Intersected

Now that we’ve started an Engage Group at Grace, I want to start posting items that may be of benefit to the group and that can provide encouragement to start additional groups at church. To kick things off, here is a challenge from John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis about why churches need small groups and community

Here are 10 tips for Missional Communities from Austin City Life and Jonathan Dodson

1. KNOW GOD
   • cultivate a steady devotional/prayer life
   • participate in a fight club
   • serve with the strength God supplies
2. KNOW YOUR PEOPLE
   • pastor your city group
   • notice when somebody disappears
3. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
   • know the culture
   • know your neighbors
4. DON’T GO ALONE
   • share leadership, i.e. host, meals, prayer, mission
   • participate in monthly meetings
   • participate in monthly coaching
5. SAY WHO YOU ARE (AND WHO YOU AREN’T) EVERY WEEK
   • Deconstruct small group/biblestudy/social group
   • Reaffirm our Practices (Engage God, Engage Each Other, Engage Ann Arbor)
6. GET OUT OF THE LIVING ROOM
   • on mission
   • in celebration
7. LIVE THE 8 WAYS TO EASILY BE MISSIONAL
   • Out loud, let gospel talk be ordinary talk. Don’t hide your faith. Here’s the link and below are the 8
   • Eat with Non-Christians.
   • Walk, Don’t Drive.
   • Be a Regular.
   • Hobby with Non-Christians.
   • Talk to Your Co-workers.
   • Volunteer with Non-Profits.
   • Participate in City Events.
   • Serve your Neighbors.
8. EAT, LAUGH, PRAY, and  SERVE TOGETHER
   • a healthy group will do all 4
9. TELL YOUR STORIES
   • In the living room
   • On the blog
   • Use twitter/FB to facilitate community(not replace it)
10. COME TO SERVE (NOT JUST GET) ON SUNDAYS

When the Ann Arbor News became AnnArbor.com, I was worried that any religion coverage would be gone since there doesn’t seem to be a big audience for it in town. Needless to say, I was encouraged to see some articles about faith appearing online, and in print in the Thursday paper.

Since there was still going to be some religion reporting in the paper, I decided to submit a story idea. Twp months ago, I wrote an email to a writer for AnnArbor.com suggesting a story about church planting in Ann Arbor. Here’s the email

I noticed that you’ve written the last two religion articles for AnnArbor.com and I wanted to suggest a story for you. Church planting, starting  new churches, has been a growing trend in evangelical Christianity  over the past few years and there are a number of church plants in  Ann Arbor and Ypsi now or coming soon. 

• University Reformed Church replanted as Grace Ann Arbor, official re-launch Sept 13
• Mosaic Church, a plant of Oak Pointe church in Novi, official launch Sept 13
• The Greenroom, a church focused on reaching the arts community in Ann Arbor, is being planted by The River Community Church in Hartland
• Connections Community Church was planted last April in Ypsi

The sudden increase is in stark contrast to the previous 20 years which has seen very few (maybe 3) churches planted in Ann Arbor in that are not mainly student focused. For full disclosure, I’m part of Grace Ann Arbor, serving as the Church Planting resident and  looking to plant a church in Ann Arbor most likely in 2011.

I didn’t see any articles in the paper relating to this topic, so I figured the editors decided that this wasn’t a good story.

I was pretty surprised, then, that on Monday, October 6, Janet Miller of the AnnArbor.com called to interview me for an article related to the story idea that I submitted. We talked for about 30 minutes, about church planting, its presence in the Bible, its necessity, etc. She asked me if only evangelical churches plan (no), how it works, if when I plant I plan to target specific demographics or niches (no), thinks like that. I thought it went pretty well, although I realized after the fact that I need a clearer, more concise definition of gospel-centered church for the next time I’m in that situation.

When today came, I went outside to get the paper (Brrrr) and found the article, which online is entitled New churches planted to reach special niches, new members but in print the headline has something to do with technology (not entirely sure why there are such different headlines). All in all, the article seemed pretty fair. I would have loved to have heard from Shannon Nielsen at Mosaic Church or Dexter Hardy at Connections Community Church to get the perspective of churches that were starting more from scratch, but I realize that every article can’t cover everything. I’m praying that God will be glorified through this article, that people will be transformed through the regeneration available through the Holy Spirit’s work in us and that Christ and His cross will be proclaimed by these, and all, churches in Ann Arbor.

A church in a college town that doesn’t minister to college students falls short of all that the local church is called to be. This doesn’t mean that a church needs to specifically target college students to the exclusion or slighting of non-students, but it should seek, as Paul did, to be all things to all people that some might be saved for the sake of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:22-23). One of the challenges at Ambassador will be our willingness to invest in, and minister to, college students while not catering to them.

