Church on the Street

Since becoming part of UV over a year ago I have been amazed at how well the church meetings have run and in particular how well people have responded and interacted with each other, even when there is clear disagreement.

Whether we have been discussing service times, clarifying our vision for the area, evangelism and outreach plans or building and fabric projects, people listen to each other, think issues through and even change their mind on occasion as they sense the direction the meeting is going.

There are of course the exceptions, the misguided or unguarded comment blurted out usually followed by the impulsive speaker sitting down with a slightly shocked air of, ‘Did I really just say that?’ whilst their partner gives a sympathetic smile that says, ‘I support you publicly but just wait till we get home’.  I’ve seen this a few times and I really wouldn’t like to be in that house when they got home.

This has been my experience thus far at UV so I really shouldn’t be surprised that last night’s meeting went so well.A few months ago we planned that this June meeting would be spent discussing the contentious issue of strengthening the church floor, however, as other options have been discovered there was a sense that we could use this meeting for something else.

Every Wednesday the UV staff has a training morning where we pick up a theme or concern to discuss and wrestle with. We’ve been working our way through a set of Willow Creek leadership summit short films, ’Take 10’. On this particular Wednesday the title of the talk was ‘The Call of a Leader.’  No one had high expectations from such a title; seek out and train next generation leaders, ministry/home balance, delegate, take risks etc, all good stuff but not exactly new. However, what we watched was literally mind blowing in its audacity and simplicity.  Harvey Senior Pastor of Citadel of Faith Covenant Church, Detroit, Michigan tells the story of his church equipping leaders by on occasion moving their church service inside, to active service outside on the streets of Detroit. On occasion their church heads outside to some of the more challenging areas of their neighbourhood , they sing they pray, they tidy, they evangelise, they give away things.  Through such actions their community has improved and their church has grown.

We watched this 10 minute film in our team meeting and in a progression from tentativeness to over the top confidence  with a good dose  of, ‘ Did we really just say that – Did we really mean that’? We said, ‘We could do this, we should do this, … we will do this!’

Last night’s meeting was sharing this vision:

 On Sunday July 8^th our church service will be outside the town hall.

On Sunday July 8^th our church service will be litter picking and tidying up areas like Upton Park, Castle Gardens, and Madeira Place

On Sunday July 8^th our church service will be engaging in evangelism – giving away free drinks and fruit on the high road

On Sunday July 8^th – you get the idea

The amazing thing last night was that some people clearly were uncomfortable and troubled with this idea but could sense God’s spirit behind it. Whilst many concerns were expressed) we deliberately asked people to voice their concerns) the number of ideas of what we could do on July 8^th was overwhelming.  I think we all caught the vision of what Church on the street could be and why.

The why is simple, Torquay is full of people who need to know that God loves them; we try and tell them that every other Sunday when we give away free drinks and food – God loves them and wants to bless them.

Our church is at its strength when 400 or so people meet on a Sunday morning and if only 300 people come out on July 8^th and show some love to Torquay what a tremendous difference that will make.

To those people who are nervous or concerned about July 8^th: every time the Street Teams go out we get very, very nervous.  Who will we meet, what will we say, what if I look like a complete idiot?  ( I actually learned to live with that hard reality a few  years back when a cheeky prankster stuck a ‘Say hi if you think I’m stupid’ sign on my back.   The whole day strangers were greeting me.)  When people ask me to pray with them on the street – a flutter of panic travels through me – what should I say, will the prayer work, etc?  We all get nervous but that’s no reason not to do this.

Last night’s meeting I think was a triumph of people saying, ‘Yes this is costly, it’s uncomfortable and I feel hopelessly inadequate, but….. We are a church here in a town that desperately needs God’s all encompassing love and Jesus’ soul saving resurrection power.’ We are a church in a town that needs us to be a church on the street.