Collegiate Church Planting

This past weekend I taught a 3.5 hour course on collegiate church planting to a mixture of college students, church planters, and campus ministry leaders from all over Illinois at the Axiom Conference.  It was a great time and the interaction and discussion was passionate and fun.  We had some healthy conversations about what it’d look like to plant churches on college campuses across the state as well as whether college students themselves could lead this movement.  In my mind students themselves are the “missing link” when it comes to planting churches on or around campuses.  We don’t have enough “adult leaders / planters” to cover all the campuses everywhere.  For example, in Illinois there are 172 colleges / universities.  How could we fund 172 church planters?  Yikes, daunting task.

But why not?  When we look at church planting movements globally we know that once things get up and going they’re led by “locals” … “indigenous people” … aka, college students in this setting.  If we can trust 18-21 year olds to go overseas to war and drive million dollar vehicles, shoot high-tech weaponry and put their lives in harm’s way then the thought of church planting seems much less risky.  For the most part students are relegated to menial tasks in churches but not only are they the future they’re the NOW when it comes to leadership potential and up-side.

So you tell me … why not?

The New Urbanism Part 2

A while ago I posted a blog with this same title.  However, it’s still on my mind.  Yesterday I watched a local spotlight feature on Tucson’s new urbanism which got me thinking of church planting (of course).  The big “a-ha” with new urbanism is to basically create pedestrian-friendly, walkable, efficient, and aesthetically appealing urban streetscapes.  This could range from widening sidewalks to more vegetation to creating more community-oriented neighborhoods / developments.  Like I mentioned in my last post on high gas prices I think there are things going on culturally that have the opportunity to pave the way for a new breed of churches.

Could the future of the chuch in America not be the bigger-is-better mentality but instead creating more organic neighborhood churches that are focused on community development and community transformation?  This would open the door to simpler expressions of church and more and more non-paid religious professionals leading these niche churches.  This doesn’t mean mega-churches are wrong or that they would or should go away, but these smaller churches would back fill all the cracks and crevices where the big churches cannot penetrate.  Or better yet, maybe there’s this symbiotic relationship between these niche churches with a large regional church.  Instead of competing they’re working together and sharing resources.

Who knows?  All I know is that across our urban landscapes developers and city officials are creating more space for this new urbanism and I believe that the church can also be a partner in this discussion as churches have the potential of adding great value to a neighborhood and people’s lives can be transformed as well.

The Beauty of High Gas Prices

Last week I made a commitment to try to lessen the strangle hold of my dependence on my gas-guzzling SUV.  I’m stoked but there are two factors already working against me.  (1) It is still so darn hot here in the desert.  At least it’ll really start cooling off in another month and mornings are picture perfect weather right now.  That doesn’t help for my mid-day jaunts.  (2) Tucson is such a auto-dependent city that everything is so sprawled out that nothing is close by.  Along with that the outer fringes of the city weren’t laid out as pedestrian friendly with hardly any sidewalks.

I know this is morbid to admit but I’m secretly kind of excited that gas prices are so high.  Yes, it’s hard and you want to cry when you go to the pump.  I have a ‘94 Suburban with a 42 gallon gas tank!  I can’t ever bring myself to fill it up all the way (it’d cost about $142 today if I did).  You see, many of our Western cities were laid out with the auto in mind so there was not much concern for public transportation or walkable communities.  Even on a side note, one of the sociological determiners of the mega-church phenom is tied to the vehicle.  Large mega-churches are dependent upon an auto society of people driving in from all over to worship at this one location.  Could mega-churches sustain themselves in a city with really bad public transportation and high gas prices?  This is the topic of another blog but how does this pave the way for smaller niche neighborhood churches that are within walking distance?

Back to gas.  I’m excited because if gas prices keep going up it’ll force cities like Tucson to really (hopefully) seek better solutions issues as like sprawl, redevelopment, filling in the urban core, better public transportation which may include modes like light rail / commuter trains, and so on.  The very thing we don’t want (higher gas prices) may in the end be a catalyst for our cities to mature and take into consideration creating cities that are sustainable.  In my thinking this is where the church can shine the greatest.  Instead of creating large commuter-driven churches what about these small community-focused neighborhood churches that are focused on community transformation?

