Church-Planting to the power of God

The concept of church-planting has been on my mind all week. After hearing a pastor express his calling to plant four churches in the Canton area, and looking around the room at the sub-40-member congregation, my entire perception of planting a church has been rocked.

My friend and colleague, Jason, and I were talking about church-planting the other day. He is a member of a 1000+member church near Akron, and has been commissioned by this body of believers to help lead a portion of them (200, give or take) down here to Canton where they hope to plant a new church, which I think is absolutely wonderful, and had I not felt called this semester to proceed with this blog, I probably would have done what I can to get involved and strive alongside him.

I read and listen to sermons and hear people talking about church-planting in similar ways: "We have enough people now to start a new church!" Or, "When we reach xxx number of members/regular attenders, we'll begin praying about planting a new church." Or, "We've outgrown our current facility, and are thus going to plant a new church in this or that city." Granted, these examples do not encompass all, or even the majority of church-planters and their various perspectives. I didn't do a survey to figure out the actual percentages of these mindsets. Nonetheless, I think we can all relate to them in some way. 

Let's think about the other side of that same coin: "We can't afford to plant a church. We missed our budget by x% as it is!" Or, "We hardly fill the building we're in now, so why would we try to plant a church?" (Again, no survey, but can't we all level with this line of thinking to some degree?)

Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to imply that these perspectives on church-planting are in any way wrong, I just wonder how complete they are. They seem to be reactional, subject to circumstances and situations that may or may not arise. And while God is able to do immeasurably more than our wildest imagination, he also expects and requires us to be good stewards of the resources we're given.

That said, what do you think our God, with his unlimited resources and power, with his providence and immutability, could do through a tiny parcel of believers completely committed to becoming a church-plant? What if, instead of reacting to circumstances, we proactively, and radically stepped out in faith, even if it seems crazy or ill-advised? The very idea of 'church-planting' is of human origin as it is. What if, say, five people, being called by God, decided to forsake all and entirely commit to the idea of 'making disciples' (Christ's divine term, which some might refer to as 'church-planting)? What if Living Hope Church sent two families into their respective neighborhoods to begin house churches with their neighbors? What if these grew to ten, or twenty apiece, over the course of two or three months? And then came together to celebrate with the mother church? The original congregation has doubled!

Now what if my friend Jason, and his 200-ish member church-plant adopted this small church's mentality of church-planting and decided to send their 50-ish families to their own homes, their neighborhoods, and each grew from four to twenty in a matter of six months? And then each mini-church of 20 broke off and began, say, two apiece, and worked toward making disciples and growing together in authentic, sacrificial community, and each of THOSE church grew to twenty people in six more months?

...I gotta get my calculator...

In six months that 200 member church is at 1000 or more, and after one year of committed growth, maturity and disciple-making the 200 has increased by a factor of ten! (That is, assuming my math checks out; either way it's mind-boggling, which further's my point.)

Hold your horses, there, Serafino. It's not all about the numbers. 

Exactly. And those hypotheticals weren't number-oriented, they were possibility-oriented. Instead of seeing the numbers, see what God COULD do if we'd really let him.

Could God plant a church through my wife and I? In this small upstairs apartment in northeast Canton? Could that little church double, triple, grow exponentially?

Could God use you in the same way? 

Living Hope.. literally.

I'm not sure if many of you noticed, but I made a gametime schedule change Sunday morning. My dear wife woke up sick with what turned out to be a day bug of some sort, and since she was truly looking forward to seeing St. Haralambos, I made the executive decision to switch it with another church on the schedule. 



Some of the churches on my schedule raise preconceived notions within me, whether it be regarding the music, style of worship, the people, the building, etc. Driving to Living Hope Church of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, I was utterly impression-less as to what I might experience. There are several C&MA churches in the area, and many of my peers at school have mentioned them once or twice, but I had no idea what to expect.

