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Danny
Parmelee, lead pastor
epikos
www.epikos.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?
I think it boils down to
authenticity. I know this is a buzz word, but its true that
our generation is looking for authenticity. Plus, most
non-believers think that church is for “fakes” and only filled
with “hypocrites.” By being an authentic community, we
will break down barriers for them to experience Christ and his
church.
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? We
will talk about anything. If Jesus talks about it or it is
relevant to our people we talk about it.
We have a very simple ministry. Small groups, simple
worship gatherings. We’re not very “polished,” and
don’t have many programs.
We are very young. Our average age is about 24.
We have a missional heart for both local and abroad.
We want to plant more churches in our area, but are also sending
people overseas. Already we’ve sent people to France,
Africa, and China.
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? We
are associated with the Baptist General Conference (www.bgcworld.org)
It has been a great benefit to be connected with other BGC
church planters and strategically try to reach our area. It
was very helpful when starting that I was assigned a coach to walk
me through stuff. Also just to have a network of churches
who were praying and sending people to us. The only negative
is the name “Baptist.” Most of our people don’t know
that Epikos is connected to a “Baptist” denomination.
Many BGC churches don’t use Baptist in their name so that the
denominational misconceptions won’t prevent non-believers from
coming. We are very autonomous; yet enjoy the accountability
and infrastructure.
4) what
would you say are the two hardest things connected to planting an
emerging/postmodern community of faith?
People our age have a difficult
time committing. They are involved in many ministries and
spread themselves thin…kind of hop around to the fun stuff.
This makes building community very difficult. People
struggle with seeing the church as a mission, they still have
“feeder mentality.” In other words, “What can the
church do for me?” or “If there’s things I don’t like
I”ll leave.”
5)
how does your
community of faith develop connections with those outside the
community? After
our worship gatherings on Saturday nights, we go out to the local
cafés, restaurants, and bars. We fellowship and meet people.
Work places have also been an amazing place for people to build
connections. Soccer on the beach has been a new in now that
weather is getting nicer.
6) what
do you believe are the key elements in an emerging/postmodern
worship service? God’s word. We can’t get
away from God’s word. Whether sitting in a circle on
couches or sitting in pews, God’s word has to be central.
I think artistic worship is also central. Music obviously
being the most common artistic worship.
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?
Network with the other church
plants first. We already have 3 plants going into our
section of downtown and it’s exciting to work together.
There is plenty of room for more plants so it’s certainly not a
competition. Join in prayer in strategy to reach an area.
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