First BBQ

Would anyone like some sausages? Last Sunday was our first BBQ, and we have quite a few left over! (There's a limit to how many nights in the week you can give sausages to your children for dinner.)

It was a great morning though. We put on a barbie breakfast in the park, for anyone in the local community. This is one of the things we're doing to centre our new church around mission - so we can connect with people in the community, and so they can get to know other locals.

We weren't sure how many people would come. We ended up printing about 90 little flyers to put in letterboxes, in our townhouse complex and in the next street over. We wanted to start with this, to see what would happen. 90 houses is potentially more than 50 families, and seeing as the flyers said "FREE BBQ" on them, we realised there could be anywhere from 5 to 50 people show up!

As it turned out, there was only one person from those houses who came, and she's already a friend of ours. This shouldn't really have been a surprise, because we've said over and over that it's all about relationships. You have to have a friendship with people first. It seems that really is true.

She wasn't the only person we connected with, though. There were a few other people in the park that morning - going for a walk, doing a dog obedience class, bringing their kids to the playground - and it was nice to have a cup of tea and a chat with some of these.

As Tam and I were saying on the way home (about a one-minute drive, around the corner), I love that this is what church is for us now. It's so much fun! We get to do this every month - chatting with nice people, making new friends, having a BBQ, having a morning tea...

I'm really looking forward to the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that... We're going to be meeting some amazing people, being church with some amazing people, and doing what we love! It's such a great way to grow a church. Who doesn't like a relaxing BBQ breakfast in the park on a Sunday morning?

Why start a church? Pt IV

Ideas started popping into my head about what we could do in our local community, in Slacks Creek.

I don't even think I'd really accepted the whole thing myself, but the ideas kept coming. It was a bizarre time. I kept telling myself "No, you're just being naive. You're really not capable enough. You're too young for a start." And it was like God was saying, "Sure sure, I hear you. But if you were to give it a crack, what would you do?" and I was sucked in that easily.

As soon as it became more of a possibility in my head (as tiny as it was), I shared it with Tam. She's a wise woman, with great spiritual instincts, so I knew she'd be able to tell if it was a good idea or not. If she said "No, I don't think that's right for us at the moment," it'd be a good sign I was off track. Personally, I didn't think it was a good idea, but I was certainly being compelled to bring it up, so I was very keen to see what Tam would think.

She didn't say no straight away, and I think that may have been the point when it first clicked in my head, "Maybe this isn't crazy - maybe this is it for us." But there were still a lot of obvious questions to discuss, to which I had basically no answers....

"Do you know how to plant a church?"
"No. But if it's the right thing then I guess God would do a lot of it. We're good at making friends and building relationships at least."
"How would it look?"
"I don't know. We'd have to see I guess. Something simple though."
"You need to put a lot of time into planting a church, and there'd probably be no money in it, so you'd have to have a full-time job as well. And then what about our family?"
"Yeah, you're right. I can't see how that would work."
"We don't even know anyone else who would want to help."
"Yeah I know."

Probably the worst sales pitch ever made. But strangely enough, even though there were no answers to any of these questions, the more we discussed church planting seriously, the more I realised this is just the kind of thing God likes to do with people.

("Ben, I'd like you to jump in here if you could."
"Isn't that the deep end?"
"Yep, but you'll be right. Trust me.")

I went to bed that night praying, "God, if this is a bad idea, just let it die. I'm ok with that. I don't really think I could do it anyway. But if you think it's a good idea, then you're going to have to convince Tam, and me."

Our Little Church

We had a lovely breakfast today with some good friends of ours, who want to make this church their home. Such an encouraging time. They are wonderful people, and we're so blessed that they want to be a part of this project.

This is only one of many ways we have seen God working in the past couple of months, beyond what we're doing ourselves.

It's Jesus' job to grow his church, and it's exciting to see him do that.

So now we have us, them, and our two girls - a church of six! It's great to be working together with some wonderful people too. The first community BBQ is in a couple of weeks. And I'm looking forward to it more now, now that we're doing it together with friends. And now we have our first life group too!

