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GINKWORLD: SE7EN QUESTIONS
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Aaron
J. Babyar
www.thegrovechurch.org
1)
planting a church in an
emerging/postmodern culture, what do you think are the key elements
of a community of faith in an emerging/postmodern
culture?
The
necessarily main and overarching theme of a “healthy”
community must be that of glorifying God.
How this is done via methodologies
and philosophies (and dare I say Theologies), pale in comparison
to the necessity of that goal.
2)
what do you see as the four (because
three is too traditional) to differences between the community
of faith you are serving, and those churches in your area?
Our methodology is
community based aside of our normal worship gatherings.
Though it is very “vogue” for churches to have small
groups of some sort or another, our difference would be our
increasingly holistic embrace of Community for more things than
just Bible study (though that certainly has a place as well).
Our church is encouraged to be joining up and doing life
together throughout the week…not just on Sundays.
Our style of worship is aggressively rock in format, and we also bring much visual and other sensory elements into our worship gathering. As a result, our gatherings have a very different “feel” than those of nearby congregations of believers. This is an understatement.
We are young in age
(right next to the campus of the
We have a “team” philosophy of ministry. Though we do have a Pastor on staff with us who is the Directional Leader, you don’t see his name plastered on a church Marquee. For the most part, the bigger decisions in our church either go through 3 of us Pastors, or via our Elder board, or a combination thereof. None of us are trying to get our name on our own TV or radio show. Most churches around us have 1 Pastor who is in charge of most every big and little decision, including how big their personal name is written on the sign in front of the church.
3)
is the community you serve connected
with a denomination? if "yes," what do you see
as the benefits and problems with that relationship, and if
"no," what do you believe are the benefits and
problems without being connected?
No.
We lack the advantage of having great amounts of $ being
handed to us by a denomination (though there is a church in the
region that does help somewhat and will for awhile longer).
In fact, I raise support for 82% of my salary.
This
is both a problem for obvious reasons, but also a benefit.
The benefit is that is pushes us (as a still young
church) to be mature beyond our years in regard to financial
stewardship. The
day is coming when we will likely have ZERO outside funding.
As a church family, we must grow our giving in such a way
that we are Kingdom building through the resources God has given
us via the people of this congregation.
4) what would you say are the two hardest things connected to planting an emerging/postmodern community of faith? People wrongly assume that because The Grove’s philosophy of ministry and methodologies are so different, that we automatically must be trying to reform/reinvent our theology as well (such as Doug Paggitt). However, we are quite conservative in our theology, and comfortable with our ancient/historic Christian beliefs…even if we do like to live in Community, watch movies, and jam to rock music.
Again…no $.
5)
how does your community of faith
develop connections with those outside the community? Exactly.
This is a question that we are asking ourselves right now
too. In many ways,
we easily connect with many young adults because we are so
unique. We’re
almost trendy (gag) because we have a team gifted with cultural
relevance (myself included for better or worse).
However, the danger is that if we put our evangelistic
eggs in the basket of, “we’re cool,” then we ultimately
are putting our efforts and energies into a very elusive thing.
What about the poor and oppressed?
What about the widows? Are we doing anything to help
the downtrodden of the world?
The answer is yes, but NOT ENOUGH.
So
when will it be enough? See I
Corinthians 13. I
think the coolness factor eventually becomes like a clanging
cymbal. We must be
known by our LOVE…not known because a group of college aged
students really think we’re “cool….”
Our love is growing, and it must continue to do so.
This is how we are planning to (and have already begun)
to more intentionally develop connections with those outside our
community of believers.
6)
what do you believe are the key
elements in an emerging/postmodern worship service?
Embracing
the arts in using the senses God has given us (taste, touch,
etc.) is huge. This
allows for worship to be an experience, not just a sermon.
That being said, the teaching time still carries
tremendous value. It
is a time when difficult subjects need to be addressed, while
also intentionally using God’s word as the standard that sheds
light.
Additionally
I want to rant quickly on music within the worship service,
because it is an important element.
I believe in having a high standard of quality musical
expertise (regardless of musical style).
I myself am never going to be accused of playing the
guitar like Jimmy Hendrix (I could barely fake an Adam Sandler).
Hence…I don’t lead the congregation when we gather
for worship singing. God
has well gifted several people @ The Grove with technical
ability of high caliber. Those
are the people that (when their heart matches their head and
hand for music) we need to incorporate into leading us to
God’s throne. In
my past I have been around glory hogs that had to be part of a
worship team so that they could be on stage to get better at
their instrument. Rather,
at the Grove it seems that people are brought onto our worship
team once they are already have great ability, and have already
become a part of our community of faith.
This seems to weed out those wanting glory from those
wanting to play for His glory.
7)
what two key areas of advise would
you give to a person looking to plant a community of faith in
your area, or any area? In
our area? The more
the merrier. We are
the 3rd fastest growing region in the country.
Even though we are in the Bible belt, most people have
given up on God though they don’t realize it.
I moved here from
In
general? Don’t be
a cowboy. Even if
you have a dynamic personality, a seminary degree, and are
really cool…you suck alone.
Do it within the context of team.
From day 1, plant with no less than 2 pastors on your
team…both of which having a long-term never
say die outlook on Kingdom building for God.
This sounds hard to do.
But the benefits far outweigh the challenges.
For Biblical backing on this, I don’t think it is a
great stretch to invoke Ecclesiastes 4:9-10.
We aren’t made to do things alone, and be “super
pastors who can do it all.”
We all need someone to push, sharpen, question, and
befriend us in ministry.
any
closing thoughts you would like to share? I love my wife, and I
love loving my wife. She’s
great! Our 4 kids are the
greatest blessings we’ve known.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you to put church over
family. The best food in the
world is Gino’s East pan sausage pizza.
It’s a slice of heaven that can only be found in If the Bulls win the NBA
Championship this year, I’m getting the Bull logo tattoo
(I’ve never had a piercing or tattoo, so my wife isn’t
exactly the words biggest Bulls fan right now).
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