M2C Update                                                    May 16, 2008 

Opening Words

Welcome to another issue of the M2C Update!  This issue has a number of articles and resources that provide information for planting and developing missional churches.

This issue also provides items from the recent M2C Retreat including some photos that try to capture the enthusiam and inspiration of the event.

M2C Retreat of May 6-8
For those of you in attendance and those of you who were unable to be with us, the resource page of the M2C website has some of the resources from the event.  I especially want to call your attention to the presentation by Phil Stevenson, "Strategic Evangelism through Church Multiplication."  The powerpoint is there for you to download.

We continue on our journey of planting 200 new ministries by 2017.

Have a great week blessed in the Lord.

Know the Harvest Field

What advice would you give to people who have or are becoming involved in church planting, but sometimes feel they have no idea what they are doing?

If you sometimes have no idea what you are doing, then welcome to the club.

Our default actions are most all the same when we feel like we don't know what we are doing: pray, read a book, seek out planters who have done well, study a church that is a few steps ahead, attend a conference, etc.  These are all helpful activities.

But one action that we too easily ignore is an action that is near the heart of God.  It might be the action that helps us know what to do more than anything else.

Spend consistent, intentional, and uninterrupted time in the harvest.
We have certainly found plenty of general answers by spending time with other leaders, reading books, and attending conferences.  But nothing helps us understand the culture of the planting area better than spending time with the people who make up that culture.  And, nothing can fire us up more than putting new names and faces in our prayers for God to move in our target area.

The challenge is that spending time in the harvest is perceived as not being urgent, so it is easily ignored or put off until later.  The problem with waiting is that the DNA of our churches will reflect the priorities of the lead planter's and group's family...and those priorities are being built from day one.  When you put off spending consistent, intentional, uninterrupted time in the harvest in order to plow away at what seems to be more urgent, you run the risk of creating a DNA that will allow the same behavior from those who will join you.

The good news is that the harvest is not hard to find.  What relational networks are you already tapped into? Your neighborhood might be one.  Your favorite coffee shop might be one.  Your kids' sports teams might be one.  What can you do to be more intentional about those networks? Throw a block party at your house. Get to know the baristas' names and stories. Coach your kids' teams.  Spending time in the harvest doesn't mean slamming gospel tracks down people's throats.  Spending time in the harvest means building relationships, building trust, listening to people's stories, and genuinely caring for people.  All the while, you're praying like crazy, "God, what does church look like amongst these people?"

Our goal as church planters and "start up groups" should be to plant unique, missionary churches that reach deep into the harvest.  Books, conferences, and conversations are helpful, but they only go so far.  The lessons learned in those activities must be paired with what we learn from consistent, intentional, uninterrupted time in the harvest.  When that happens, we'll see movements unleashed!

What Missional Churches Look Like

What, then, do missional churches look like? They are more than the things listed below, but certainly they are:

Incarnational: Missional churches are deeply connected to the community. The church is not focused on its facility, but is focused on living, demonstrating, and offering biblical community to a lost world. I am excited that Danny Preston has become a part of the biker community he is trying to reach by working at a motorcycle store while planting Logos Church in Little Five Points in partnership with First Baptist of Atlanta. He is an incarnation of the Gospel in an unreached community.

Indigenous: Missional churches are indigenous. Churches that are indigenous have taken root in the soil and reflect, to some degree, the culture of their community. An indigenous church looks different from Seattle to Senegal to Singapore. We would expect and rejoice at an African church worshipping to African music, in African dress, with African enthusiasm. So shouldn't we rejoice at churches of different missional expressions across Georgia, North America, and the world? The messianic congregation at Jonesboro Baptist is one of many examples - in this case indigenous to Jewish culture.

Intentional: Missional churches are intentional about their methodologies. There are scripturally commanded requirements about church, preaching, discipline, baptism and many other biblical practices. Church and worship can't take just any form. In missional churches, those biblical forms are central, but things like worship style, evangelism methods, attire, service times, locations, and many other man-made customs are not chosen simply based on the preference of the members. Instead, the forms are best determined by their effectiveness in a specific cultural context.

