Every month we have a gathering over at our house on the back deck. We call it “Missional Back Porch” and the goal is to gather, put something on the grill, and sit around together talking about what it means to live together into the Mission of God.
Last Friday, the question was “what is your biggest fear about getting up and moving to a new locale with 10-15 other people to seed a missional community (i.e. join a missional order)?” We’re getting ready to do this two or three times in the next two years. So the question of these “fears” is an important question for us. Some of the fears I suspect are derivative of the ways we planted churches back “in the days” of Christendom. I list only the three biggest fears mentioned? Here they are with a personal reflection on each one.
1. My life (or my family’s life) would be consumed if I went and planted a church with some other people.
I think we often see church planting along the lines of establishing of an organization. It is almost like we are starting a business. We will have to provide a list of goods and services right from the start (a first class worship service, a weekly Bible study class, children’s ministry, and evangelistic outreach program etc. etc.). This is traditional church-planting boot camp 101.
This way of planting churches is nigh impossible in post Christendom. This approach was nigh impossible even in Christendom when there were ready-made “consumers” for these services and an ingrained Christian readiness (by already existing Christians) towards volunteer service in the local church. Neither of these things exists in post Christendom for good reasons and other reason not so good. As a result, a church-planter-leader-participant who enters “community seeding” with this approach will burn out nine times out of ten in three years. Often leaders and their families will be severely injured.
Instead I plead with the community planters/leaders/participants to see community seeding as a way of life. We are simply moving into an “under-churched” place, in close proximity to one another, living simply and missionally, tending to the surrounding community relationally out of the vision of the Gospel. We worship simply and organically and it develops over time. We tend to our children, simply and organically partnering with others as available. The Holy Spirit enlivens the ministries with power. The gifts of the Spirit flourish. Ministries, and the organization that accompany these ministries, happens over time, as an post facto development.
The first sign that this is a “church plant of the flesh” is when families and leaders are exhausting themselves and their families to the point of destruction. There is just too much evidence that NT leaders (both men and women) were not allowed to lead if their families were in disorder.
2. I will be leaving behind my relationships and starting all over again.
We plant with 3 defined leaders (defined within an APEPT model). We take 12 to 15 people in all that have agreed to the common vision and mission for an extended period of time (no less than 5 years). These people will be by definition some of your closest friends already. Through this common agreement and move, you will find some of the most intense, God honoring, life flourishing relationship possible in this life.
3. There will be a leadership rift – people will not all be on the same page, they will get mad, and break-up the ministry – and we will be left hung out to dry.
It is very important that the three main leaders be mutually submissive to one another and in agreement on the main things/Vision of what we’re doing. It is important that they be able to grow and know each other’s limits. If this is not in place the community will fail. Far beyond all the assessment in search of the entrepreneurial personality type to start a church plant, we should evaluate the character of the three (or four or five) leaders in their ability to mutually submit to each other, to grow out of relationship one to another, and the compatibility of their giftedness in relation to each other (according to say the APEPT list of gifts in Eph 4:11 – Alan Hirsch offers this diagnostic tool here). As the leaders lead this community, they must be adaptable, capable of listening, incorporating criticism and changing with the movement of God in this community and neighborhood. If this is not already fleshed out. If there is not evidence of this. The “missional order” is not ready to move into a new neighborhood.
WHAT OTHER FEARS DO YOU HAVE? CONCERNING THIS MODE OF CHURCH-PLANTING”? HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THESE FEARS?
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My biggest fear is simple. I’m a paid full-time pastor, and I have no idea what I’d do to keep my family afloat (and we don’t even have kids yet). I also don’t know how I’d get there from where I’m at today. How do you guys do this? Do you have people come live with you for a while and learn the vision, and then go forth from there to seed new communities? Are there other places like you where one could go and become a part of an organic sending community? I love this post, btw. And I can’t wait to see what other say.
Michael,
whoah … alot of good questions … Let me just state up front … we’re in the process of doing this. Another basic assumption is that all “pastors”/leaders will be are preparing to be bi-vocational – sharing the labors of leadership – and growing from there. Much to talk about, hopefully we get some discussion here.
