (invaluable when it takes all your concentration to stay on the left hand side of the road)  led me down into central Sheffield and the DQ dance club — to the home of a 6 year old church plant from Christ Church Fulwood – named Christ Church Central (CCC) – “A Church for those who don’t go to church”.

Sheffield’s core has been revitalized in recent history – with some 7000 people moving into the neighbourhood located in high-rise flats.  I was anxious to see how they were connecting with their community – as much of Toronto would have a similar demographic.

A large WELCOME sign beckoned me in along with the smell of stale beer and vomit.  As I made my way onto the dance floor my shoes stuck to the floor – the residue of the night before.  What had only 18 hours ago been a happening ‘house’ scene in Sheffield was now transformed into a fresh expression of church.  The screams of the dancers, replaced with the screams of some 40 children running to and fro from the refreshments station located at the bar.

My University roommate had attended the church for 3 years – so let the pastors know I was coming – and very quickly the greeters led me to speak with the lead pastor – a man with a clear vision to be a biblical presence in the heart of the city – “to be faithful to the gospel & relevant to the culture”.  After a brief conversation he introduced me to others within the community and moved away to begin the service.

A worship team (guitar, piano, drums, flute, and vocalists) led us in a mix of contemporary and traditional worship music – the worship leader being unapologetic about the Christianese – did a masterful job articulating / explaining / translating in a culturally relevant way.

A testimony of a woman’s journey to faith and her beginning a woman’s ministry at CCC proceeded the children crossing the road for children’s ministry – and then the preacher got up to speak.  I was surprised in a night club setting – to hear a 2 point exegetical sermon on the John 15 “I am the vine” statement of Jesus.

For a culturally relevant church plant in a night club I was surprised by what I saw -  the only real difference I saw between what they were doing and perhaps an informal church service in a church building – was just that – the building.

Was I missing something??

At the end of the service I sat down with one of the members – “Steve” – and straight up he asked me as an outside observer what I thought.  I was honest – I thought what they were doing was great – but I couldn’t see much difference between what they were doing and an informal church service – except that it was in a night club – (which certainly is quite a radical step)

“Steve” articulated the same two foci of the pastor – biblical faithfulness and cultural relevance – and admitted sometimes they aired to one side over the other.  But as we continued to talk I began to understand the service content in light of where their growth was coming from.  The Christian’s at CCC were engaged in networks of relationships – (friends, work, hobbies etc.) – and were inviting their friends – Christian and non-Christian alike to experience CCC .  Growth was happening through both people looking for a church community and conversion.    And what great growth!!   6 years into the plant – the 50 people involved as the initial seed from the parent church – had now ballooned into 200 people spread over 2 services.

As we continued in conversation however “Steve” bemoaned the reality that they weren’t doing more with the community around them.  They had 2-3 people in their community involved with DQ night club  – including one of the DJ’s –  but had not yet made inroads into that community.  A Somalian community had grown up around them – and again no inroads had been made.

I asked “Steve” why he and his wife had come – ‘here we are needed’ he said – the community he had come from had loads of money, resources, and when he got involved he felt like they were doing him a favor – instead at CCC he was needed – he could use his gifts and desire to minister to others in great ways – you could tell he owned and believed in what they were doing at DQ.

“It’s just too bloody hard”

When I asked one of the pastors about their connections with the flats around them – this was the response I got – followed by – “perhaps we should again reconsider it”.

Another said – the people in flats pay for their security – a key for the front door – for each individual floor – and each individual door.  Members in the buildings, inhibited by the cultural reservation of the British and the prevailing influence of secularism – were not making connections with their neighbours.

My old University Roommate said CCC was the best church he had ever been a part of.  And I could see why he said this.  It is a great church – great teaching – happening children’s ministry – homeless outreach – depth of community – “Church on a bus”

- but the night club almost seemed out of place –

What was I to make of this???

Was this a fresh expression of church that had lost its original vision?  “Steve” seemed to be in this vain –“ we need the fresh ideas that started this place” – he said.

Or…

Is this a community that has been blessed by God in one area – and has followed that leading – as Christians are engaging with their neighbours in evangelism – you can’t argue with 300% growth in 6 years.

As I walked outside to get some fresh air – and a break from the aroma of stale beer and vomit – I noticed another aroma lingering with me.  The sweet smell of worshipping with at community in mission – just perhaps not the original mission they began with.

