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 8th our church
service will be outside the town hall.
On Sunday July
8th our church service will be litter picking and tidying up areas
like Upton Park, Castle Gardens, and Madeira Place
On Sunday July
8th our church service will be engaging in evangelism – giving away
free drinks and fruit on the high road
On Sunday July
8th – 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 8th 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 8th and show some love to Torquay what a
tremendous difference that will make.
To those people
who are nervous or concerned about July 8th: 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.
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