Jesus, this is your church. Please keep it growing, especially as we connect with people in our community.

Why start a church? Pt III

It took a fair amount of convincing for me to even consider the prospect of planting a church.

But convincing people to do things seems to be a task God enjoys. There was only the smallest thought in my head about church planting (which I hadn't shared with anyone), but the idea started to come up in conversation more and more often. Everywhere I turned, the idea of church planting kept buzzing at me, like an annoying mosquito when you're trying to go to sleep at night.

Someone (who again didn't know any of this) recommended listening to a series of talks by Michael Frost, given at a mission conference in the US. And suddenly he starts talking about church planting, and how church planting is the most effective way to grow the Kingdom of Jesus....

I picked up a book called Total Church, by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis (not unusual for me - I'm interested in anything about church), and as I'm reading away, they suddenly start talking about church planting. Turns out they organise a church planting network in the UK....


I share with friends about how there doesn't seem to be a church for us and they say, "Well maybe you should start one...."

So the annoying mozzie kept buzzing away. More and more often church planting came up, and each time it was attached to the idea of "simple" church: that we don't need more churches with amazing programs, brilliant worship music, unbelievable pastors and big ministry teams. We need more simple churches - house churches, cafe churches, basic churches that meet in parks, pubs and living rooms - the kinds of churches that non-church people might feel comfortable in. Different expressions of church, for the people who don't feel like they fit in to the normal way of doing it.

And more and more I found myself thinking, "Maybe we could do that?"

Why start a church? Pt II

Tam and I had known for months that my role as youth and families pastor in our previous congregation was going to be finishing up, so we had plenty of time to pray and search around for the next position. We expected that we would have our final Sunday service at the church, say an emotional goodbye to everyone, and then Monday morning I'd walk into my new position in another church. We knew that God had it all worked out - wherever it would be - so we were expecting he would organise everything to the right timing (our timing).

But the months went by, different positions came and went (none of which were right), our final Sunday came and went, Monday arrived, and we still had no idea what I was meant to be doing.

An unemployed pastor.

One week passed. No job.

Two weeks passed. Still no job.

And at the risk of being overly poetic, three weeks passed. Still no job.

And then a mate of mine who's a gardener and landscaper mentioned he had a couple days work for me if I wanted it. Not something I'd ever really done before, but I ended up enjoying working outside and helping make people's yards look good, like the team on Domestic Blitz. My friend generously kept giving me more work, a few days each week, and it's still going months later.

But this also created a small conundrum: why was God setting me up with work outside of a church? Why wasn't there a church that was right for us?

And then the church planting suggestions started coming....

Why start a church? Pt I

So we're planting a church. How did that come about? It's not the kind of decision you make on a whim, when you're bored on a Saturday afternoon ("So, pizzas are in the oven - what should we do while we wait?".. "Why not start a church?".. "Sweet.").

No, it wasn't a whim. Tam and I have been wanting to be involved in church planting for years now. We just thought it would be five or ten years down the track, when another "experienced" pastor started something we could help with. It certainly wasn't something I felt I could do myself.

I was under the impression that you had to be some kind of super-pastor to plant a church - an incredibly charismatic personality, who can instantly draw thousands of people, while at the same time caring personally for each one of them. Someone who God speaks audibly to on a daily basis, who prays for 5 hours every morning, and wherever their shadow falls, sick people are healed....

Of course that sounds ridiculous now that I've written it down - but to be honest, that is probably fairly close to how I felt. I didn't feel I was at all capable of planting a church. So how did that change?

It didn't. I still don't feel capable. But now I'm ok with that. Much of the first part of this journey was God explaining to me that I don't have to be all of that. The weaker and less capable I am, the more God gets to do himself. "Just do it," God was saying. "I'll work out the rest." And if I get to the end of my skills five minutes into the journey, then from that point on everything will be God. Tam and I don't know how it's all going to turn out - how it's going to grow, whether anyone at all will show up, what it's going to be like when we do gather together as a church, or what kinds of struggles we're going to have along the way. But we're ok now just to start walking, and trust that God will organise what we can't.