My plane reading (Clusters – by Mike Breen and Bob Hopkins) had been preparing me for my first site visit.  St. Thomas’ Sheffield is hailed as the largest Church in the North of England.  I plugged the address into the ‘Sat Nav’ (GPS for us Canadians) from my home base in Liverpool and was taken on an early morning drive through snake pass to the British Version of a “Mega –Church”.  Imagine my surprise when I pulled up to an older building of Norman Architecture – with a remodeled interior to seat 200 and a balcony to seat an additional 50 – “This is a MegaChurch”???  (I guess I was thinking Willow Creek)

A modern sign to the right of the door communicated both the vision and mission in the form of a triangle – Meet Friends (IN – Cell) – Meet God (UP – Sunday Gatherings) – live life better (OUT – Cluster).

I was one of the first to arrive – and at an early service of 40 regulars – a very similar crowd to the 8:15 service at St. Paul’s.  Being the only newcomer I was the object of some interest.   I was warmly greeted, offered a cup of tea  (which they freshly made just for me) – and ushered to a seat.  One of the student interns came and sat with me to introduce me to the church – nonchalantly mentioning that this morning they were planting a church for students in a pub near the university – “This Lot???” – I thought cynically as I scanned the crowd.

The 9am service, apart from the Lord’s prayer, and the words of institution had no C of E residue.  Two moments in the service however bowled me over – as the minister held up the bread and wine he said “This is evidence of God’s love not just for us but for this world – this is not just for you – we are empowered here to bless and to serve the world God loves.”  After the announcements of what was happening in the church (including the introduction of a dozen students who were giving up their “gap year” to minister in the church and city!!) – we split into groups of three or four to pray for the ministry of the church – as we did so – the minister again said “This is the purpose of this service to pray for the ministry of our church” – 15 minutes of Spirit – filled prayer concluded in a song and we were dismissed.

“Alice” came up to me during coffee – note paper in hand – asking if I was new.  During the course of the conversation I ascertained that her cell group’s ministry was to connect with newcomers in a ministry of hospitality – inviting people around for tea to welcome them to the church.

After a few conversations – the church was getting ready for the 11am service – so I ducked out and walked around the block to re-enter the church again to get the “newcomer” experience – in the 5 minutes I was gone the church was flooded with 250 young families and students.  I had to go right to the front to get a seat!!

The service – though with higher energy (drums, guitar and bass, added to the worship leader’s piano – as the songs were projected on the screen) – was very similar to the 9am – however without communion.  One noteable difference was when, during announcements, the pastor pulled out his cell phone – asking people to take out their cell phones.

I know what you are thinking – I was thinking the same thing – he is going to ask us to turn them off.

On the contrary!!!

We were asked to turn them on – and text someone saying – I am in Church and God loves you – have a great day.  He asked us to keep them on through the sermon – so we could together hear the ‘dinging’ of replies.   Indeed – through the sermon we heard the dings of people responding to what they called “Instant Evangelism”.

After the service – I was again approached by members of the community asking if I was new – if I had not replied that I was a visiting minister learning from what they were doing – I would have been invited to a cluster to get connected.  As I spoke with the people – the reality of the sign on the front door began to take shape.

The Sunday morning text is discussed and prayed through, as Christians support one another in their weekly cell.  Three times a month all the members meet together on Sunday for the “Gathering”.  Sounds like a church with coordinated small groups right?

Not at all!!  On one Sunday a month the place closes for ‘Cluster Sunday’ – 2 to 5 cells meeting together in a cluster (Mid sized communities of 25 – 75) under a common vision to impact their neighbourhoods and city.  Many of these clusters have branched out to form their own “church plants” – like the pub church starting that very Sunday – and the 2^nd Church plant that was starting in October – a gathering for young families between the services – with about 100 people, many who weren’t Christians I was told.

Now I get it – I thought – This is how St. Thomas Crookes is the largest church in Northern England – it is a network of a number of different church plants that are the fruit of the ministry of cluster.

At the end of their cluster activity on that ‘cluster Sunday’ – each cluster gathers back at the Church to share what God has done in and through them that week – many said this was their favorite Sunday.