Church Planting on the Fly

The more I spend time across Tucson the more I’m acutely aware of the needs of seeing the Gospel penetrate all levels of society and new churches planted.  I feel like I keep hitting roadblocks to figure out how to plant churches rapidly.  Along with that when it comes to our conventional approach to funding through the SBC there’s good and bad news.  Good news?  We’re planting more and more churches.  Bad news?  Well, that means since our state-wide budget is not increasing significantly we’re quickly running out of funds to support new works.  Solution?  “Penniless church plant on the fly!!!”

I have about 4 specific areas where I’m personally interested on planting a church or churches I should say (NW side close to my house, Tucson Mall area, U of A campus, and downtown).  I could do one of several different approaches.  (1) Recruit planters for each of the areas, have them “own it” and be passionate about it.  That is good except that could take 1-2-3 years for all the areas to be adopted but there’d be someone there who’d totally buy into it and own it.  (2) I could plant one church myself and once I get that one up to speed branch out and start another one.  (3)  Or I could plant a church in each spot simultaneously.  I’d utilize locals already involved in their church / ministries and start this as an “on-the-side” kinda of thing and let it just grow “organically.”

Sometimes I wonder if we totally overstrategize things at times.  I know of a church planter who spent a whole year planning, strategizing, doing bridge events, neighborhood surverys, preview services, and so on and after a few months they’re running in the 40’s.  I met another planter who just literally one day decided to start a church, rented a school, and started meeting.  After a few months they’re running in the 50’s.  Both of these new church plants are in the same suburb in similar settings.  Which is a better approach?  I guess it doesn’t really matter.  Which leads me to believe to just start to invest relationally in each of these areas, pull other guys in the process, and just got for it.  I don’t care if it’s a simple organic house church or if they rent out an cool hip art gallery to meet because models are secondary issues.

So, that’s the latest in my thinking of how to hurry up and plant churches on the fly.  I sometimes think we make church planting way too complicated with highly specialized training and degrees and so on.  We’ve taken it out of the hands of the common person and made it something for the vocationally “elite.”  I loved it when I was in China talking with a house chuch “uncle” about their church planting strategies.  They just taught people the bible and there was the expectation that they would plant a church regarldess of their vocation.  What if that were to become a reality here?  How could we get there?

Church Planting Urban Legends

I don’t know where the term “Urban Legend” came about because it is in reference to most things not urban … Big Foot, UFO’s, Vampires, and so on.  One of my favorite shows is Monsterquest on the History Channel that tries to find and explain these creatures using science.  The more I read and am involved in all things church planting it seems there are numerous urban legends out there that needs to be dispelled.  So, like a monday morning arm-chair quaterback I’m going to throw opinions around like all those ESPN analysts after a game who never broke a sweat.

Myth #1 – Church planting involves the same process in all locations.  Obviously that is false but the reality is who gets the most press?  Fast growing churches in suburban settings.  Also, if you peel back the layers you find they tend to be mostly among homogeneous middle-class Caucasians in high growth new suburbs.  Now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that at all because we need SCORES of new churches in those settings. However, when it comes to church planting strategies we have to take note it will be different in every location … even in the suburbs.  The same strategies applied in new suburbs vs. maturing ones vs. aging ones vs. revitalized ones are all going to have different results and that’s not even mentioning the city with all the diversity found within.

Myth #2 – Churches grow at the same rate everywhere.  Again, we know that is not true but that doesn’t seem to seep into our expectations.  In one study done in a city with nearly 1,000 churches one of the statistical truths was that churches tended to grow more when they were farther away from the city’s core.  Again, this is the norm but we can think of exceptions … Mars Hill Seattle, Mosaic LA, and so on. Like mentioned above most often the factors are a result in the homogeneity of a church.  The less diverse the area and church is the more likely the growth.  The reverse is true … let’s say you have a predominantly white church but the whole area around it is changing and diversifying then more than likely that church has plateaued or is declining.

Myth #3 – The solution is in multicultural churches.  Now wait a minute, yes and no.  While we know the homogeneous churches usually grow faster than others but you might say, “But I have people of different ethnicity in my church … we’re not homogeneous.”  Mind you, there is a vast difference between multi-cultural vs. multi-racial.  You can have a mixed church racially but culturally it is still pretty homogeneous.  Now I believe a truly multi-cultural church would be beautiful.  Think about it … what would a church look like that celebrates Hispanic culture mixed with Somali mixed with Thai mixed with Chinese mixed with Iraqi look like?  How would you be united as a church all the while allowing people to retain and celebrate their ethnicity and cultural heritage?  Hard?  Yes.  Beautiful?  Absolutely!  That is why a network or association is a beautiful thing because it is a group of very diverse churches committed to the common goal of impacting this city with all its diversity together for the glory of Christ.

