My own story (pt 2)

The story I found myself in

On returning home I figured I’d check out the web to see if anything else like this was going on anywhere. God drew back a curtain and I stood there rooted to the spot, open mouthed. As I downloaded and read, among other things, Jim Montgomery’s book 'DAWN 2000: 7 Million churches to go' (http://www.dawnministries.org/resources/downloads.html), every cell of my being was screaming. This was what God had called me for at age 7. I knew that something of my destiny was wrapped up with what was unfolding in front of me. I had a deep sense of awe, a feeling of suddenly discovering I was part of a much bigger story than I had realised. There were phenomenal things going on mainly in developing nations. The figures were staggering, hundreds perhaps thousands being swept into the Kingdom in regions of India, China, South America, and much of it was occurring through these seemingly spontaneous, ‘out of control’ movements of church planting; churches that were small, often home based, organic and simple.

In a way I was almost angry. All the time God had been out there round the world doing this stuff in mind boggling ways, and I knew nothing about it at all. Nobody had told me! Yes, I knew a little about China and the odd outburst of revival here and there but no one was putting it all together and interpreting it in the bigger context to the guy in the pew.

What about Britain ?

My next question of course was what was going on in Western Europe , and more importantly in Britain ? I knew already that church leaders were clearly wrestling with the growing frustration over church both in themselves and their flocks. Talk of a reshaped church was on the agenda; cell, G12, deconstructionism, decentralisation; but what about multiplication? Could, what some were reporting on from around the world happen here in Britain ? Were there signs of it already? If so where? Who? What? How? So I began digging and networking as far as I could. It turned out that, yes, there were things going on. But it quickly became evident that these were at a very early stage of development. And in terms of anything containing the potential for spontaneous expansion or movement it was really too early to tell. But there were signs of something happening. Some of which was occurring on the periphery of existing church and most of this was being observed and reported on for example by George Lings at The Sheffield Centre via a publication called 'Encounters on the Edge' (http://www.encountersontheedge.org.uk/). But there were other signs of a possible spontaneous, grass roots expression which was happening beyond the edge of the existing church structures, unseen and as yet largely unreported.

I was particularly fascinated to find out what had happened to Challenge 2000, the British expression of the DAWN strategy set up in the 90’s. Jim Montgomery wrote at length about this British effort in his book 'Then the end will come' (http://www.dawnministries.org/resources/downloads.html) , though when I searched for evidence of it ever having happened I met a blank wall! Eventually I was pointed in the direction of Martin Robinson the National Director for Together in Mission (http://www.togetherinmission.org/), the organisation originally responsible for Challenge 2000. So we arranged to meet and I began to uncover what had happened and why the initiative had effectively died.

As existing church leaders began to face the challenge of planting 20,000 new churches around the UK they were faced with a number of immediate questions, including, what kind of churches were they going to need in order to plant so many new ones? What kind of leaders were going to be needed for these new churches? And where would these leaders come from? As they wrestled with these fundamental issues it quickly became apparent that the new type of churches that would be required would have to be radically different from existing models. These radically different models posed a serious potential threat to their existing structures and in turn their own positions. Were they willing, for the sake of the Kingdom to begin to release and let go rather than hold onto and restrain? For almost all it was too much to ask.

Control and authority are probably the biggest issues facing the British church at this time, and how we deal with these will determine whether we ever see a spontaneous Christian movement on our shores. But it has happened before and for those with eyes to see there are some strikingly similar signs out there.

Back to the story

Meanwhile back at the ranch there was trouble brewing in our own church. As I was in the midst of grappling with all this new information our church was plunged into a major upheaval. The upshot of which was that the 2 leaders (of 4) who had begun to explore the possibility of reshaping the church were suddenly no longer in leadership. I was therefore in a dilemma; was God asking me to remain within the existing body and help effect some kind of transition or what? As I sought God on this I eventually felt a clear release from my responsibilities there and that God wanted me to focus my energy towards the unchurched.

Having said that, I was also clear from the start that it would be vital in the long term for the benefit of both the existing and the emerging churches to maintain as strong links as possible relationally, so as to provide a platform for future dialogue and mutual co-operation. This has happened and all being well in time will produce fruit.

End of year one

We committed ourselves initially to helping a couple establish church in their home with the aim of reproducibility and the intention of planting another similar church in due course. During this first year we deliberately have not tried to do or plan anything. It has been a year of un learning, allowing our thinking on church to be totally turned inside out. Now we are close to seeing a second church planted in another part of the city through one of the families involved. In the City we are only one of around 5 or 6 different ‘new’ church expressions each connected through friendships to one or more of the others but working church out in differing ways. There are already signs of a potential Ephesians 4 gifts type resource being shared around the churches and it probably won’t be long before there will be a natural ‘all together’ type gathering. Through the networking I have done I have also been able in small ways to encourage a few others around the country who are seeking to take similar steps forward into this new paradigm. This will also hopefully form a part of what I shall be doing in the future.

So through these experiences and encounters God has had us on a journey and we now find ourselves standing in a totally new landscape with a completely different outlook on what it means to be church. Everything looks very different. What at first seemed strange and even uncomfortable has begun to make some sense but we still have a long way to travel. In essence God has shifted our thinking which has allowed Him to reshape our understanding and expression of church which now contains the potential for multiplication and movement.

So what does this new paradigm look and feel like? You'll have to check out Part 4 to find out...

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