Kingdom Work

Just got back from a couple of days at the Exponential Conference in Orlando.  This was my first church planting conference, and a couple of us representing community development went to the conference so that we can continue a dialogue we began in January about the need for bringing these two aspects of Kingdom work together.  I got to spend a lot of time with Mary Nelson, founder of the community development corporation, Bethel New Life, in Chicago.  She is retired now, but has 40 years of community development experience that she travels around the country sharing with others.  And what a bounty of wisdom and experience she is!  What a blessing it was to be with her.

We were part of a panel in a social justice workshop.  It was so encouraging to hear person after person say, "This is exactly what has been missing from this conference in the past.  We need more workshops like this!"  That was strong confirmation that the people looking to plant churches today are wanting to be more involved in urban ministry and under-resourced communities.

Got to hear a great talk by Andy Stanley on visioning and it was very cool to see Community's own Eric Bramlett emceeing the event!  Dave and Jon and our NewThing Network have set a model of church reproduction that others are hungry to learn from.  And how kingdom expanding will it be if we can create a model of church reproduction that has community development/social justice as part of its DNA?  I do believe that is the direction God is calling His church.  I can't wait until the CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) conference in Miami in October when some of the church planters will join us.  While both conferences pack close to 3,000 people in a room and feature terrific and inspiring teaching, they are two very different conferences in many ways.  The most obvious on the surface is that I could probably count on one (or maybe two) hands the number of people of color at the Exponential Conference.  I think that is indicative of the kinds of places that this type of church planter has historically focused their efforts (predominantly white, wealthier suburban areas).  And you can probably count on 1 or 2 hands the number of people at CCDA that are focused on planting churches.  But I think that is changing, which is why it is so important for church-planters and community developers to be working together.  The Church needs both in order to truly represent Christ to the world.  I am super excited about the opportunities on the horizon!

Comments

[Tim Wilson]

Planting new churches in the city is difficult. My wife and I are planting in a neighborhood in the city of Milwaukee. We will begin having gatherings this summer. Putting churches in growing suburban neighborhoods is easy. Weaving yourself into the fabric of a city neighborhood is an uphill climb. Most people want instant results and those are much harder to come by in the city. It seems like relationships matter more in the city. I don't think you can just start a cool gathering and people will come.

We are not employing a community development strategy. I don't know maybe we are. We are trying to bring the kingdom of God into this neighborhood in a more tangible way than it is now.

Hope to see these two worlds start to collide more often than they do.

Veritasunderground.com
Tim.wilson@metrobrook.org

[Linda Hargrove]

Wow, your statement about the two 'communities' of believers working together is right on target.

I've been involved with CCDA for some time. And it's not until recently that I've heard serious talk (and action) behind pulling in the church planting/development piece.

It's exciting. I wish I could go to Miami this year. Have fun and give Dr. Perkins a hug for me.

--Linda Leigh Hargrove, author
Reconciling Faith and Fiction
at www.17seeds.com