The two-room white building that stood at the far end of a gravel parking, though quaint, housed a small congregation more filled with living hope than many churches I've attended, big or small. Walking to the front door, I noticed that through the four large windows spaced down the front of the building, I was looking into the sanctuary, and could simultaneously see a majority of the congregation. Upon entry, I smiled, accepted the "Welcome to Living Hope" and the perfectly folded bulletin and made my way to the far end of the room to find a seat near the back. Before my coat was on the back of my chair, the pastor approached me, introducing himself and personally welcomed me to Living Hope. His wife soon followed and we chatted for several minutes as the 6-member worship team—which made up a sixth of the congregation—meandered toward the stage to begin the morning's service. 

The juxtaposition of the old upright piano on the right hand side of the stage with the digital projector on the left spoke of simpler times in the not-too-distant past of the local church. I wondered how long Living Hope had been using a digital projector, because it has been within my lifetime that many churches I know have gone from navigating overhead projector slides to the novelties of the digital age. The aesthetics were mirrored by the song selection of the morning: An acoustic version of "Holy, Holy, Holy" followed the contemporary praise chorus "You are Holy," both entirely absent of lighting effects or graphic backgrounds on the projector, marked off the beautiful liminal space through which many churches have already traversed into the modern age. But this liminality, this time of transition, of change, of evolution, though often marked with awkwardness and growing pains, is essential to the continued growth of any entity, especially to a body of believers. It's within these spaces of change that God can really fill us and show exactly who we are, in Him, who He is, in us, and what He wants us to do in light of it.

Indeed, God is moving amidst the vulnerability of liminal space to send this little church, filled with living hope, in an entirely new and wild direction.

Apparently, the Sunday before, the pastor had done some vision casting, and though I wish I could have been there for such an exciting time in a church's life, I was equally as excited to hear how passionately and confidently he spoke of the direction in which God was calling him, and the church. He mentioned how seemingly crazy it is for them as, "a little church with no money, no people, no how," to be called to plant and raise up four churches in the area. This unimaginable goal of a congregation no larger than thirty-five people,—many of them teenagers and children—though seemingly unattainable, is precisely the kind of goal that a church—whose heart beats with living hope—can strive to accomplish, through "Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine" (Eph. 3:20), and to Him be glory in the church, in Living Hope, and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations worshiping him simultaneously as one body, for ever and ever!

That is the living hope to which we were called.

I appreciate everyone who took the time to read this week's exploration of one local body of believers, Bethel Temple Assembly, and get involved, whether actively or simply in your own personal thought and reflection, in the discussion on certain spiritual gifts.

The message of "Every Person Matters to God" serves as an ongoing reminder to the body of believers to never forget the extent of God's grace. Grace is not just given to the sinner for the forgiveness of sins, but to the sojourner, for the continual repentance and turning from one's sins, over and over, day after day, as we struggle through the issues in this world.

God gives us, and everyone around us, the grace to change our lives. Change is sometimes a welcome friends, and other times change is rejected as the bane of one's existence. Change means something different, and often different is fearsome. But different is not always a terrible thing and I hope that this weeks discussion on the various perspectives on the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues speaks to this. I want to strongly encourage all of us, whether from a traditional, cessationalist upbringing, or from a Pentecostal persuasion, to understand this one thing: We are not enemies. We are the body of Christ. And each part fills a different role in that body, which is beautiful. There are no black sheep in the family of God.

So here, as the week draws to a close, and a new church Sunday morning will bring new insight into the mystery and beauty of the church, we recognize another difference defining this part of the body of Christ, and we celebrate in the unity that Jesus Christ is God, our Savior, who died and rose again, conquering death, and allowing you and I the opportunity to find a new life, one of abundance and diversity among the nations and peoples of the world. Amen.

Let's Talk About Tongues:

For those of you who may not know me, I'm not necessarily one to sidestep confrontation.  Though I don't enjoy arousing frustration or animosity in my fellow brothers and sisters, I'm not too timid to bring a potentially controversial issue to the foreground.

