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Is
it Worth it?
Chris
Wotherspoon
The
Ecclesiology of Planting a Church in Southern
California
Recent
articles by Barna Research Institute have headlines
like; Twentysomethings Struggle to Find Their Place in
Christian Churches and, Fragmented Populations Require
Diverse Means of Connection. These articles go on to
explain how the younger generation has alienated itself
from the church. And that the church today must use
multiple means to reach the many cultures and
subcultures in the US today. Todays church is presented
with the challenge of not only keeping young people in
church once they graduate from high school, but reaching
young families that have no church background of any
kind. These young parents often called Busters or Gen
Xers, as well as their childless and unmarried peers
have never experienced church and many have negative
connotations about most any kind of institution,
including the church. These fragmented populations are
even more accentuated in the ever-changing diversity
found in Southern California. Reaching this first
postmodern generation, and those that will follow it,
will require not only planting new churches, but in many
ways, planting different churches. This paper reflects
on the book of Acts, and explores how returning to an
orthodox model of ecclesiology would be helpful for
planting a church, relevant to young people, in Southern
California. Most importantly, it deals with the
ecclesiology involved in the Who and What of church
planting, and well as addressing other basic questions.
There is good news for the church planter with a heart
for post moderns. The kind of church young people are
looking for, is the kind of church outlined in the book
of Acts. The kind of church outlined in the book of Acts
is a church people of all ages would like to belong to.
A
quick study of Acts and the apostles illustrates the
kind of men God chose to use in doing His heavenly work
here on earth. He chose Peter, who was over zealous,
Thomas, who was a doubting cynic, and James and his
brother John, who had real anger issues. God used
ordinary men to do extraordinary things! Just as in
Acts, God does not need a perfect person, a charismatic
speaker, or even a handsome well dressed pretty face, to
establish His kingdom. God has historically used average
Joes, called by Him, equipped and filled with His Holy
Spirit, to advance His kingdom and birth new churches.
Most importantly, the church is built upon the
confession that Jesus is the Christ. (Thiessen 315)
Church planting, however, is no small undertaking. It is
done best by a team, sent with support from a mother
church, operating in a plurality of leadership, under
the direction and vision of one head pastor, who is
sensitive to the Holy Spirit and sure of the Lords
calling. Scriptural requirements for these leadership
roles can be found in the second chapter of the epistle
to Titus.
Dick
Carlson often says, I'm just a people, who wants to
serve the Lord. All church planters should share this
humble attitude. Finding a team of these just a peoples
may be difficult. Aaron Norwood, church planter in
Tempe, AZ, suggests being a bi-vocational pastor. This
allows the Pastors salary to be divided by a team (of
two couples in his case), and keeps the pastor connected
to real people who work and live outside of the church.
While this may seem unorthodox, it worked at the Bridge,
a three year old church reaching students, and their
neighbors at ASU. It has also been said, Don't be afraid
to go out on a limb, that's where the fruit is. Reaching
the ecclesiastically homeless of today, as well as lost
souls, will require new methods, new churches, and new
pastors. Many of the goals driven, CEO modeled,
concentrated power, top down mentality, attitudes are
out dated and becoming less effective. Dan Kimball says
Leaders absolutely still need to lea d, but to engage
the emerging culture we need to shift our approach to
leadership. (228) Kimball suggests a model where the
Pastor is a spiritual guide, where ministry is
relationally driven, power is diffused, and leading
really means listening and doing it together. Pastors
from a postmodern generation will best reach the
postmodern generations, and these younger planters will
possess the faith, energy, and innovation that
developing a new church requires.
Paul
became all things to all people and laid an example for
the church to follow as far as being sensitive and
relevant to the culture God is calling individuals to
reach. Extreme caution in regards to avoiding legalism,
and the adding to of scripture, should be exercised in
planting a new church to reach young people. Just like
circumcision had different significance to Jewish
Christians than it did to Gentile Christians in Acts,
things like piercing, and music styles, (just to name a
couple) can cause huge schisms in the church today.
Mothering Churches would be wise to share grace with new
believers in the baby church who, coming from a
different culture, may not see the need to be
circumcised.
What
church should be like is wonderfully outlined in Acts
2:42-47. And developing churches should strive to be all
these things from day one. Church should be a learning
place! While Moderns and Boomers responded well to
linear thinking, and Classes titled 101,202, and 301,
their kids grew up with a wealth of information just a
click a way. While fundamental human needs, such as love
and acceptance, will never change, we need to approach
the emerging generations with new eyes and with
different ways of going about ministry. (Kimball 63)
Those reaching the next generation will rely on
narratives and experiential learning to communicate the
apostles doctrine and orthodox creeds. The truths will
never change, but the methods of communicating them
should.
