Does God want to plant a church in London Bridge? A student told me he’d tried to get permission from the London Baptist Association, as they had a building there. It took too long and he’d left London.
Then some others shared they were thinking about it. One variant was selling the building and buy a shop-front as a café for outreach, and to house three mission agencies – Street Pastors, Urban Expression, and Parish Nursing.
It occurred to me to be facilitator, to see if there was synergy about collaborating. We met last week: Barney from Citygates, Andrew from Kings Cross, Darren from Gants Hill, Jim from Urban Expression, Jose from YWAM.
Darren is exploring whether God’s called him to set up a business chaplaincy to the office. Others wondering about this church plant.
We felt that either possibility with the building could work. But also felt this was the wrong way to begin, with premises rather than people. God’s call is paramount: on a person to lead a plant, and group of people to be the core of a plant. We have a cart but no horse. It’s a lesson in discernment.
Who is God calling to do this?
Does Jesus ever talk of planting a church? He says He will build His church - and then He added people to it at pentecost and then daily - and all with no dedicated building (dedicated in the sense of specific and set aside for the use of Christians rather than a sacred building now mis-titled as church).
ReplyDeleteYou are right to equate people first with church - but what your friends see, want to bring into being is not church (to me). It is rather an expression of church organising itself to do something specific and through their acts they will be extending the kingdom, His rule and His direct influence into the local setting (through and by church, His people). Their aims are not church (a building or organisation) but what church does (a group of people organising something together out of common interest and concern).
[I'm going to have to stop reading the Amplified Bible I'm starting to write like it!].
The building is only needed to be able to do the thing and it seems like it needs doing and God is moving,appointing and anointing people to do it. Church doesn't need a building per se - but this task(s) does - so get the building for the task but don't try and turn it into another structured, (inter-)denominational church. Keep yourselves clean and true to the original reason for being there in the building, the things you feel God moving you to do in the community. Don't look to attract a congregation, don't target people to join. Instead organise yourselves and give yourselves to what you are called to do - pastoring , nursing, praying, etc. Who knows as God adds people to church He might do it a way that is signified by numerical growth at your shop front or old church building - and if He adds people in a less obvious way to church it doesn't invalidate what you do - you spread Shalom then leave it to God to build, to plant but most of all to water and to grow.