So here we go. Remember that whole disclaimer I posted a couple of weeks ago about how to disagree with me, discuss issues throughout the course of this journey, and interact on this blog? This is why I said that.

I have always had an aversion to the concept of the gifts of tongues, be that the speaking or interpretation thereof, in a modern setting. This predisposition most likely came from the doctrines in which I was immersed growing up, from which most of our cognitive predispositions tend to come (hence the term, pre-disposition).

In recent years, however, I have opened my mind to the modern day acquisition of said spiritual gifts. It is, in fact, stated plainly in Scripture, in 1 Corinthians 12, for instance, that the same Spirit distributes many kinds of gifts, including the standard gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, as well as the, shall we say, less-palatable ones, such as miraculous signs or speaking in and interpreting tongues. The apostle Paul is speaking to a specific audience, the church at Corinth, for a specific reason, and we must keep that in mind when interpreting any part of Scripture. 

Nonetheless, I have personally come to a point of acceptance of the modern day use and interpretation of various tongues, to some extent. First and foremost, I believe Scripture makes it clear that these gifts are only to be used in tandem, and not to be spouted off carelessly in an emotionally-charged rant. First Corinthians 14:27 states plainly that "one must interpret." When this is the case, I believe these gifts can be used to edify and build up the body of Christ, in the same way that a preacher believes that he is expounding the Word of God via the Holy Spirit from the pulpit to the congregation on a weekly basis (it's okay, go back and re-read that sentence, taking time to follow the prepositional labyrinth).

I spent some time reading over the Assemblies of God website, their core beliefs and doctrinal statements, and was quite surprised to find how much my own personal beliefs coincide with those I read. Again, for some reason I'd been under the impression that the A.G. beliefs were far more eccentric than they turn out to be. Their Beliefs Page states plainly a wide range of fundamental beliefs, and I can align personally with most of them. The one that sits a little uneasily within me is #8. As a building block upon #7, I can agree that all believers have access to should seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that being a life entirely submersed in the Spirit, aligned entirely under the will of God, and with that will naturally come:

• an overflowing fullness of the Spirit, John 7:37-39 [KJV/NIV], Acts 4:8 [KJV/NIV]
• a deepened reverence for God, Acts 2:43 [KJV/NIV], Hebrews 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
• an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His work, Acts 2:42 [KJV/NIV]
• and a more active love for Christ, for His Word and for the lost, Mark 16:20 [KJV/NIV)*

However, if you scroll down to #8, I can completely understand why some more conservative evangelicals take issue with the extent to which tongues is emphasized. This section explicitly states:

The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance.

A basic definition of baptism would be defined simply as a rite of admission into a larger body or congregation. The wording of the above statement of belief implies that one is not admitted entirely into a life indwelt by the Holy Spirit until he/she speaks in tongues. Another way to word this would be that I don't have the whole Holy Spirit until I speak in tongues. Right? Did I just make too big of a jump?

Some of you clearly have more knowledge and experience within Pentecostal congregations and beliefs. Help me out here. Why is speaking in tongues so idolized? Why is it set on so high a pedestal? Will I not understand until I get there? I've never spoken in tongues. Does that make me less indwelt by the Holy Spirit than those who have? I've never even seen it. Does that make all of the pastors and elders and worshipers at all of the churches I've attended in my 23 years of life less filled with the Holy Spirit than those in a more Pentecostal congregation who have?

On the other end of the discussion, however, would be my questions posed to the more conservative who get a tingle down their spine whenever someone talks about speaking in tongues. Why does it offend you (and I, for many years) so much? Why are these kinds of spiritual gifts downplayed or viewed as illegitimate? What causes the dissension? Why is it any less legitimate for a sermon to be preached and interjected with the interpretation of spoken tongues than it is for a sermon to be preached without? Can both be equally as Spirit-filled?

