Clarifying Something Important
As I share my personal experiences about the planting process I am not suggesting that I am angry about my experiences nor am I casting judgments on those who helped us plant. As critical as I am of current planting trends, I am not even saying that they are wrong. What I am saying is that the core concepts of planting is the most important thing and that the methods of the bricks and mortar are less essential in their mechanisms. The paths and directions that I wanted to take and had to fight for are not THE way to do it, but A way to do it that is just as valid in my humble opinion as the conventional ways. End of the day, planting coaches need to be flexible and allow for differing external visions and expressions of church community as opposed to firmly creating and multiplying clones of your own experiences and visions.
If the core beliefs about Jesus, the Gospel, Mission, and Incarnational living are solid and the planter has a honest grasp of these things, then the expression of church community and the founding of that church community can, and should be allowed to differ.
What was in my heart was to reach the dissillusioned and the ones with many hurts and demands put on them by the church. The methods I felt compelled to use were wonderful for the "seekers" and the "unchurched" and for a plant where the planter is called to reach those people that is fine. But when you are reaching the disillusioned and the burned, a different toolbox is needed. I know of a pastor in Boystown in Chicago who reaches to the GLBT community and his expression and invitations are different than mine and the methods I was asked to use. There is a church starting on the strip in Vegas trying to reach prostitutes and addicted gamblers…again, different methods. What of the church trying to reach the homeless community…snazzy music and four color flyers may intimidate them. It is the same gospel, but there are different expressions of reaching people and loving them and one size does not and cannot be expected to fit all.
In my case (to summarize), door hangers do not earn trust or open the opportunity to earn trust, the music does not have to be perfect (sometimes there is no music), and a conventional core would have been detrimental. Further, in this first year the community helped form what we are as opposed to us forcing hopes and dreams into it. Now, almost a year later, we are prepared to invite others to join our community now that we know what we are inviting them to.
I do hope this better explains my frustration. It is not with the methods themselves, it is that there needs to be room and allowances for trailblazers and callings that have different external expressions. Counter culture sometimes means being counter to the conventional methods within the church and if we want to survive in this emerging post modern world, we have to become flexible to these alternative visions and expressions of community.
