Almost three years ago I wrote a post entitled A Warning List For Those Who Would Join a Missional Church Gathering. It caused a bit of a stir in blog-land. I wrote it out of frustration with our own church plant and the fact that some people (NOT ALL!) weren’t connecting with where our church was going. Many were bringing with them (from previous churches) expectations that certain programs would be in place by now. One of these expectations (among others) was for a particular kind of youth program. They did not get what so many of us were convinced of, that the best way to raise children is in a vital community where we encounter the living Christ together in worship and mission, where the youth are asked to join in mission with adults (BTW – for sure we needed to provide mentorship and educational opportunities for the youth and we’re committed to that). Shortly after I wrote this piece, we printed this list in the form of a bookmark to make available to new people who wished to join in. Some people have remarked that it seems somewhat harsh, maybe off putting, somewhat arrogant. If you look at the post back then you’ll notice some of these opinions in the comments.
Nonetheless, I think some sort of warning on expectations is helpful at the outset of a missional community. Most missional gatherings begin by calling out already existing Christians to gather in a time and place to give witness to the Kingdom of God (so that God might expand it). Most seasoned Christians come from somewhere else with expectations about what church is. I think a warning list therefore serves a good purpose in the beginning stages of a community’s planting. Looking back however, I think I might soften a little of the rhetoric here. I think I might add a few things related to mission in rhythms and neighborhoods. I think I’d soften the very last “add-on” if I were to rewrite it. The list is below. What do you think? Are these still the right warnings? Is such a list appropriate? What would you add? How might you write your list?
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TEN THINGS ANYONE WHO JOINS IN A TWENTY FIRST CENTURY MISSIONAL CHURCH PLANT SHOULD NOT EXPECT
1.) Should not expect to regularly come to church for just one hour, get what you need for your own personal growth and development, and your kid’s needs, and then leave til next Sunday. Expect mission to change your life. Expect however a richer life than you could have ever imagined.
2.) Should not expect that Jesus will fit in with every consumerist capitalist assumption, lifestyle, schedule or accoutrement you may have adopted before coming here. Expect to be freed from a lot of crap you will find out you never needed.
3.) Should not expect to be anonymous, unknown or be able to disappear in this church Body. Expect to be known and loved, supported in a glorious journey.
4.) Should not expect production style excellence all the time on Sunday worship gatherings. Expect organic, simple and authentic beauty.
5.) Should not expect a raucous “lights out” youth program that entertains the teenagers, puts on a show that gets the kids “pumped up,” all without parental involvement. Instead as the years go by, with our children as part of our life, worship and mission (and when the light shows dim and the cool youth pastor with the spiked hair burns out) expect our youth to have an authentic relationship with God thru Christ that carries them through a lifetime of journey with God.
6.) Should not expect to always “feel good,”or ecstatic on Sunday mornings. Expect that there will ALSO be times of confession, lament, self-examination and just plain silence.
7.) Should not expect a lot of sermons that promise you God will prosper you with “the life you’ve always wanted” if you will just believe Him and step out on faith and give some more money for a bigger sanctuary. Expect sustenance for the journey.
8.) Should not expect rapid growth whereby we grow this church from 10 to a thousand in three years. Expect slower organic inefficient growth that engages people’s lives where they are at and sees troubled people who would have nothing to do with the gospel marvelously saved.
9.) Should not expect all the meetings to happen in a church building. Expect a lot of the gatherings will be in homes, or sites of mission.
10.) Should not expect arguments over style of music, color of carpet, or even doctrinal outlier issues like dispensationalism. Expect mission to drive the conversation.
O AND BY THE WAY Should not expect that community comes to you. I am sorry but true community in Christ will take some “effort”and a reshuffling of priorities for both you and your kids. Yes I know you want people to come to you and reach out to you and you are hurting and busy. But assuming you are a follower of Christ (this message is not for strangers to the gospel) you must learn that the answer to all those things is to enter into the practices of “being the Body” in Christ, including sitting, eating, sharing and praying together.
If anyone out there is interested in this kind of place please join us or another missional church gathering somewhere.
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[...] David Fitch is one of the pastors at Life on the Vine in suburban Chicago. Recently he posted a “warning list” for those who are considering joining a missional church/community. I think the same list probably applies to the church we are attempting to plant: TEN THINGS ANYONE [...]
