One of the things I said at the vision meeting we had a few days ago was that I was not very interested in simply building another “church on the corner” for people to get their religious fix for the week. What I’m really interested in doing, and what our community is longing to head toward, is participating in a movement of multiplying Spirit-led, missional, disciple-making communities. That sounds completely audacious, of course, but I do sense that there is a movement brewing, that God is up to something again that is going to span denominations and traditions and cultures.
The trouble is that I also think it will look a lot different than what we’ve seen in the past. And because of that a lot of people will probably miss out on it.
To give you a little flavor of what I see happening, here are a few links to people and communities that have inspired/taught me, and/or partnered with us in our church planting venture, and/or seem to be “flowing” in the movement I am seeing:
- Todd Hunter called for Godward missional communities way back in 1999, and is busy cultivating them now through his work with the Anglican Church.
- The Ecclesia Network is busy resourcing and connecting these kinds of churches.
- I learned (and copied) tons of stuff from the Renew Community and JR Briggs in Lansdale, PA
- A conversation I had with Jon Tyson from Trinity Grace Church in NYC was profoundly helpful, and I love what they are doing in the city.
- Doug Paul from Eikon Community in Richmond, VA is in the middle of re-structuring their community, and manages to be energetic and inspiring every time I talk with him.
- I have enjoyed a few conversations with Jason Coker, who is planting Ikon Community near San Diego. He is also a talented writer – if you read his blog you will learn things.
- JR Woodward is doing great work with Kairos Church in LA.
I post these links so you can peruse the sites and get an idea of what’s happening “out there.” There are plenty of other people and communities and ministries doing fabulous things, of course. But the beautiful thing about a genuine movement is that there are no superstars or celebrities, just a whole bunch of people getting on with it and not caring who gets the credit. Sign me up.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
oh man, I thought you were going to talk about brewing beer at home. ha!
but really, yeah, a lot of those people are leading the way.
Actually a group of us are thinking about brewing beer at home as a missional “project” of sorts… with obvious fringe benefits.
bring some up the next time you are in chi-town!