:: AIP#56 - Total Church #1: "Why Gospel?" (09.20.2009) ::

Sunday, Sept 20 was the first night of living out Acts 2 within The City Church's weekly gatherings. Our topic, as we dove into the first chapter of Total Church, was the question, "why do we base what we do on the gospel?"

Summary:
God works primarily through his word - either proclaimed (God's own voice), written (the Bible), or in person (Jesus). So it is by relying on God's word that we accomplish anything for God. God also rules through his word, so we must admit his lordship and submit ourselves to his rule. At the same time, since we are indwelled by God the Spirit, we are Spirit-led, and even our understanding and application of God's word is Spirit-led; the word of God and the Spirit of God work in conjunction to accomplish God's will, both in our lives and through our lives. To disregard either side of this is less than a full understanding of God: "Spiritual experience that does not arise from God's word is not Christian experience... Bible study and theology that do not lead to a love for God and a desire to do his will... have gone terribly wrong" (p.31).

So as we seek to live as "a community on mission," we acknowledge that we exist through the gospel and for the gospel. Instead of asking where God fits into our lives, we must ask "where does my little life fit into this great story of God's mission?" Instead of asking how the Bible applies to our lives, we must instead ask, "how do our lives apply to the Bible?" Instead of asking what kind of mission God has for us, we ask "what kind of me does God need for his mission?" And "what would our lives look like if we were in a cross-cultural missionary context: where would we live? What would our approach be toward work? How would we spend our time? And so forth (this paragraph adapted from p.33, 35). Bottom line, how do our lives reflect the Gospel not just on Sundays, but on Mondays as well?

Further Discussion:

• The authors state that "people today want a vision of the divine or proof that God exists or to know the meaning of life or just a sense of purpose" (p.23): what do people in our culture and context want?
• Do you believe what God promises in his word? That it's living and active? That it's relevant? That God will give you the strength & power to proclaim it? How would your evangelism change as you truly believe these promises?
  
• The authors discuss the concept of "fair-weather faith." What causes this? How does it compare to genuine faith?
• How does your life reflect the idea that God is in complete rule over you? What's hard about that?
• How would you answer some of the questions from the second paragraph of the "summary" section, above?

Join the Discussion!
Comment below, or even better, jump in on this week's discussion on The City's online network [sign up for the network here; find this discussion on our online network]

:: AIP#55 - The City's Online Network ::

Get ready to be confused, but for a good cause:
As of this week, we're officially building "a city within a city within a city." We've talked often about our vision, first stated by St. Augustine 1700+ years ago, to build our church community as "a city within a city," seeking the good of Fort Worth as we engage people where we live, play, and work.

But one thing we must do within the decentralized structure of The City Church is provide as many points of connection, communication, and community as possible. We've adopted a great online network, not to build a virtual community, but to enhance actual relationships within the church body. Building throughout the coming months, Villages and individuals may use our online network to share prayer requests, announce upcoming events, exchange goods and services and meet each others' needs in “The Marketplace.” Behind the scenes, it will also help leadership with administration and "back-end" aspects of church life. So it's an all-around great tool.

And here's the irony: the name of this online network is "The City." So is it easy to understand where some confusion might arise?! To alleviate as much of the semantic confusion as possible, we'll refer to this tool simply as "our online network." But regardless of its name, it's a fantastic tool that's already being used to build relationships, dive deeper into discussion, and share ideas, requests, etc. It's working to enhance The City Church.

Jump into our online network!

• You can read more about it at our newly-updated website, www.fwcitychurch.org.
• If you don't yet have an account on our online network, you can sign up for one here.
• If you already have an account, you can log-in here.

We look forward to seeing you online, and hope you get great use from this network over the coming months and years!

:: Hibernation... ::

With the "cold snap" that hit this past week [=75-80 degrees, not 95-100], I thought winter was here, so I went into an early hibernation.

At least from the blog.

Now that it's warmed up again, I'll be back beginning tomorrow, with some exciting things, including:

• Recaps of our first two City Church Villages
• A really cool story prompting much gratitude & reflections on the body of Christ working together
• The City Church's new online community network
• New Gatherings as we move into October
• And picking up on the "Fall Training" stuff I mentioned in the last post

So get excited - and check back tomorrow as we start to close out September with a few new blog posts & planting "adventures"!

