new thoughts...

You're looking at a shot of my computer screen.  Framed is a snippet of text from a proposal I just finished for a new TV series.

The series--if it gets the 'go'--would be five days a week all across America and in Canada as well in specific markets.  It'd be an entertainment show designed to connect pop culture and faith culture.

Dunno' what will come of it but I had fun writing it.  I'll keep you posted.

In 'church planting' news, I met with another pastor from our area yesterday and one the day before and one the day before.  I've got one in two hours and another tomorrow morning.

I've been learning a lot though listening to these men and their 'take' on what's happening in the city, what's not happening in the city, and what they think needs to happen in the city.

I'm very grateful for their time and humbled by their faithful service.

Here are some thoughts from one of them that were useful to me and might be interesting to you in terms of your local context.  Of course, if you're a church planter (or even just interested in church planting) my hope is that these 'inside views' I'll be posting as I work to plant THE WELL (a new church in Bulington Ontario Canada) will be of service to you.

Anway...

-His focus with his church currently (and they've just come out of a year and a half of pretty intense brokenness) is to 'strengthen the core'.  He's building on the idea from pilates that your core muscles (stomach etc) are the center and everything emanates from there.  He's going 'back to basics' with his teaching.

-He told me that one of the biggest churches in our area, a church that prides and markets itself on being a church for people who 'aren't into church' just did a survey and found out that 98% of their people are from other churches.  I get two things from this.  1) I rejoice that they have many people who are leaning to love Jesus, each other and the world around them.  2) I note that even our best-laid plans and strategies typically aren't anywhere near the actual plans God has for His ministry through us to the world.  I synthesize this from that; I must plan but be sure to not hold too dearly to my plans 'cause I'm probably wrong to some (greater or lesser) degree.

-He is focusing on obedience (to Jesus) worship (of Jesus) and prayer (with and to Jesus) as the key elements of his teaching in this new season.

-He reminded me how important it is to tell your people the truth.

-His take on our city is that it's full of broken families.  Because our town is middle to upper-middle class much of that pain is hidden.  He thinks a new church needs to be very mindful of this need.

-He feels there are very few example in the city for young families in terms of how to raise their kids, love their spouse and follow Jesus.

-The demographic of his church is mid to late forties folk who (in his words) are 're-discovering their faith'.  This is contrary to what he thought his demo would be.  I'm encouraged as the demo we're likely to hit is different than his.  That will help us not 'recreate the wheel'.

-He's going through a bit of a charismatic renewal which is cool 'cause wasn't typically oriented that way years ago.  He emphasized that grace and the spirit being poured out go hand in hand.

-He said that people in our town 'expect' more hands-on care or involvement from their pastors then he thought they would.  He seems to think that our town is a town of former blue collar families who've now attained white collar status (something they've striven for all their lives) so that has made them quite 'results oriented' in their outlook.  This informs how we'll do church at THE WELL in that we'll need to contextualize our outward ethic (service design, structure, marketing, brand etc.) with a sense of 'achievement' or 'flash' (God help us) or some degree of 'hey, this place feels like it's 'with it'...' so that we can engage people in a cultural language they understand.  That said I wrote in my notes, "How can you project a vibe of achievement while walking in a spirit of brokenness and humility all the while lifting Jesus high as the only answer, the only life, the only truth there is?"

-I asked him to speak into my life and he said what he 'heard' was 'Preserve the unity of the saints."  It'll be interesting to see what that means in terms of how I walk all this out.

-He said people in our town are looking for productivity.  That'll be interesting to work out.

-He said that our church--to be effective--must be a church that actually penetrates the community.  That dovetails with what another pastor emphasized re: the relative isolation of our town.

-He said a dominant theme in the culture of our town is a creeping cynicism with the veneer of suburbia ie: a 'is this all there is' sense that's growing in our peers.  As we grow up, start achieving things yet still find ourselves unfulfilled we can experience deep dissatisfaction.  This is a wonderful opportunity to talk about Jesus.

-He said he feels our town has a deep sense of spiritual poverty to it.

-He said we must be sure to not define ourselves by what we're 'not' but rather by what we 'are'.

-He felt there's nothing happening in the city currently like what we're hoping to do with THE WELL.

Here's hoping.

T