Church
should be a praying place. Many churches are using
silence and meditation very effectively in reaching
young people. Even written prayers, which became
ritualistic in the past, are finding new meaning in the
emerging church. Young people today are much less uneasy
about the supernatural and the spiritual. In Fact, they
are looking for a place where God is reverenced and His
power to transform is evident. They are looking for a
happening place where Gods presence is manifest. New
Churches should welcome the gifts of the spirit and use
them in an orderly way. The church should be a sharing
place, of fellowship and togetherness. Young people
today, growing up in a society that does not value
family, are starving for the kind of community
demonstrated in Acts. Unfortunately, Donuts and Coffee
are just the beginning. New Churches must have great
concern for the welfare of one another. One suggestion
for fostering this kind of great concern is to share
meals together often. In acts they called it, breaking
of bread together. The Church should be a place of
Worship! Often that involves music and for decades now
Gods people have fought over traditional versus contemporary
worship. Many have left churches because a church used
or did not use songbooks. Tomorrows church will deal
with generations that lived with 5 music television
stations, a plethora of informational media, and a need
to experience everything! The unchurched young people
seeking to know God probably have never even seen a
hymnal. Most of all, these young people are seeking
something real, authentic, and sincere. Use of media,
relevant music, and instruments they recognize are
great, but caution should be taken to avoid hype or
manipulation that would take away from the authenticity
of Gods people expressing who He is. The Church should
joyfully serve Jesus! The happy church of Acts, the one
that lived out a contagious Christianity and was a
catalyst for change, is a church that people today would
find attractive. Churches targeting young people would
be wise not to overlook issues such as the environment,
poverty, and injustice. The Acts church took care of
widows and orphans. But, to many evangelicals, social
action once had liberal suspicious and unbiblical
connotations. (Campolo 103) This can not be so. Many
young people feel the church has neglecting these issues
in its effort to serve Jesus. One high school student
said, while wrapping a box for Operation Christmas
Child, Why don't we do this stuff all the time? Anytime
we do stuff for the poor Ill be there! This kind of
outward love is a great testimony of the church to young
people. Even Jesus said, What you do to the least of
these, you do to me. This kind of selfless Jesus service
should not be excluded from new churches.
Jesus
made three Promises before he ascended into heaven.
First he promised the Holy Spirit. Second, He promised
to build his Church. Third, He promised to return. These
promises are primary motivators to plant new churches.
There is a need for new churches everywhere, but
especially in Southern California. There is a need for
churches that reach young people everywhere, but
especially in Southern California. The Southland is home
to more colleges and universities than many other
countries. Young people are coming to California looking
for truth, looking for direction, and forming ideas that
will shape and mold everyone's tomorrow. Unfortunately
only a small percentage of them are letting the church
have any say. This is why the need to reach these
students is so great. Jack Whitesell suggests that
planting churches is the very best way to evangelize
America, and America desperately needs evangelizing. God
has commanded us to preach the Good news! God has chosen
the church as His plan for establishing His Kingdom here
on earth. The when of church planting is now! The where
of church planting is here. And the how of church
planting rests in Gods Holy Spirit planting seeds and
burdens in young and old men's hearts.
What
can the church do? Many churches see the need to reach
young people but they fail because we've always done it
this way. It is time to do things different. Many people
don't see the need for new church's because it seems
like there is a church on every other corner. However,
less than half of Southern Californians claim to
practice any kind of faith. While many believe in God,
and some consider themselves born again, most are not
part of a local church. They are orphans,
ecclesiastically homeless, hopeless, in need of a new
church. Many churches hesitate to mother a church
because of the huge cost in lost people and resources at
home. No one uses the same logic when birthing children,
and it should not be used in birthing churches. The
Church today needs to pray for workers for the harvest.
The Church today needs to be sensitive to the Holy
Spirits leading. The Church today needs to be open to
God planting new and different churches to reach the
lost o f our world, and the Church today needs to be
creative in reaching, teaching, and preparing young
people to be leaders, planters, and pastors in the
church.
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Chris
Wotherspoon is Leah's husband and Isaac's Dad. A youth
pastor, and theology student, hoping to connect the
church to the rest of his generation.
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