Great reminder, David. I may just borrow from this for our community gathering this evening. Thanks!
Peace,
Jamie
Love the list, Dave! Might add something about not expecting to find people just like us or whom we find easy to like. And don’t soften it either! As Graham Ward said in his THE POLITICS OF DISCIPLESHIP, now is not a time we cn afford to be polite!
Peace,
Lee Wyatt
All these points hang together, of course, but I have recently been mulling over point 8 in particular.
We attend a church that describes itself as missional and experienced even more growth than that in a three year period. It may once have been a missional community, and still retains some of this ethos in its community group system and preaching. But as it grew so quickly it had to develop a number of exterior programs designed to take keep up with its missional goals to artists, inner city development projects, and the pastoral care of its own flock.
We all attend the weekly services in great numbers, and many may participate in one of these exterior programs in a cursory way over the course of a year. But by and large, these programs are taken care of by a very small fraction of the overall church such that the entire body has become missional-by-proxy.
It has done well at maintaining a missional vibe across its large multi-campus membership, but the actual external missional embodiment of the gospel in our local context happens mainly through these proxy channels. I don’t see how a church of this size could do it any differently.
I like it, especially the “expect” for each point. Look forward to hearing from you here in KC later this week.
Arrogant indeed…in the best sense of the word. I like it. What would I add? Probably something about not expecting to be a spectator, but expecting to be immersed directly in the family business of mission.
M Leary,
I would suggest that the only thing keeping your church from maintaining the missional ethos at a larger size is the insistence on certain forms of centralization (perhaps preaching by a certain limited group, perhaps a salaried staff, perhaps a value for certain forms of childcare..?). Size alone is no inhibitor. Alcoholics Anonymous is much bigger than your church by far and yet remains fundamentally missional to the core.
[...] List for Missional Communities 21 10 2009 David Fitch recently posted a “warning list” for those who are considering joining a missional church/community. I think it applys to what we are doing at Christ Mission as well. I pray, indeed, that it [...]
I really like this list, as a whole.
There were a couple instances where I thought the language got a little snarky. “Consumerist capitalist assumption” seems both jargon-y and condescendingly superior. It sounds like something used to dismiss others, as in, “you just say that because of your consumerist capitalist assumptions.” But the second sentence is awesome! If I were to suggest a rewording, it might be “Should not expect that Jesus will fit in with every ambition, lifestyle, schedule or accoutrement you may have adopted before coming here.” I also thought the digs at church building campaigns was a little too specific.
The reason this matters is that the quickest way for the missional conversation to die is for us to start thanking God that we are NOT like those attractional folks. I’ve seen this happen with much of the emerging church dialog, where it has become all about what we are NOT, and how the mainstream church SUCKS, instead of trying to lead by example with humility and forgiveness.
I also think it would help to clarify point #5, especially about what one SHOULD expect. Maybe this is something you could talk about in a future post, David. The question of children and youth is a huge issue in my own context. How do you keep children a central part of the life of the church gathering, without losing the attention of either them or the adults? If the gathering is about spiritual formation, then it makes sense to tailor a program (oh no! not THAT word!) of some sort for children, because their needs are different from adults. Right?
Nate,
exactly righto … you could tell I was writing out of being “p–ed off,” and I think your comments …”the quickest way for the missional conversation to die is for us to start thanking God that we are NOT like those attractional folks” are also right on … for this seems to be the very problem of so much of the church’s current day politic – that antagonism that always runs it into a dead end …
Thanks
DF
I appreciated this list a lot and as a recovering youth pastor I especially resonate with #5.
Grace and peace.
[...] David Fitch’s “A Warning List for Those Who Would Join a Missional Church Gathering” at his blog, Reclaiming The Mission, has a lot more substance to be limited to just the missional conversation. What do you look for in a church? Maybe it’s all the wrong things! I like number ten. The last sentence. Read all ten warnings here. [...]
great stuff, – puts some of my own feelings in a succinct articulate form. I don’t know how to do the link back thing – always thought it just happened over the magic of the tubes, but I quote and link copiously, thanks!
[...] David Fitch shares Ten Things Anyone Who Joins In a Twenty-First Century Missional Church Plant Should Not Expect [...]