Vital Church Planting session 2

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Vital Church Planting session 2
Toronto Feb 2008
The Sheffield Centre Church Armys Research unit
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DNA as the process of creating Church

• 2 DNA as how Church is created
• What are the processes?

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Church Plants or Fresh Expressions?
To Church Plant its a verb The theory and
practice of the understanding that governs the
following process . The creating and
sustaining of further and fresh expressions of
Christian community
Mission-shaped Church p 32
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Process lesson ONE
What you sow does not come to life unless it
dies. 1 Corinthians 15 36
The principle Seeds must be allowed to die
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Sowing Jesus patterns
Death to life
Baptism yes Church year yes Spirituality
yes Mission? what? But John 20
If anyone serves me, he must follow me and where
I am there my servant also will be. John 12 26
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As .
As the Father sent me so I send you
In the same apostolic manner of being sent . On
the same journey from incarnational
identification to counter cultural engagement
In the same way I died and re-emerged different
and the same In the willingness to die to
present glory take the form of a dying slave
.. In becoming different to become like those to
whom I was sent
. So I send you
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Sowing Jesus patterns
Death to life
Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and
dies it remains only a single seed. But if it
dies it produces many seeds. John 12 24
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Dying to live
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Hows that ?

• The seed is the sent out incoming team
• They die to their previous identity
• No longer part of St Silas Somewhere
• No longer holding onto how we did things there
• Remember Paul the apostle
• To the Greeks I became as a Greek 1 Cor 9

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Seeds are different to plants
Mixing with the soil of the mission context The
planted seed community becomes a new body of
believers as well us a body of new believers
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Beware

• What is planted is
• Jesus centred community-in-mission
• Its not mechanical sorry Henry Ford
• Its not just biological spraying seeds around
• Its human and spiritual
• Dying to live yes but
• Be real about the costs

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Process lesson - TWO

• Double listening

Mission in stereo, hears God better
MSC p 104-105 and Michael Nazir-Ali Shapes of
the Church to Come Chs 1-2
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Listening to what sources?
To God through the Word
To others in the World

• No, too narrow a view
• Separates Word and Tradition
• Separates Word and the Spirit, active in the
  world
• The NT shows Apostles listening to both

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Get the connections right
Only one Listening
Create Church
Planting Evangelism
1st ear Listen To Context
Syncretism
2nd ear Listen To Tradition
Irrelevance
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Get the order right
Create Church
Planting Evangelism
1st ear Listen To Context
Mission Shapes Church
Scripture assesses fresh expressions
2nd ear Listen To Tradition
Hold together two things creative engagement
with context faithfulness to the good news in
Jesus
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Process lesson - THREE

• Ask the right questions
• Ask them in the right order

start with the church and the mission will
probably get lost. start with the mission and it
is likely that the Church will be found.
Mission-shaped Church 2004116
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A three dimensional process

• Who is the Fresh Expression FOR ? Mission GOAL
• Network or Neighbourhood
• De churched or Non churched
• Who is the planting done BY ? Mission RESOURCE
• Pioneer or Progression
• Cell or Congregation
• Who is it done WITH ? Mission PARTNERS
• Runner Graft Seed or Transplant

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3 key questions ...
MSC p 116
Based on questions asked by Church of Saviour
Washington DC
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Process lesson - FOUR

• Beware Christendom imported distortions
• Including the dominance of public worship
• Leading to come shaped mission

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Robert Warren Building Missionary Congregations
Worship
What is Church Ideally made of ? ....
Community
Spirituality
Mission
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The Christendom distortion
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Different Mission Fields
Regular attenders at least monthly(10)
Fringe- less than monthly(10)
Non Churched(40)
Open de-churched(20)
Closed de-churched(20)
MSC p 37-40
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Where do you START in which context ?
Target Group
Or Mission Context
Starting Place
COMMUNITY theirs ours
WORSHIP
EVANGEL- ISM
Apology
Climate
Style
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The Missionary re- discovery
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Is Church in mission being moved on...
We decide what kind of jump
Lets improve what we are doing already Thats
risky enough.
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To surfboard
Reactive waiting For what wind and sea floor do
Whose in control here? Where might you end up?
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Similarity Difference

• Skill and using powers beyond us

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Where is the adventure wildness?

• No prizes for guessing

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Its not new

• Donovan Allen 20th Century
• Venn Anderson 19th Century
• Ricci Xavier 17- 16th Century
• Cuthbert Aidan 6th Century
• Martin Anthony 3rd - 2nd Century
• Paul Peter 1st Century

I never said it was safe or prudent
Danger! Apostolic Porcine Aviation Zone
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Did Jesus go surfing?

• Interesting Patterns
• John Jesus acts in response to the Father
• Luke Outrageous acceptance of outsiders
• Mark He immediately
• Matthew I am only sent to ..
• Paul the Cost Philippians 2
• Golgotha carried where he did not wish to go
• Where might it take us?

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Not very fresh expressions of surfing

• Lets buy a wave machine for the swimming pool

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Please not lets do the real thing
Even if we are only junior partners with the
Maker of shore, wind and waves Even if were
not yet very good at it