As Frank Viola says, birthing a church is a divine work. A church is a living organism, and God is the one who grows it and gives it life, just like he does with humans. All God needed was for Tam and I to say yes - despite all the doubts, confusion and unanswered questions.

So we did. Tick step one.

Why start a church? Pt V

On Tuesday morning, the day after I talked with Tam, she had morning tea with a good friend of hers. As they were catching up together, Tam mentioned our conversation. She was thinking her friend would say it was naive and crazy. But instead.... "You should definitely plant a church! You guys would be great at that!"

On Wednesday morning, she met with another good friend - another wise woman who Tam also thought would say it was a bad idea. Same result: "Yeah you guys could do that! Where would you do it?"

On Thursday morning, I met with a man who works for one of the denominations around, whose job it is to help pastors find the right church to join. We were trying to find the right pastoral position for me. I was happy to go anywhere, if it was the right church. But the more we talked, the more we discovered there just wasn't anything available. No one was looking for a pastor. The conversation wound down, because there was really nothing going. I'm not really sure why (probably because nothing else was happening), but I mentioned to him that something we'd always wanted to be involved in was planting a church. I thought someone with his pastoral experience and wisdom might be able to give some insight. And suddenly his face lit up and he said,

"Ah! Now you're talking my language!

It turned out that he was also the man in that denomination who was in charge of supporting church planting. I wasn't aware of that at all, but the way things were going, it didn't really surprise me! He instantly rattled off five reasons why planting a church is one of the most effective ways to grow the Kingdom. And we talked about church planting for the rest of the meeting - what the next steps for us would be, how we could be supported, etc.

"How'd your meeting go?" Tam asked when she got home later.

"Interesting," I said. "There aren't any churches looking for pastors at the moment. But it turns out he heads up the support for church plants."

Tam said she figured something like that would happen. Really she'd known we'd end up planting a church from the moment I brought it up on Monday night. It just needed some time for the idea to settle. It had taken months for me to get used to the idea, but God convinced Tam in just two days (she's a lot quicker at listening to God!).

And that was it. We were in the water. No more thinking about swimming, wondering what it might be like. No more discussing and debating how to swim. No more comparing swimming pools. We jumped, and that was it.

And as it turns out, swimming is fun.

The Council Go-Ahead

The local councilor for the Slacks Creek area called me back today. I called his office earlier in the week to ask if it would be ok to do a free BBQ in the local park. I explained that it would be for anyone in the local community, so they could meet some others in the area, find out about local services (doctors, police etc.), and build community.

And he said it sounds like a great idea! We figured he would - part of their job is to help grow a sense of community in their area - but it's still nice to have the official "go-ahead." When it comes to the council, you never know what's going to be allowed and what isn't!

Timelines

Tam & I were encouraged the other night when we sat down with her Mum & Dad. Tam's parents are doing a new cafe-style house church in Ormeau, which they started about 2 years ago.

We wanted to talk about how they've gone about planting their church, what strategies they've used, how they've connected with the community, and so on. We were struggling to know where to start! We've had lots of ideas, but we were finding it hard to turn it into a real plan.

One thing I wasn't sure about was the time involved - how long you'd spend on each stage of the journey. We've started getting people in our community together for social gatherings - to make connections and start building relationships - but there've been no "official" spiritual input times. We know it needs a fair bit of time to build friendships, but I still felt that maybe we weren't doing enough.

So it was encouraging to hear the story of their church so far. They were doing free BBQs in the park, without any spiritual input, for five or six months, before starting a more "spiritual" gathering (with a 5-10 minute talk). And they told us the church has only really started to take off this year, and it's been two years since they started it.

We could do that. That's how we'd expected it would happen for us, but it was good to hear that six months of purely social interaction is a valid plan!

It's bizarre how quickly you can feel insecure as a pastor - our decision to plant a church was only really a few weeks back!