broken//stained//glass

Resources for the journey

Many have asked if I would suggest some resources to help people understand the heartbeat of what we feel called to do by starting a church in the greater Philly region.

Here are a few I would like to suggest:
The Younger Evangelicals (Robert E Webber)
The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society (Lesslie Newbegin)
The Shaping of Things to Come (Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost)
The Great Omission (Dallas Willard)
The Mission of God (Christopher J.H. Wright)
unChristian (Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman)

CityNet Philly is a great website of area churches in the greater Philadelphia. On the site, click on the "Resource Center" tab and take some time to listen to the talk by Bill Krispin on church planting in the region.

Also, see Bill Krispin's PDF below on the changing of ministry.
Download krispin_how_the_world_has_changed_notes.pdf

Forwarding the gospel to new addresses

“The gospel must be preached afresh and told in new ways to each generation, since every generation has its own unique questions. The gospel must constantly be forwarded to a new address, because the recipient is repeatedly changing his place of address.”

-Helmut Thielicke

Looking Out For New Horizons...

We seem to be living in a lot of uncertainty and risk right now. It's exciting, but it is risky.
I was encouraged by this quote by theological Hans Kung that I stumbled across recently.

“A church which pitches its tents without constantly looking out for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling…We must play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, live by improvisation and experiment.”

I hope and pray that Renew will live out this value for years to come...

Renew: Philosophy of Ministry

The ethos and DNA of Renew is going to continue to develop, especially when our Core Launch Team is developed and we begin to meet regularly.

But there are a few things that we're dreaming of that we've articulated in a philosophy of ministry. We do this in order to give people some context to the type of faith community we dream of shaping and the type of faith community we desire to shape us. Again, this isn't exhaustive or set in stone, but it simply allows us to articulate just a glimpse of the vision we have for Renew.

Download renew_philosophy_of_ministry.doc

Renew: Mission, Vision and Values

"So, what is your vision for Renew?
"What will it be about?"
"What makes it unique and distinct?"
"What do you hope to accomplish with the new church?"
"What are the core values?"

We've received a lot of these questions the past few weeks. Great questions.

I'd love to sit down and tell each one of these people who have asked these questions.
However, since I can't sit down one-on-one with everyone, at the bottom of this post I've attached a document of our Mission, Vision and Values.

While we are certain about several things with Renew, this document is a work in progress. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but simply helps us to articulate the dream we have. It's an attempt to move this exciting vision from our head and our heart onto paper.

Our core launch team - a solid group of passionate and committed people who will help to shape Renew - is currently being developed. As that team is shored up we will spend the next several months developing and cultivating the ethos of Renew as we seek out what God desires this faith community to be and to become.

Download renew_mission_vision_and_values.doc

Renew

We’ve settled on the name of the new faith community. 
Oftentimes, an organization becomes what it is called, for better or for worse. We spent a lot of time thinking and praying through the name of the new missional church, asking what name could embody what we want to become?

We’ve arrived at the name Renew.

Why we do we like it?
It's simple.
Easy to remember.
Hope-filled.
Action-oriented.
It embodies what we believe we are called to be and do.
One person commented that the name doesn't come across like we're trying to be cool. I like that.

The gospel message is about reconciliation, renewal and redemption.
Our calling as followers of Jesus is to be renewed by the love of God (2 Corinthians 5:17) and then actively join God in helping to renew the world in which we live. God's agenda for the world is renewal. And we believe that God's agenda should be our agenda.

Titus 3 talks about this renewing.
So does Romans 12:1-2. (Check out the language  of this passage in the Message - the language embodies what we want to be as a new faith community).

We’re stoked about the name and we pray that we will become the name of our faith community.

For Sale: Jeep Cherokee

For those of you who know me well, you know that I have had the privilege of owning my "dream car": a 1996 fire-engine red 4 wheel drive Jeep Cherokee Sport. You might have seen me driving it around the region or heard me use it as a teaching illustration or you might have even read about it on my blog.

As much as I love my Jeep Cherokee we are selling it.

If you or anyone you know is interested in it we're asking $2,300 OBO.
Contact me if you are interested in knowing more about it.

Church Planting and the Mission of God

“God’s church falters from exhaustion because Christians erroneously think that God has given them a mission to perform in the world. Rather, the God of mission has given his church to the world. It is not the church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of mission who has a church in the world. The church’s involvement in mission is its privileged participation in the actions of the triune God.”   -Tim Dearborn, Beyond Duty

Why plant a church? Part II

Several weeks ago I attended a church planters training and assessment week in Richmond, VA. The opening session revolved around the question, “Why plant a church?” Here were some of the convictions they shared.

• Because Jesus’ strategy for the extension of the gospel and the renewal of society in any place – is the continuous planting of new congregations to reach into the lives of people in unreached/disconnected communities through the calling of specific leaders to be engaged in this mission. This is a call to plant churches of various kinds.
• It’s how the movement of Jesus developed in the New Testament. “The best method of evangelism is church planting and the best method of church planting is evangelism” (Peter Wagner, Church Planting for a Greater Harvest)
• It’s how the movement of Jesus continues today. There are several reasons why: The gospel of Jesus is almost always adopted through relational connections, which are normally indicative of some form of community gathered around the gospel. New congregations almost always grow from among those who currently don’t follow Jesus or are currently disconnected. New congregations more easily adapt to reach new groups of people. Younger leaders can emerge easier.
• It’s how the movement of Jesus extends beyond the church. There is 1 church for every 990 people in the US. The US is the 4th or 5th largest mission field in the world, the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

Why plant a church?

Many have asked me about the significance of church planting and how it helps to impact the Kingdom of God.

A few years ago Tim Keller co-wrote a compelling and succinct rationale for church planting that is worth reading. Tim Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Keller's church has helped birth over 100 church plants in the U.S.

Keller wrote this rationale with someone who was planting a church in San Fransisco so understand that its leaning is towards that city, however the universal principles are worth understanding.

Download the PDF below.

Download why_plant_a_church_tim_keller.pdf