So those are just a few urban legends that came to mind as I was thinking about church planting this morning and if I were to plant a church again where would it be and how would I go about doing it?

Ok, enough said … back to checking emails.

Reducing My Carbon Footprint

I was stoked this morning.  You see, I commuted via bike to work.  Yep … it was 1.1 miles from my house to Roadrunner Coffee to get some studying and emails done.  I didn’t know if I was going to make it or not but I did.  This is all part of my contribution to living green and reducing my carbon footprint on this world.  It took me a whopping 5 minutes of easy cruising to get here but it did get me thinking.

When I was meeting with a city planner a few weeks ago we talked about how auto-dependent Tucson is.  I really do dream of living where we only need one vehicle and at best only drive it once in a while.  There is no getting around in Tucson without a car / truck / SUV.  It really bites.  The closest grocery store is a mile away and what do you do when it is so hot?  I guess I can suck it up and just go anyways.  On the other hand there are some great walkable neighborhoods in Tucson.  As a city we were voted the 25th most walkable city … but that is Tucson proper and not all of the outlying areas.  While we’re no Portland, San Fran or Manhattan we have a few good places.  To see a map of Tucson’s walkable areas click on Tucson.

I probably didn’t save that much in gas or reduce emissions with my little ride over to the coffee shop or over the Mountain View Baptist Church where I met to go to lunch but at least it was a step … or pedal in the right direction.

Tucson (funky) Hidden Gems

Monday morning and I’m having a hard time getting going.  Usually that means a blog is on the horizon to help stimulate the firing mechanisms in my brain.  Also, when it comes to getting the creative juices flowing it helps to plop me and my laptop in a place that is funky, uber cool, and creative.  When we were looking to buy a guitar for our 8 year old (Camden) someone said, “Don’t get a guitar at a place where you buy your laundry soap” … meaning Walmart.  Well, that theory doesn’t always apply.

Wilko is a funky corner general store with so many oddities like spare bicycle tubes, organic food, CD’s, underwear, snack foods, and of course a great coffee bar.  Who says you can’t kick it at a place that sells string cheese and enjoy at killer mocha?  I love coming to this place because the ambiance is funky and fun, the music is always right on, and there’s the HUGE windows to look out as I sit at my table watching the university life get all cranked up.  Probably one of the best things I love doing is to sit here, watch people pass by,  and dream and wonder what it’d look like to plant a church smack dab in the middle of it all here.  I think I’m a campus ministry director trapped in a church planting strategist’s body.  Wherever I go to other cities I always have to check out the local college campus to get a feel for the vibe of the place.

The U of A has a great vibe to it and the Main Gate Square is an exceptional place where you can eat anywhere from Thai to Afghani to Chinese to Indian to Greek to whatever food joint you want.  Coffee shops abound as well as cool places to shop like Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, or local U of A apparel stores. This area is a great Tucson Gem, not really hidden but a great place to just be and soak it all in.

Church Planting in the Urbs and the Burbs

Ben Barfield, church planter and pastor of Common Ground Church here in Sahuarita, brought up a good point in my last blog entry as he posted a comment.  He asked if we could do a class through Epoch on suburban church planting.  A simple request but it caused to do a lot of thinking this morning.  I guess without realizing it I put forth a pretty focused urban framework for church planting and community renewal.  I think a lot of it has to do with my doctoral program and the other part comes from wanting to have a balanced approach to church planting.

Since college football is here I’ll use a sports analogy.  The beauty of the spread offense that teams like Florida and West Virginia run is that it is such a wide open attacking offense.  It spreads things out and uses the whole field rather than keeping everything in the box.  You need a balanced threat of a solid running game and the ability to air it out as well.  It wasn’t too long ago where certain teams were so one-dimensional that they almost became obsolete.  Take traditional Nebraska football who mastered to option offense and rarely passed.  When I was in college in Nebraska was at the height of their back-to-back championship run in the mid-90’s.  We’d joke about QB Tommie Frazier when he’d throw the ball.  When he threw it we’d call it the “Tommie Frazier bounce pass” because he was a horrible thrower and would often underthrow his receivers, but could run the stripes off the field.

