No second generation!

Whilst watching the cricket (which England look unlikly to win) I was reading my current book "Total Church" by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. It very interesting and challenging my thoughts about church. One such sentance has stopped me in my tracks and I had to blog about it.

They said "There need be no second-generation churches if the church is constantly re-configuring itself through church planting."

The Salvation Army has in the past been successful at growing its congregations by keeping families in the SA and their children "coming through the ranks." Yet our numbers are in decline, churches are struggling to survive and attract people to its fellowship. Have we been guilty of seeking to maintain the SA/church fellowship rather than be confident to growing and dreaming of what the SA could be. Being a forth generation Salvationist maybe I am to blame.

How do established churches break out and seek to focus on community and mission without losing faith, committed people from its fellowships who are use to the way things are. But is that a good enough reason not to investigate planting? Surely a church plant in essence is a second-generation church!

All I know is that we need to look at all the options and be ready to change.

Matt

Big Church Little Church

So what is it to be? Small Church or Big Church? What is the future for the church in our country? Will people find large professional places of worship inviting or small intimate settings! What abouts cells, interest groups or house churches? Is every church suppose to grow numerically and look for bigger premises or is planting the future?

I so feel so confused as to what is "the best thing to do" for a church to grow and develop. Currently I find myself in a Salvation Army church in Nottingham that has been here for many years with committed members. I am really enjoying the challenge, the community and hope that comes through lead a group of followers forward. I want to be in Aspley for as long as possible. One day, I would love to plant a new church one day. Go into a community where there is no expression of the church and believe that God can raise up a community willing and ready to worship and serve.

But I keep coming back to the question "what is best?"

I am learning that every church/worshipping community can grow, can be what God desires it to be and that there is not one perfect model of church. We have tried to do that in the past and it only worked for so long. We need to be prepared to re-think, re-shape and re-imagine what the church should be and what it can be.

Matt

Is Planting for me?

It don't really enjoy gardening, so why on earth would I want to plant something??

Obviously, I am not talking about flowers but church planting. Last week I was let out of the college to attend the "First steps in church planting" conference. It was a great few days listening to the speakers go through the various aspect of the what, where and why of planting!

The thing that struck me was the need for any expression of the church to a) know it's context and b) be relevant to it's context. I would love to go and plant church but that is not for me to decide (two weeks Thursday til we find out where we are going). If I do, I know that our responsibility is to discern the heart of God already at work in peoples lives and jump on board and play an active role in his impressive story. If I go to an established corps, my prayer is that through prayer, vision and obedience, I will see just where God needs the presence of His people.

Matt