:: AIP#49 - What Will Missions & Money Look Like? ::

[Part 7 of 10 in answering some FAQ's about The City Church]

From the start, I'll tell you that much of this is just beginning to be developed, so we may not have as specific answers to some of the mission-related questions. But I can tell you where our heart is, and how we'll begin to build out our missional structure.

Our heart is for people. Period. We'd rather pour as little of our budget as possible into production, programs, facilities, and marketing, and as much as possible into people, whether local or global; involved in The City Church or not; for mission and the building up of the body. With that said, we want to carry out mission on three levels: individually and corporately, we want to be a blessing to Fort Worth; we want to see God work throughout our wider surrounding area; and we want to take the name of Christ to "the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

• Locally, we will pour much of our 2010 and 2011 budgets into Villages, and thus, into local mission: we want to equip "City folk" to live in community and to live out mission, and so we'll find a balance of making funds available for Villages to bless Fort Worth, while hoping to see benevolence ministry occur within Villages as you work together to meet the needs of each other and your neighbors. One of our goals is to be investing in the lives of 5,000 people within five years - NOT with the hope that they all join Villages and All-Church gatherings, but loving them, serving them, and investing in their lives because we follow Jesus.
  
  
• We are just starting to consider where God might have us on a national scale, with short-term trips and ongoing partnerships; it might be several months before we find the right partnership(s). But statistically, planting churches is one of the best ways to see the name of Christ proclaimed in the U.S, sending people as "long-term missionaries" to invest their lives in cities, like we're doing in Fort Worth. So we will partner with Acts 29 and Vision 360 (two of our planting organizations) to devote 10% of our budget to church plants, and to plant at least one new church within the first five years of our existence - not waiting until we first build ourselves, but making disciples, training them, and sending them out, whether it's somewhere in/near Fort Worth or elsewhere.
  
  
• Internationally, we will be involved in at least two foreign countries: some of our leadership and initial "City folk" have been involved for several years with Belize, and have made some strategic connections with local and national government there. We're seeking input from American and Belizian resources to consider how we can continue investing in the leadership of this country, seeing the beginning of long-term individual and national change.
  
  However, Belize is a great "first step" for The City Church's missions: it's a friendly nation to Christians; there is a faith foundation there; it is safe and primarily English-speaking. Our hope is to be active in at least one other area of the world, and an area in desperate need of Jesus. Whether somewhere in the "1040 window," a primarily Muslim nation, somewhere in the "third world," or wherever we land, our hope is to take our experience in Belize, combine it with resources and contextual needs, and to build relationships and meet needs wherever we go, with the hope that God might open doors for his work to be done. We are working with friends at NorthWood Church and The Austin Stone to narrow down options, but welcome both prayers and input as we seek God's leading in our short- and long-term investment and involvement around the world.

While we're just too early in to define a certain percentage of our budget that will go toward local and global mission (above the 10% devoted to church planting), I can tell you that it is a strong focus for our leadership and our church, and that we'll do everything we can to pour our budget into people, not things. One example we've shared recently is that if we're able to rent All-Church Gathering space for $20,000 per year, and work from homes and coffeeshops, then by the time we'd reach the comparative $3 million we'd spend in buying space in or near downtown, we'll be able to meet for literally 150 years! And $3 million is a conservative estimate for what we'd need in the area we're going! That's a ton of money to pour into people along the way, and so we're hoping to rent space as long as it's feasible.

I welcome comments, questions, thoughts, etc. below, or email Ben. Thanks for your input, and for helping us develop our missional strategies over the coming months!