Let’s say suburban church planting is the air game then the city is the ground attack.  If we want to reach a city we need a balanced offense.  I think for too long we’ve been such a pass-happy church planting offense that we’ve become so one-dimensional.  I’ve been trying to advocate a good mix of pass and running plays and trying to recruit chuch planters to fit “my offensive scheme.”  I think I can get so focused on establishing a running game that I forget to work with the QB coaches and sharpening our air attack.

So thank you Ben for reminding me to make sure I keep balanced as well.

Studying the Suburbs

I came across an interesting read on demographic studies from an urban researcher.  It was some really good stuff.  What was most interesting is that he talked about each striation of a cities suburbs.  Often times when we think of suburbs we kinda lump all of them together with such broad brush strokes that when we apply a typical church planting model / strategy to a suburban context and it doesn’t work we scratch our heads and wonder why.

The focus of his chapter was on creating city-wide strategies so he gave a quick run-down on the burbs.  As I read it I went, “Duh” because it was so obvious yet I myself never thought of it that way.  He broke down the suburbs into several categories:

1. The Young Developing Suburb – These are still in the process of subdivision and construction.  The populations are increasing rapidly as young parents but their homes and establish their families.  Tucson examples: Sahuarita – Rancho Sahuarita, Vail – Rancho del Lago, Marana – Gladden Farms, Marana – Red Rock.
2. The Maturing Suburb – Usually they’ve been in the process of development for about 20 years now.  The population tends to be stable with older families with high school and college age kids.  Tucson Examples: Oro Valley, Marana – Continental Ranch, Rita Ranch, Midvale Park.
3. The Aging Suburb – Consists of predominantly single-family homes more than 40 years old.  Population is declining with a lack of children. Tucson Examples: Casas Adobes, Flowing Wells.
4. The Rejuvenating Suburb – Includes most old inner suburbs where the housing stock has been through more than one cycle of ownership.  Similar to the Aging Suburbs but with an influx on twenty somethings.  Tucson Examples:  Midtown region.

The book goes on the give examples of strategies to reach each suburban setting.  It was a very fun and great read!  Again, it simply highlights the need to exegete your community and to create strategies based upon your current context instead of following the formula of a book written by an author in another city.  Even a book written for suburban strategies will be different … because what kind of suburbs was it?  Like when Saddleback started it was a Young Developing Suburb … now? A Maturing or even an Aging Suburb.

Anyways, have fun studying your burb!

Free Church Planting!!!

That’s right you heard it!  Free church planting!  You only have to pay shipping and handling and if you act today I’ll throw in a set if Ginsu Knives!

This morning I was texting a church planting friend and we were kinda arguing (via text … I know) over funding for church planting.  In a good way he’s constantly wanting me to get more funding for him and for church planters here in general.  To a degree I wholeheartedly agree.  However, I keep going back to the idea that you really don’t even need a penny to plant a church.  Actually, you could plant hundreds of churches without money.  Mark my word … I won’t rest until (1) I figure out to make this happen, (2) it becomes as normative in our churches as Sunday School or small groups, or (3) we start to see this happen.

I guess that’s what has propelled me to write my dissertation on this.  Especially when it comes to urban contexts where (1) there’s extreme poverty and how could you fund a full-time staff or (2) where it is so insanely expensive that you need a real job to make real money just to live there.  As a vocational church planter you couldn’t raise enough money to live in places like downtown San Fran, inside the Loop in Chicago or Manhattan.

So do we really need to compromise so much just to get money?  Do we need to sell our soul just to get a few hundred bucks?  Is part of the problem with the state of church planting in the United States is our over dependence on money?  Can we envision church planting without $250,000 of salary, sound equipment, rented facilities, websites, marketing, and so on?  Let me be clear to say that what we’re doing currently is NOT wrong.  I’m just looking at the stark reality that we need to plant one church every day of the year just to keep up with population growth in Tucson.  There is NO WAY we can fund 365 churches a year therefore we need to start being a bit more creative.  The hard part is simply trying to convince the church that it is FULL of church planters.  “Every member a church planter!”

So there you have it … free church planting!  Who wants to sign up today!