As I drove through Snake Pass on my way to Sheffield I wondered how the church would be doing after their charismatic leader Mike Breen had left years ago – would it decline like many other churches do after loosing such a leader?  On the contrary – it has continued to grow in leaps and bounds.  Why?  In my observation it is because everyone knows, believes in, and can articulate not only the vision and mission of the church – BUT – the process by which the church will get there – AND – their specific role in that process.  The greeters sought out newcomers to connect them to cluster – the cluster has vision for outreach into the city – the 9am service to pray for the ministry – and ‘Alice’ and her cell meeting people on the front steps on ‘cluster Sunday’ to meet, feed, and pray with those who forgot there wasn’t church that Sunday.

We arrived at Wycliffe Hall (Anglican Theological College at Oxford University) at noon for an intense 24-hour time of worship, prayer, workshops, conversation, sharing, review and discernment for the future of Messy Church (MC) with founder Lucy Moore and the Messy Church UK Regional coordinators. Colin Fletcher, Bishop of Dorchester, opened the sessions with a warm welcome and praise for MC’s  important ministry to engage families in introducing and telling our Christian story. In the five years since Lucy Moore founded the first MC there are now over 300 MCs operating in the UK. Many engage up to 100 people once a month.

Going forward the group discussed the collection of data on the MCs in operation to get a better understanding as to the demographics, leadership development, how discipleship is being engaged and whether additional support materials are required.

The messiness of MC is not just the crafts and food but the messiness of engaging non-Christians missionally with discipleship the focus while working within the local cultural context.

In addition to Messy Church there are now Messy Markets, where a Messy Church team may set up a stand at a local market of fair with Christian crafts to both engage people and invite them to attend a Messy Church monthly gathering.

An evening session introduced us to some extreme crafts – soap making and enameling.

Emmanuel Church & Addition Loughborough

Sue and I first visited Emmanuel Church in Loughborough in the mid 90’s. Back then it had a traditional interior, dark pews, an organ and a piano. It was a Sunday when they as a community were discerning whether they should proceed with an ambitious scheme of building a new hall and office complex.  Well it’s now complete and during the time of building the addition they also undertook to renovate the church – replacing the pews with moveable chairs, installing A/V equipment and so on. Today it is a vibrant and growing church that offers a variety of opportunities for people to connect with God. They are currently raising money for a new organ.

Loughborough is a University and College town so students and young families are of great importance to Emmanuel’s mission in the community. They have a 6:30 pm Evening Praise service every Sunday that is geared to students and young adults and the young at heart folks (i.e. Sue and I). The Rev’d Canon David Newman, Rector, preached in a teaching style that engaged all in attendance. Prayer was mostly meditative after David set the theme and was supported with soft violin, flute and keyboard music. The worship songs were sung enthusiastically by all (120-140) present. Often the attendance approaches 200 when students are back in term.

The 10:00 am morning service with an attendance of 240 (40 children) was in a liturgical/praise style and Eucharist was celebrated. It was the start up of the children’s program so the adult child and family ministry volunteers were asked to come to the front to be installed – all 30 of them!

David has recently been appointed the Archdeacon of Loughborough so he will be departing Emmanuel sometime in October after which the parish will be looking for a new Rector that will continue David’s ministry in the church and the wider community.

Maggi Dawn

We attended this workshop sponsored by the Diocese of Ely presented by Rev’d Maggi Dawn and Rev’d David Male (see previous post). The workshop dealt primarily with the Eucharist and how to introduce it into a Fresh Expression environment. Generally speaking this is done after the Fresh Expression has developed relationships and community amongst its members.  Depending on the frequency of meetings this could take up to three years. The Eucharist, while maintaining the shape of traditional (inherited) worship, would be explored in new and different ways that maintain the traditional meaning and story but are contextualized for the culture around which the Fresh Expression is formed.

Sue Butler, Pioneer Missioner, and Sue chat during a break

After a period of teaching and conversation, the 40 workshop participants (50% lay – 50% clergy) broke into groups to create a service that included a three-part Confession, the Word, Intercessions, Eucharist and the Blessing/Sending out.  At the end all the elements came together for a very powerful Eucharist. We used many participatory elements; flip charts and markers, individually coming to the front to sign the confession, acting out the Gospel and visual images during our intercessions. As we shared the bread and wine with one another we spoke the words “Become part of the Story”.