2. church meetups
planting network
church
letlive pennywize
[e-business]
3. Mission
“creating the space for the Gospel, for community, and for
compassion to woo the hearts and meet the needs of our
local and global neighbours”
Gospel – the story of God at work in his creation culminating in Jesus’
invitation for reconciliation, extended to all of humanity, and participation in
God’s restoration of creation
Community – creative expressions of our common-unity, found in Jesus, seen
in all areas of life
Compassion – an active response to the physical, emotional and spiritual
needs of those around us, particularly our Christian community, and our local
and global neighbours
4. Vision
“a faith community - following Jesus - renewing the world”
A faith community that is:
Diverse: young and old, rich and poor, male and female
United: around following Jesus
Authentic: That cares richly, deeply and authentically for each other
Missional: giving glimpses of the Kingdom and sharing the Gospel
Following Jesus:
Servitude: serve the faith community, local community and global community
Missional Lifestyle: showing and proclaiming Jesus through deep, open, and
accountable relationships and in all the choices of life
Spiritual Disciplines: to keep us centred, focussed and serving
Renewing the World:
Working to transform individuals, families and workplaces
Working to transform our local community, our city, nation and world
5. Presuppositions of Unity
The presuppositions of unity are the foundational ideas that unite us.
These are the three distinctive beliefs or the common denominators of our
faith: Scripture, Jesus, and Mission.
Scripture – the Bible is inspired and authoritative for all aspects of life and
ministry, it is Scripture that informs and critiques our tradition and reason.
Jesus – is the way, the truth and the life, the only way to the Father, the
fully God-man, who through his life, death and resurrection paid the price
for our sin and is in the process of renewing the world.
Mission – is the primary function of the church, to extend the kingdom of
God by living and proclaiming the kingdom of God found in Scripture.
6. Culture
“live simply – give generously – serve freely”
The essence of the life of a Jesus follower is to serve others. To do this our
lives are going to have to be organised in such a way where we can do this
and remain healthy ourselves. If we are going to invite people into our
homes, we need the time to do it. If we are going to meet the needs of
people around us, we need to live simply so that we may have extra resources
that aren’t consumed in building our own kingdoms. If we are to be serving
global and local communities, we need to believe that serving is the authentic
expression of faith in Christ. This culture will ‘create the space’ in our own
lives to be able to fulfil the mission of our faith community. It is counter-
cultural and it will be difficult, yet, to fulfil God’s dream for his church, this is
the cost of following Jesus.
7. Valuesone
Journey: No one has arrived – life is a journey. Everyone is growing, changing,
maturing – our aim is to see everyone in the faith community taking the next
step forward in their faith journey.
Incarnational: Just as Jesus became fully-man in order to reconcile humanity
to God, we too will become culturally accessible as a means to express the
way of Jesus to others.
Servant Leadership: Leadership is not glamorous nor for selfish gain, but for
the purpose of furthering the interests and growth of others. Character is
more important than charisma or gifts.
Participation and Collaboration: Choices and activity that shape the church
are to be conducted in a collaborative and participatory manner, where there
are pathways for all those involved in an aspect of community life to input into
the decision making process where it effects them.
Counter Cultural Creativity and Innovation: Finding creative and innovative
ways to serve, give, respect, love and communicate the Gospel to people in
thought, word and deed.
8. Valuestwo
Authenticity: As a community we seek to encourage honest and authentic
lives, where the message matches the lives we live, and where it is OK to be
struggling and hurting, hopeful and joyous.
Accountability: Jesus taught a way of life that entailed accountability to God
through submission to each other. It is where one shares life with other
openly, encourages self-reflection and critique, allows others to input into all
our life decisions in the framework of humble and loving relationships.
Spiritual Disciplines: Spiritual disciplines help to keep us on track, not just as
an individual (Bible reading, prayer, service), but as a community (gathering
together, worship, Scripture, serving).
Stewardship: All resources that we have are not our own, but have been given
and entrusted to us by God to be used for his activity. Our aim should be to
live as simply as we can, to invest all of our resources (time, money, skills,
activity, relationships etc.) effectively into God’s mission.
9. Valuesthree
Gratitude: A state of being where we are always thankful, always hopeful,
always filled with awe because of what God has done, for the gift of life he
has given, for all the blessings He has lavished on us. As a faith community
we aim to live in this wondrous state despite our circumstances, despite the
sufferings and persecution that we may face in our mission of extending
God’s kingdom.
Change: In order to be able to connect and create pathways for people in an
ever-changing world, we need to value change so that we can continually be
adapting to serve people in meaningful ways. Change doesn’t have to be
scary, but rather inevitable and exciting, as it brings with it many new
opportunities.