These are simply questions, thoughts, ruminations for discussion and for feedback. These are not meant to spark a fire or pick a fight, and I would like to reiterate again for the sake of emphasis that I read over the entire page of beliefs which is hyperlinked a few paragraphs up and I align with the majority of them. I would also like to refer you to my previous post, and remind you to look forward to more posts about Bethel Temple Assembly and how wonderful of an experience I had there. They are most certainly doing the work of God and furthering the Kingdom here in Canton.

*See: http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Statement_of_Fundamental_Truths/sft_full.cfm#8 

Meet Bethel Temple Assembly

Bethel Temple Assembly is a small church located just north of downtown Canton, Ohio. This congregation of about 80 or so people dedicated five babies (ranging in age from two months to five years) to the Lord. For those who may not know what this phrase 'dedicated to the Lord' implies, it's simply a phrase churches and Christians use to refer to surrendering whatever the subject of the dedication is to the will of an Almighty God. Most baby dedications result in a covenant agreement between the parents and God, that in accordance with God's grace and mercy, the parents commit to raising their child under biblical, godly standards and training him/her up, as much as they can, to know and love the Creator, Savior God of the universe.

It was a beautiful thing to watch the two sets of parents stand before the congregation and God and commit to raising their children well. The church, in return, committed to supporting and encouraging these parents on their journey to raise godly children.

After a quick Google search I confirmed that it was, in fact, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday—apparently I missed this memo; It's the third Sunday in January annually—I stumbled upon Care.net, where they opened with this question:

How can your community get more involved in defending the sanctity of human life?

While there exists a wide spectrum of positions and stances on the issue of human life and abortion, I'm going to do my best to stay out of the political arena. What I will say is that as a congregation of believers who without a doubt lean close to the 'anti-abortion' end of said spectrum, one of the most beautiful ways a church can be involved in Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is a baby dedication.

 I caught myself oddly introspective during this part of the service. I can't exactly say I remember my own dedication, but I'm sure I was dedicated, and I'm sure the church I grew up in committed to helping raise and encourage me throughout my life. I grew immensely grateful for the wonderful, godly parents I have and for the supportive and encouraging church family I know and love in Osceola, Indiana, and for how they have seen me through all of my own hardships to the place of maturity and faith where I find myself presently. They never gave up, as I'm sure Bethel Temple will never give up on their young ones as they might grow and need to journey down dark paths for a moment in order to understand God's grace in their lives. The subsequent sermon reinforced this commitment to not give up. 

Every person matters to God. Those five words were the refrain of the sermon preached by Pastor John. John and his wife Debbie are filling in the pastorate at BTA currently, as recent transitions have left it searching for an interim to get them between pastors. Yesterday was actually John and Debbie's final Sunday at BTA. His sermon interlaced quite delicately with the theme of SOHL Sunday, as he effectively integrated biblical examples with inspiring present models and personal testimonies demonstrating how every person matters to God. Regardless of who you are, where you were born, what language you speak, the color of skin, the size (or, existence) of your paycheck, your past, your present, you matter to God, and He is never going to give up on you.

It was clear to both Hannah and me that God's Spirit was present at BTA. The joy that lit the faces of several in the congregation who approached Hannah and I personally upon arrival to welcome and greet us was a joy that couldn't be hidden nor faked. This journey is going to be intriguing, to say the least. We felt warm and welcome sitting in the pews of Bethel Temple, and we left feeling refreshed, encouraged, and renewed having worshiped and experienced God through His body of believers at Bethel.

For more information, see their website here, or read more later this week as I write about the some other aspects of BTA.

The schedule is up!

Our official (yet, still tentative) schedule is now available. We will begin this coming Sunday, January 20, 2013, and will go through April 28. There are a lot of exciting churches and congregations on the list, and we are both excited and intimidated to attend all 15 churches and see how each is being the Body of Christ.