Did you notice that the list did not include contemporary, young, or hip? A church is not missional because it is contemporary or traditional. A church becomes missional when it remains faithful to the Gospel message while simultaneously contextualizing its ministry (to the degree it can) so the Gospel can engage the worldview of the hearers. Traditional churches that are engaging communities that are receptive to traditional methods are just as missional ... as are contemporary, blended, ethnic, emerging, etc. The key is biblical fidelity and missional engagement.

A missional church responds to the sending commands of Jesus by becoming an incarnational, indigenous, and intentional Gospel presence in its context. When Jesus said, "As the Father has sent Me, so send I you" (John 20:21), that was not to a select group of cross-cultural missionaries. Instead, that was a commission to you, me and our churches. We have a sender (Jesus), a message (the Gospel), and a people to whom we are sent (real people in culture). It is worth the effort to go beyond our personal preferences and to proclaim a faithful Gospel in whatever context we find ourselves. That's missional.

Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is Research Team Director and Missiologist at the North American Mission Board. He is the author of many articles and books, including Breaking the Missional Code.

Church Planting

Is Church Planting Biblical?
The mission of Jesus carried out by church planting
Click here to find an outline of how the mission of Jesus is applied by the early church in the book of Acts.  It could be a good study to go through because it attempts to clarify the mission of Jesus and how it is carried out by church planting.

Resources

Articles on the Web: (Click on the title)

Leadership - Part 1

Leadership - Part 2

Leadership - Part 3

Leadership - Part 4

Leadership and the Mission Church

New Church Planting Book
Joel Rainey has written a book called Planting Churches in the Real World. The angle of this book will be very helpful. Most books on church planting are written by people who have been involved in planting churches that grow large, which often leaves would-be planters thinking that theirs will be the next large church. But most new churches don't break 100 in average worship attendance until after the fourth year, and Joel writes his book with this majority group in mind.

The book is, on the one hand, a needed wake-up call to new church plants who approach the task with delusions of grandeur. On the other hand, Joel is adamant that a new church can make a great Kingdom impact, whether it is made up of hundreds of people, or dozens of people. Both the extreme difficulties and the rich rewards of church planting are described through his own personal experience. He also speaks with candor to his own mistakes as a church planter.  Might be worth the read.

Have You Gone Blogging?
I have set up a reminder for all items related to church planting that are updated on any "Blog" anywhere in the country.  I have to admit that I don't read all the "posts" on the various Blogs, but do try to read through the summaries to see if there is anything worth reading or considering.

I'm going to use this spot to provide you with links to articles written in blogs that I find might be something you would like to read.  I'll provide the title and the link to the blog being referenced. Just click on the title to get to the web address. Let me know if this is something you find helpful.  I do want you to know that I'm trusting your "theological" review...not everything will always be stated in terms of the theology we believe.  So, just be aware.

Edge Equipping

New Churches

Multi-Site Church Planting Resources

Here are a couple of Blogs that are running around the Texas District Office:

Extreme Makeover: Church Edition
"Things are changing rapidly. Our lives were supposed to get less complex with more leisure time. So where is it?" Simple is in. Complexity is out. People are longing for a less complicated life. The title is provocative! Our lives and our churches might just need some tweaking - some might need a complete redesign. Share something you believe, something you have read, and/or some thoughts that might get some response.

Missional Journey
Welcome to Missional Journey...thoughts on Missional churches, missional people, and how a church planting movement might be fostered in the Texas District, LCMS.

Texas District MMFs

Mr. Paul Krentz
512.926.4272
krentztx@txdistlcms.org
Area A & B and Circuits 21 & 30 of Area C

Dr. Lou Jander
Texas District LCMS
281.970.5308
ljander@txdistlcms.org
Area D and Area C Circuits 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 & 29

M2C Website:  http://www.m2ctexas.org or just click here.