Process: Change, whilst exciting, doesn’t just happen. Change shouldn’t be
avoided because of the potential fallout and hurt it can cause, but rather
change should be outworked in the context of right and thought-out process
which seeks to minimise negative effects on people.
10. letlive meetups best-buys
needs based service interest-based groups market-based networking
church models ‘presence’ mission
community joins in a common vision for betterment of the local
community [live simply – give generously – serve freely]
explore Jesus
a course-based exploration of Jesus
around a meal
church models ‘proclamation’ mission
community explores the church’s reason and motivation for the
church’s vision for the betterment of the local community
small medium large
gatherings gatherings gatherings
8-15, meal, Bible, discussion 24-45, social, service, missional 50-270, Bible, worship, fellowship
church models the way of Jesus
community observes and participates in the life of the faith community
MINISTRY STRATEGY
11. Community Service Spiritual Exploration
Initiatives (Letlive + Meetups) Initiatives
Local – tutoring, mentoring, childcare, Intro to Jesus – an apologetic/story-
youth work, immigration, internet etc. based exploration of the Christian faith
Global – fundraisers, partnerships with Intro to a Jesus Community – what it
aid and mission organisations looks like to live in Christian community
Church
Service Strategy
Discipleship Initiatives Mobilisation Initiatives
Large – worship (weekly <300); Rhythm – living life by ‘living simply,
Medium – missional (monthly <50); giving generously, serving freely’
Small – meal and Bible study
(fortnightly <15); Accountability Journey – discovering yourself and how
(monthly <3) best to serve (gifts, personality, history)
12. Major Focuses
New Media – to communicate and network to new generations
Public Spaces – use of schools, pubs, parks etc. wherever possible
Local Community – supporting, bettering and helping to the meet wider needs
Reinfused Worship – rich and deep meaning through fresh forms
13. Practical Expressions
Cafe – offices, meetings, catch-ups, through an owned or associated cafe
Teaching and Communication Loops – elders shape the preacher’s content &
theology, small-groups feedback Qs and thoughts through video responses
Not-For-Profit Organisation – a not-for-profit called ‘letlive’ that has three
functions: 1) providing needs based services; 2) commentary and research on
current issues; 3) training and talks on current issues
Evangelism Through Service – Christians connecting with non-Christians
through serving others, via the NFP ‘letlive’
Evangelism Through Interests – Christians connecting with non-Christians
through common interests groups, via the NFP ‘meet-ups’
Twitter Accountability – accountability using new technology, that allows
mobility yet ensures efficiency and integrity
14. Philosophy of Mission & Discipleship
Philosophy of Discipleship –
Discipleship, mentoring, and maturing occurs through serving together and
engaging in missional activity, spiritual disciplines help us to continue being
engaged in service and mission, it is a means, not an end. Every ‘disciple’
finds a way to: a) serve the faith community, the local community, and the
global community; b) engage in small, medium and large groups; and c) to
hang-out with unchurched people according to their common interests. To
become a disciple means coming to increased Christ-likeness, which results in
more missional activity.
Philosophy of Mission –
Every believer is a missionary. Mission happens through both presence
and proclamation, it is never one without the other. It is through serving
and hanging out, yet there must always be an invitation to consider the
Gospel.
17. The Timeline
2009
May Fortnightly Meal with Core Team (or potentially-core!)
Lock in Final Details with the Anglicans
July Monthly Sunday Gathering Continue
2010
Feb Fortnightly Small Groups [Goal: 3 Groups by end of 2010]
Monthly Sunday Gatherings Continue
2011
Mar Official Launch of the Church
18. The Financials
Guiding Principle – the church planting community grows and matures
through the process of being autonomous and responsible for the finances of
the faith community
Some Options:
• 2009 core group begins tithing or giving [a savings account for the church
plant]
• 2010 house churches begins tithing or giving
• Tithing/giving doesn’t begin until the church goes officially live in 2011
• Dave ‘tent-makes’ or raises support until such a time
General Thoughts
• low staff to member ratio – 1 full-time ‘pastor’ for every 200 people?
• high emphasis on elders as leaders who have paid professions elsewhere
• high emphasis on volunteerism and giving going towards meeting the needs
of others
• Anglicans have an 11% assessment (or tax)
19. Visioneering and Recruitment
Difficulty: Church-hopping and sheep stealing, and the need for mature
Christians
Visioneering Vehicles:
•blog-site sharing the vision and tracking all the updates
•videos
•podcasts
•information pack
Recruiting Strategy:
•primarily word of mouth
•invitations from the church planting team to like-minded friends and
relatives
•quarterly vision nights in the 2 years leading up to the congregation plant
•sharing of the vision to partner churches, Bible colleges, and any other
church connections sharing of the vision through TMA