:: AIP#34 - Roadtrip Stop 5: Omaha Part 2 ::

Day two on the "Omaha stop" of my training trip [day one here] was spent with Coram Deo, a church with much the same structure as The City Church [Our structure, parts one, two, three].

Planted by Bob Thune, Jr., life in Coram Deo revolves around 20+ Missional Communities, which meet throughout the week and across Omaha. These Missional Communities eat together, exhort each regarding life and God, pray for each other, and live on mission together. In essence, they do the same "Acts 2 stuff" as The City Church Villages will be doing as we gather weekly.

They find a healthy balance though, in their focus on having a strong, essential Sunday gathering of the entire church as well. Coram Deo has learned much on this hybrid of "gathered and scattered" from Dr. Tim Keller (Redeemer, New York City).

Tuesday lunch was shared with three Coram Deo staff, Bob Thune, Will Walker, and Justin Curtis. These men walked me through the early days of Coram Deo and allowed me to pick their brains on everything from training to elder development to kids, and in humility and laughter, they were willing to share some of the mistakes of Coram Deo's early days. Through their experiences (both good and bad!) and wisdom, I walked away with a renewed focus on...

• Strong leader development across the board, for elders, deacons, Village leaders, and everyone given authority
• Finding a balance between "mission" and "discipleship"
• An initial commitment before official "membership"
• And structuring the church in a way where everyone must stay involved (example: their Missional Community members all rotate through set-up, kids ministry, etc.)

Additionally, they walked through the formation, structure, and multiplication of Missional Communities, which is all essential as folks are living out mission and bringing new people into their body; and the need for a strong leadership structure across the board, as well as the roles and responsibilities of various leadership in the decentralized structure of this model of church. Time with these guys was great; I learned a lot; and it was comforting to see the unique model of The City Church in action, and doing great things in the lives of people and the city of Omaha.

Tuesday evening was a real treat, as was invited by Coram Deo staffer Bethany Putz to attend their Missional Community, and see the model in action. It was a great community, and functioned exactly as Bob and Will had described - I left even more excited about the prospect of what The City Church's Villages will become!

The next day Jess and I started the drive back to Texas, stopping for an evening in Kansas City; we're in Fort Worth for a couple days, and I leave Sunday for Austin to spend time with Jonathan Dodson and the good folks at Austin City Life, the last stop on this roadtrip. But while Jess and I were driving home , Matthew Hudson got a really cool training opportunity right here in Fort Worth... More on that coming next!