church planting as movement
I say to people all the time, “The church is born with a Womb.” That is maybe a strange way to put it, but in my experience, churches rarely conceptualize themselves as church planting movements. Church plants and planters are courageous types, forging new territory for mission, reaching people that more historical churches cannot. That said, church planting usually is seen as a single act, planting a single church, rather than preparing from the very beginning to be a missionary movement. I have always believed that we don’t see movement because we fail to see ourselves rightly. When we planted Immanuel 3 ½ years ago, we framed into the very DNA of our being not only the need but also the priority to multiply. And, not just disciples, but discipling communities (btw – IMHO, this is a critically significant aspect of discipleship). Discipling is a communal venture. Our hope and intention, at Immanuel (the plant that I help lead) is to not only be a presence of shalom in the West Central neighborhood of Spokane but that that shalom would be extended to other neighborhoods in our city, regions and even countries. We are purposely shaping our priorities to live into God’s dream of multiplication.
Living Into Movement – Pt 1
As I said a few posts ago, I will be talking about the idea
of “Movement” over the next few weeks. I’m speaking about this topic at our
CONNECT conference in Germany.
There’s lots of conversation about movement these days. Most
of it has to do with creating “a Movement.” As I’ve heard people say this kind
of thing, I have to admit, I’ve been a bit uneasy. I’m not certain that we
create Movement all. I think we more or less live into movement. Movement
originates and is sustained by God alone.