At the V3 Church Planting Movement we get the question all the time “Why do we need to plant more churches?” It is a valid question. Certainly in most cities we can see a church edifice every couple miles and in some cities every few blocks. It might appear we don’t need any new churches. Additionally, the church currently does not have a stellar reputation in our culture. It might seem like the worst time to start a new church.
We don’t think the world needs more churches. Our local places need something more than another building armed with staff working to attract people to a religious services.
We need something much different.
The Ache We All Feel
We get the joy of visiting with social activists, community organizers and faith leaders in cities all over the country. No matter how much we try to shake it and run away from it, we hear the persistent desires to belong to a faith-community that takes the life of Jesus seriously, cultivates shared-life in community and is deeply present to the beauty and brokenness in our neighborhoods.
There is this tectonic ache in our collective imagination to experience something different and we believe that is God’s Spirit at work in our post-christian times. This ache is creating a groundswell of people seeking new rooted ways of being the People of God in their local places. Some are working within the structures of their existing denominations and others are meandering far outside the walls of institutions.
People are seeking new rooted ways of being the People of God in their local places. Click To Tweet
Embracing Limits
The V3 Movement is passionate about the possibilities bubbling up across the country in urban, suburban and rural settings. We believe that Church Planting should be informed by the incarnation of God in Christ— Jesus dwelt unassumingly in Nazareth for 30 years. This is not a minor detail; it is profound good news. God’s passions and plans for people sprout up from the ground when we embrace our limits and stay tied to the neighborhood, the streets connecting us to each other, the homes we eat in and the parks we play in. We must not come to a city with our ministry machinery, instead we must start by looking, listening and learning as our primary orientation in starting new faith communities.
We believe that Church Planting should be informed by the incarnation of God in Christ Click To Tweet
Valuing Place
Though the Church seems to be in dire straights, we believe God is toiling in the garden planting something profound. We want to join the Spirit in this kingdom agronomy. V3 loves the neighborhood and our friends at the Inhabit Conference do too. We have learned a great deal from their work in the New Parish. Together we find our convictions for ‘Place’ converging. We are excited to partner together to pull into one room practitioners who have tasted the possibilities of starting new place-based churches. At the Inhabit Pre-Conference “Starting New Churches from Scratch” the V3 Movement will unpack essential tools and training for beginning from the ground up in the neighborhood.
Together we’ll engage with Discipleship Practices, Community-formation, Local Presence, Assembling Team and much more. Join us in Seattle on April 26th for the Inhabit Pre-Con Starting New Churches from Scratch.
SIGN UP HERE: http://inhabitconference.com/pre-conferences/
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