Discovery Number Four: Build on Unlikely Characters
On my sabbatical this summer, I rediscovered several important priorities about how to "do church" in the 21st century. Instead of endless controversies about what should or shouldn't happen in a worship service, the church needs to rediscover a sense of mission outside the bounds of traditional worship gatherings. Simply put, the church must become a people once again shaped by the mission of God.
In writing this, I am not at all down on the traditional worship gathering. Regular assemblies are an enormous blessing to many existing Christians, myself included. We need to continue to slowly walk these gatherings toward being healthy and edifying for those who depend on them.
As we continue to do this, however, it's time to STOP putting the wrong expectations on these worship gatherings, be they comfortingly traditional or radically contemporary. We should NOT expect worship to carry the load for evangelism, education, revival, fellowship, and every other necessary aspect of church life. Worship has its crucial place in the life of God's people, but it ought to be a natural overflow of changed lives rather than the focal point of all our attention.
While visiting with church leaders across the UK this summer, I made this (my FOURTH) vital observation about dying churches that are rediscovering how to reach unchurched people: We must build on unlikely characters. I met with several compelling individuals who are doing painstakingly slow yet encouragingly impressive work.
One such person is Andy Wilson who spared a couple hours for us to visit together. Blind his entire life, Andy is not an ordained minister. He's what they call a "pioneer minister" sent to build new kinds of Christian community. He is supported partially by Church Army and partially by the local Anglican diocese. His job is to slowly build new forms of church among people who aren't yet Christians. I don't know Andy's full story or even how he became a Christian. But I know that he has been passionate about his faith for a long time.
Some time ago, Andy joined an Anglican organization called Church Army. This mission-focused group was founded in the late 1800s. Its initial aim was to mobilize Christians for assisting working-class Christians in the slums of London. Their goal then was to share the gospel (not just with words) with those who wouldn't dare set foot inside a church building. Today, Church Army is training people to do pioneering work (Fresh Expressions) in dying Church of England parishes.
This is how Andy and his family moved to Matson, a blue-collar suburb of Gloucester on the English border with Wales. Matson is a hardscrabble community, filled with working-class folks who often live without much margin for error. The handful of churches in Matson are mostly empty and lacking in imagination for how to reach people. Residents of Matson, instead of turning to faith, have become largely cynical about religion.
Andy is like a modern-day Saint Patrick: serious about his faith, passionate about loving God, and eager to share this faith with others. He and his wife have started slowly and methodically, just getting to know people and making it known who they are. They've launched a little neighborhood café (open just a few hours a week) as a gathering place. You can see a little about their story in the video below.
People like Andy are changing their communities and rebuilding the Church across England and Scotland. These are unlikely characters who are uniquely devoted to Jesus and willing to think expansively about how to do church. I saw and heard multiple stories like this one.
I find it odd that we fixate on "superstar leaders" in the US. We seem to forget that the 12 apostles were ordinary Galileans. Not rock stars. Not one particular personality type. Just 12 people willing to follow Jesus. By following the lead of the Holy Spirit, this small band of ragamuffins changed the world.
So why then do we keep trying to build churches only on the backs of so-called "gifted" leaders? I once heard a respected, church-planting expert say somewhat dismissively, "Anyone could plant a 50-member church. We're looking for exceptional leaders who can plant churches of 300, 700, or even 5,000 members."
When I first heard this statement about exceptional leaders who might plant big churches, it struck me as odd. And the more I meditated on it, the more troubled and puzzled I became. If "anyone can plant a 50-member church," then why the heck are we not doing that?!? Why aren't we mobilizing an entire army of unlikely characters to start all kinds of small churches in order to reach the unchurched? Are we so fixated on size and status that we miss the often surprising yet simple movement of the Holy Spirit?
If we can learn to trust and then build on unlikely characters, just as Jesus did, then perhaps we might be amazed at what could happen in our day.
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