Justin Holcomb, our dean at Re:Train, has written a list of “the top six things you need to know if you’re doing college ministry.” I pray that churches in college towns would take up the challenge to reach college students for Christ and that lives would be transformed by the gospel.

1. Don’t confuse the gospel with religion
   To prevent doing this, talk about Jesus (who he is and what he has done) all the time. If you don’t, students will think Christianity is really about something else, like morality, philosophy, piety, social justice, or a religious experience. If you start talking more about what they should do instead of what Jesus has done, you’re preaching another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9), which is to put heavy burdens on them (Matt. 23:2-4).
2. Learn about sexual assault
   The prevalence of sexual assault is staggering. At least 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men are or will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime. And the numbers are much worse for college students. These young women and men feel crippling shame, deep guilt, and painfully alone because of what has been done to them.
3. Teach students how to read and interpret the Bible for themselves
   This means being clear on the relationship between the law and the gospel. The law is “perfect, true, and righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:7-9) and “holy, just, and good” (Rom. 7:12), but it does not effect what it demands (Gal. 3:21). The good news is that on the cross Jesus took our penalty of law-breaking and fulfilled the law, so he could give us his righteousness. God then works in us to will and to do his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). The very law that condemns us becomes the very thing that God fulfills in us through the power of his Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:18-23), not through our effort (Gal. 3:1-3).>
4. Be prepared to comfort students because of divorce and death
   College students are at a phase in life where their parents seem to get divorced, if they aren’t already, now that their children are leaving home. This is also the age when grandparents begin to die.
5. Study apologetics
   Many students still have brain cells left, and they’ve been reading and thinking about their world. They have legitimate questions about who Jesus is and what he did and why he isn’t just a good example. They want to know why they should trust the Bible as reliable. The immense suffering in the world makes them doubt either the goodness or power of God or both. They think Christians are hypocrites and bigots, so why should they become one?
6. Be prepared to counsel students about what they’re really facing
   You must be prepared to counsel about eating disorders, pornography, cutting, abusive relationships, and the lingering damage of sexual sin. College students tend to be the shock-absorbers of the myths our cultural sells. Idols are brutal slave masters.

Yesterday was a pretty big day for church launches in the area. Mosaic Ann Arbor, a church plant out of Oak Pointe Church in Novi, MI, had their launch service. NorthRidge Saline had their first services at Saline High School. Grace Ann Arbor, where Julie and I attend and where I am the Church Planting Resident, had it’s official relaunch service. It’s been a long time since Ann Arbor, much less Washtenaw County, had so many church starts. I’ve been praying for all three churches, that God would be glorified, that there would be a commitment to preach the Word without regard for social approval, and that our communities would be impacted by our imitation of Christ.

I have been a little surprised, though, that none of the churches have posted anything on their sites about how yesterday went. Because Malachi was sick yesterday, I can’t even post here about gathered worship at Grace Ann Arbor. It seems like the best way to build on the momentum of a launch service would be to write about it and share your thoughts and gather other people’s thoughts. Maybe create a live feed of any Twitter hash tags (#northridgesaline). Maybe post pictures. Maybe just a “thank you” to the visitors and volunteers who gathered and worshipped. Reflecting on the momentous day that just passed reminds people of just how important church planting is and provides an opportunity to edify and educate. It can also serve to remind people of past, present, and future challenges that come when we are committed to being Wholly In, Of, and For God.

Praise God that churches are rising up in Ann Arbor and the surrounding area. It’s my hope that all the churches in the area will pray for God to work through both these new bodies of believers and through their own churches. We aren’t competing against each other, we are cooperating for the Kingdom.

Update: As of 10-13-2009, I’m no longer the Church Planting Resident at Grace Ann Arbor

From Michael Mckinley at the 9Marks blog. This list of how a sending church can serve a church planter is especially helpful as we look to the day that Grace Ann Arbor sends us out as a plant.

1. People — You can plant a church without a team of people.  You can also build a house by yourself.  But there’s a reason that people usually do things like this in groups.  Help the church planter put together a team of people that includes at least some who are very mission minded and sacrificially committed.  I would strongly encourage you to send an elder/leader with the planter.  It will help alleviate a tremendous burden.
2. Money — Money can’t solve your problems, but it can make a lot of things a lot easier.  Again, this is a burden that you can take off the planter’s back so that he can focus on spreading the gospel.
3. Connection — Church planting can be lonely and difficult on the family.  Appoint an elder that can remain connected and involved in making sure the planter and his family are OK.
4. Encouragement — View the plant as a mission of your church, not a would-be competitor.  Refer visitors to your church to the church plant if they live close to it.  Help with evangelism programs or projects.  Pray for them and do everything you can to see them succeed.