We hope you enjoy this process as much as we do, and, by all means, spread the word about this journey and let others experience the next 15 weeks alongside us!

About this blog:

Who are we?

I'm Timothy. I grew up attending a mid-size (2-300s) middle class, primary caucasian, suburban, semi-rural church in Osceola, Indiana. This church is a part of an international network of churches and organizations known as the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches.

My wife, Hannah, grew up attending a similarly-sized rural church in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, which is also a part of a much larger network of churches and organizations known as the Evangelical Friends Church Eastern Region.

We both attend Malone University in Canton, Ohio, where we met. She has her Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Education and is working on finishing a second major in History. I am working on a Bachelors in Liberal Arts focusing on Ministry, Education, and Writing. We love God and we love the Church.

After praying through the implications of an undertaking such as this, and after seeking wisdom and guidance from others with much more experience and life behind them, we have decided to begin this endeavor together.

What are we doing?

The thought began a few months ago within my own heart, and was originally designed to be a 52-week survey of 52 different local churches (which, let's be honest, could be done in most modern cities without  venturing to far from one's own doorstep). The beginning of this brain-child looked like a church-reviewing blog, relating relevant facts to people perhaps seeking a church body with whom to worship.

This concept had several noticeable weaknesses and overwhelming biases (i.e., How can one truly 'review' a church body in one visit?). Furthermore, the last thing I wanted to become was "the church critic." We (the local church and the universal Church) take enough flack from countless critics and by no means did I want to be a fellow contributor to such propaganda.

We have, therefore, stricken out to become champions of local churches, and the Church, at large. My lovely wife and I want to break through the trimmings and the glamour, the lights and sounds, the pews and the hymnals, the demographics, the ethnicities, and find what God is truly doing through his body, the Bride of Jesus Christ, the Church.

In essence, we are looking for Christ in his Body.

What can you (we) expect?

Good question. We'll figure that out together. Every week, we will do our best to relate as accurate a picture as possible of whatever church we attended that week. These will span as many 'genres' of local churches as we can in order to experience and learn the most we can. We will share our observations and opinions which you may gracefully take worth approximately two-thirds of a grain of salt.

Expect to provide feedback. My wife and I have our opinions, but we want to hear yours too! If you like what we write, let us know. If you disagree, wish to counter, complain, or build upon something we write, by all means, feel free to do so.

Furthermore, I want us all to have fun. Hannah and I are excited about this journey, and we want you to be as well.

We are, obviously, human beings in constant need of refinement by a Holy God, so you can expect errors and flaws, from the tiniest misplaced comma to the poorly worded sentence that comes across wrong. You can also expect our opinions, such as they are, and our perspectives that have been shaped by our own individual upbringings and experiences of the world in our short years of life thus far. Whether you view these perspectives as wrong, right, different, absurd, immature, etc., we will strive to be as biblically and academically sound as we can.

For any potential offenses, we apologize in advance, and we welcome confrontation on these issues. The last thing we want to do is damage a brother or sister in Christ, a local body of believers, or our own reputations. Please be open and honest with us, as we will strive to be as real and open with you as we can be.

Alas, the inevitable: The contents of this page do not in any way reflect the thoughts and opinions, the perspectives or positions of The Osceola Grace Brethren Church, FGBC, Gilead Friends Church, EFC-ER, Malone University, or any of the other entities alluded to herein.

Personal disclaimer: I am 23, my wife is 22. I am working on an undergraduate degree, partly studying ministry, but partly studying the very mechanics of writing such as we will produce these next several weeks. My wife has a B.S. in Education, and is pursuing a major in History as well. I reiterate these facts to emphasize the point that we are not experts. We have zero credentials. This is merely an exploratory endeavor, birthed by curiosity, developed by a sense of personal calling to experience a realm beyond our own combined 45 years of life.

We hope you enjoy this journey with us!