:: AIP#47 - What's a Village Actually DO? ::

[Part 5 of 10 in answering some FAQ's about The City Church]

As The City Church's first-ever Village begins this Sunday [sidenote: please help spread the word, & details here; RSVP here - no "maybe's" please!], I wanted to describe briefly what you'll experience each week in your Village, this fall and beyond.

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47)

Simply put, that's what we'll do in Villages... except that all the apostles have moved on into heaven, so we don't expect "many signs and wonders" to be done! So here's what a Village looks like a little more practically:

Breaking bread and fellowship: each Village gathering will begin with a meal. As one pastor whose church looks like The City said, "we eat together a lot - it's one of our values." Talking about life happens over a meal; getting to know each other happens over a meal; encouragement happens over a meal. Simply put, fellowship happens over a meal. So we'll "receive food with glad and generous hearts" together weekly, provided by a rotation of people in your Village.

Apostles' teaching: after dinner, we'll spend time growing together in our faith; in our knowledge and love of God; in our understanding of God's word & how our lives reflect it. If The City is working through a biblical book, all Villages will dive together into that week's section of scripture, asking questions like "what stood out to you?" "what was hard for you?" "how do you see that in your life?" It's a time of mutual encouragement, exhortation, rebuke if needed, and generally growing with one another, led by your Village leader but with a "together" dynamic.

This fall, as we unify and prepare to "launch" in January, our Village will work through Total Church, a great, Bible-and-theology-filled book by two cool British guys, asking the question each week, "how does __[insert an aspect of church life]__ look in The City Church?" The books will be free to you, and while we definitely don't consider the authors "apostles," we'll weigh their writing against the scriptures and encourage each other as we build the foundation of The City together.

Praying together & meeting each others' needs: the heart behind having "all things in common...selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need" is the idea of walking alongside one another; meeting of each others' needs both spiritually and practically. So most weeks, with an occasional extended focus on this, guys and ladies will split up and close the Village time together praying with, and praying for, each other. As you hear prayers answered; as you work to bless each other; as you cover each other in prayer and practice, you experience true, raw community, and you get to "praise God" as he works in each others' lives. I'm pretty sure that's part of the "awe" that "came upon every soul."

Mission: the final element in each Village is a shared mission field. One of the hopes in a "semi-geographical" approach to Villages is that you'll be able to love your neighbors, serve your surrounding area, pour into your city, and carry out local mission. As you do, our hope is that Villages find "favor with all the people" and in God's sovereignty, that he might "add to [our] number day by day those who [are] being saved." We don't want this for our namesake, or for the name of the church, but for the mission and the name and the glory of God alone, as we carry out his work and our mission in Fort Worth.

If you've been matching the verses with the elements of a Village, you'll notice there's one key phrase that was left out: "attending the temple together." The next FAQ will address that, as we answer What will a typical week look like in "city life"?