Moved to http://intersected.org/ann-arbor-rankings-stats

Great thoughts from Tim Chester, co-author of Total Church and a leader in The Crowded House – an international family of church planting networks

1. Recruit a team
   You can’t do it on your own! It doesn’t need to be a big team. Half a dozen people would be enough. What does matter is that you have people who are on board with your vision. We routinely ask people not to join us. (Our rule of thumb has been not to have Christians from other local churches join us just because they fancy a change of church.) We want people to feel a sense of coming to be part of missional team (even if they have a full-time secular job).
2. Develop a vision
   Start to develop a sense of what kind of church you want to be. What principles or values will shape you? Try to express this is in a clear way so that everyone in the team can articulate it for themselves. We don’t have much in the way of programmes, plans, structures and buildings. But we do try to set a clear vision so everyone knows what they should be doing and has the freedom to innovate within the vision.
3. Hang out in your area
   Walk the streets, prayer walk, spend time in local cafes (do your reading and prep there), join community groups, talk to people about your area. This serves a double purpose: (1) it will help you contextualise and (2) it will begin to build bridges with people in your neighbourhood.

From Jonathan Dodson of Austin City Life. This is great advice to work through at Grace Ann Arbor and beyond.

• Don’t forget to ask the pagans! If you are fundraising, remember that God used the pagan king Cyrus to fund the rebuilding of an entire city. He can definitely handle your church planting needs. Most pagans know more about your city than you do, and some of them love it more than you.
• Spend more time with people and less time with books in the first year of church planting. Learn your city, know its lostness, love your city, re-learn how to share the gospel in your context. Fall in love with your target people. The more you know and love them, the better your witness to the gospel will be, including your preaching.
• Identify the top 10 Obstacles to the Gospel in your Context. Don’t do this from the armchair, do it from anecdotes (conversations) and cultural exegesis (spending time in pockets of resistance or indifference).
• Identify the top 10 Obstacles to the Church in your Context. Anecdotes and exegesis. Learn the history of hypocrisy in your city or town so that you can apologize and distance yourself from mockeries of the Church. What do people think of when they think “church”?  Have they ever gone to one? Why did they stop?
• Don’t spend ungodly amounts of money or time on developing your first website. It will all change anyway, several times. You should be with people, not websites and blogs (!). Here are two good, inexpensive web solutions for early stage church planting: Church Root & Clover Sites.

Over the past year and a half, I’ve been seeking God intently as to what I feel is His call on my life to plant a church in Ann Arbor. One of the steps in that process was finding a new church, which resulted in our home at Grace. Another step in the process is applying to the Acts 29 Network, a church planting network started at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. Part of the application process is submitting a preaching sample. Since I don’t have any recordings from when I preached in Virginia at either Image or to the youth at CRBC, I have been praying for an opportunity to preach.

God answered that prayer last Monday. Pastor Larry Mattis, from Briarwood Baptist Church, called me and asked if I would be available to preach on Sunday, May 24. I visited Briarwood in October 2008 during our search and talked to Pastor Mattis about being called to plant in Ann Arbor. I greatly appreciate this opportunity and am looking forward to presenting God’s word. I’m unsure yet as to the passage I will preach on, but that should be determined in the next day or so.

If anyone out there in blog-land wants to worship God with Julie, Malachi and I through singing, reading the bible, and my very rusty preaching, join us at this Sunday at 11 a.m.  The address is 7950 Warren Road Ann Arbor, MI.

From MSNBC

America’s 124 midsize metros, with populations between 250,000 and 1 million people, have a total of 60 million residents. That puts them in the shadow of the nation’s 51 major metros, those in the million-plus category, which contain 54 percent of all Americans.

The study compared the 124 midsize metros in 20 statistical categories, using the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. The highest scores went to well-rounded places with healthy economies, light traffic, moderate costs of living, impressive housing stocks and strong educational systems.

These are the top 10 midsize metros in terms of quality of life:

1. Provo, Utah
2. Boulder, Colo.
3. Madison, Wis.
4. Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn.
5. Ann Arbor, Mich.
6. Ogden, Utah
7. Fort Collins, Colo.
8. Boise, Idaho
9. Colorado Springs, Colo.
10. Des Moines, Iowa

This is a fascinating stat

Ann Arbor, site of the University of Michigan, has the nation’s strongest concentration of adults with master’s, doctoral and professional degrees, 27.7 percent.

which is born out by Grace’s recent congregational survey and must impact my plans to plant in Ann Arbor.