Peace .. and hope to meet along the way.
I came as part of a team and followed the Church planting 101 model. Didn’t burn out but we all came close and probably have various underlying issues we need to trust God will work out in his time.
David, we’ve been morphing into what you are describing – both as a mission team living incarnationally and church community that is striving to be less 101 and more organic throughout. Alan Hirsch (and Michael Frost) has been very helpful to us as a team and the organization I am still with.
To answer Michael’s questions. Some context: I was a banker and left ‘secular’ work to do ‘sacred’ work as a church planter. I’ve since had my theology reformed – heavenly good of earthly work – and have been moving away from being 100% support based (really only 50% support & all donors from the USA). Now I opened a business that is increasingly and very soon to be 100% of our support. An angel investor helped me do this but I was formerly a banker and that field wasn’t what I thought was my next step as it meant moving further away (proximity and lifestyle) from the missional leadership community I have covenanted with.
If I had to give advice about a shift or finding others. First, I’d do what a graduating student or person contemplating a change of careers would do. Look at your gifting, skills, speaks with trusted friends/colleagues, survey the needs of the community you are in and take a educated plunge into a new/different line of sacred work; perhaps morphing into something that is part time paid church work and part-time other? For me it was originally connecting with a church planting organization that had values and approaches that were missional and incarnational rather than a prescribed model. They valued diversity in approaches and teams. Second, for finding others, I’d work through existing friendship or networks within your denomination/church. You’ll likely find others who would have a similar desire to be a covenanted missional leadership/church planting team. From there lots of dialogue & prayer to confirm agreement/unity in the Spirit. It the end, it might mean that you stay put and just change the way you do things locally amongst your existing friends. I recommend Alan Hirsch’s book the Forgotten Ways (page 40-42 talk about their personal & community shift).
As a side note to this post: I have found I am providing personal (pastoral) counseling to employees, building friendships with customers, displaying godly work & Kingdom values as I network with other businesses, am worshipping like mad as I am so hungry to be filled and generally feel more in touch with my gifting in my current business owner role than I did as a full time support based missionary church planter. For me, it was realignment rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water!
Peace, Mike
Mike…
Your comment was soooo helpful … thanks
[...] thinker, pastor and professor David Fitch has a great post on the common fears people have of planting missional churches (Fitch is also a great writer. I highly recommend his book The Great Giveaway for all Christian [...]
This was an excellent post, and my first time on this site. For me as an African-American, I feel like a missional church is completely outside the box for many from my the black community and context, and leaves me wondering what kind of support we will receive from local churches. Many of the concerns mentioned above are also legitimate concerns for me as well.
Nonetheless, I have been praying with a close friend about doing such. Again thanks for the post.
Dave,
I wanted to go to the back porch, but when the end of the week rolled around I opted for an unquiet night with the fam and little caesar, instead of quiet hot dog and discussion.
This is partially off topic, but related so I’ll shoot. I know you are committed to the 150 limit for churches; what happens when you get there. The most organic thing that comes to my mind is a 50/50 split or 67/33 split where a significant part of the community decides as a group to meet together in a different location. Some of the paid and unpaid leaders tranistion with the new community as well and in both places new leaders will need to be identified and brought up in time. Any thoughts?
I do really appreciate your thoughts on the missional order team though. I would think that these missional orders would be formed from start, yes?
I am currently planting a Church in Nor-Cal. I work full-time having raised most of my support working with an organization.
I find that most fear of Church Planting in any paradigm is rooted in the idea that failure will consume you.
I want to encouarge anyone considering church planting because of what God has done in me through the process. I used to be so unhappy in my church employment. I have never been more happy, fulfilled, filled with joy since following this call. I would have loved to plant with a team but there was no one I knew willing to take that risk. But that has been a blessing because it has caused us to seek out friends and partners.
I have found God doing more through asking people to serve with us rather than join a Bible study. That is the essence of planting in our current culture. Serve before you gather. Just some thoughts from some one on the field six-months.
Jeremy..
I love that idea ..”serve before you gather”…