:: AIP#54 - Fall Training #1: Overview ::

After a whirlwind couple weeks of building to weekly City Church gatherings, teaching first classes at TCU, and Jess starting to get settled into the balance of work and grad school classes, I had the opportunity this week to start this fall's "personal training" - yes, I'm trying to get to the gym more, with varying degrees of success, and I'm continuing to press into my ever-more-apparent need to train my mind to godliness through the Bible, but for the sake of this post, I'm continuing to be equipped in different elements of church planting, leadership, and pastoring.

On a "Training Roadtrip" this Summer, I got to sit with some great pastors and church planters across the midwest. Amidst what is shaping up to be a bit of a crazy fall, this round of training is a little more structured, and is led by a few of our planting organizations:

• Sept 15 - Acts 29 conference, Houston TX
  
• Oct 1 - Northwood Church's "Turbo Training," Keller TX
  
• Oct 20-27 - Soma Communities' "Soma School," Tacoma WA
• + monthly planters' cohorts at Providence Church, Frisco TX & monthly lunches hosted by Fellowship Bible Church, Dallas TX
  
• + potentially a couple more opportunities

It's great to learn from many respected folks who have walked this path before, and I'm excited to continue to "soak in" as we lay the foundation for a strong church, comprised of communities on mission. I'll recap randomly through the next couple months, starting tomorrow with this week's Acts 29 conference.

In other news, I got a couple "shout outs" on friends' blogs, who write great stuff you should read: Robie Dodson (Jonathan's wife/Austin City Life) has a great blog for pastors' wives here and Bob Roberts (pastor, Northwood Church) mentioned a conversation he and I had a few weeks ago on the way to a lunch in Dallas on his incredible blog, here.

We're excited to see everyone back at the Hudsons', this Sunday @ 5:30pm as we continue The City Church's first Village [details at www.fwcitychurch.org]!

:: AIP#53 - Weekly Gatherings Have Begun! ::

We're off and running!
As of last night, The City Church's weekly gatherings have begun, as by God's favor we build both a core team and a strong foundation for our new church community over the fall. For me, it was thrilling, humbling, and a little surreal to see a couple-year-old dream move from hypothetical into reality, and exciting to see some faces who have been on this journey since it started taking shape a year ago, sitting next to others, whose first interaction with The City Church was last night's gathering. It was a great kick-off, and we're excited to see how God will move over the coming months!

Fall Overview
After everyone ate dinner together - kids with adults, because we believe the church is a family - and after enjoying celebratory cake and ice cream, everyone over the age of 10 "circled up" upstairs. We talked again through the vision [audio from the August Vision Dinner here], then introduced the first steps of "City life" - it's pretty simple, but here's what we're doing through the end of '09:

• Our Weekly "Village" (Sundays, 5:30pm) - Modeling the primary venue for life in The City Church, our first Village will meet weekly for dinner, building community, discussing scripture and theology as we grow together, praying for each other, & meeting each others' needs.
• Total Church (the content of our discussion) - As we lay a foundation this fall, we're asking the question, "if we're a community on mission, what does __[insert an aspect of church life]__ look like?" To guide that discussion, we're walking through Tim Chester & Steve Timmis's Total Church (which Crossway Books gave us at a huge discount + free shipping, allowing us to give them to our developing core team - thanks Crossway!). We're weighing their book against scripture, and will walk through consecutive chapters during our time together this fall. If you need a book, email Ben!
• First Wednesday Worship+Prayer (Oct 7, Nov 4, Dec 2) - We're beginning each month by reminding ourselves of our mission: we exist for the glory of God so we worship, through song, prayer, creed, and communion. And we exist for the good of Fort Worth, so we pray, for each other, for our church, and for the city we live, seeking God's welfare for it. We'll move around Fort Worth for these evenings, praying for various parts of our city. Read about our Sept 9 "W+P" here; details for the Oct 7 one coming soon.
  
• Fall Roadtrip (Oct 9-12) - Our first City Church "event" will be a weekend in the middle of the fall, to "unplug" a bit, and just spend time alone, with God, and together in beautiful Turner Falls, OK. $95 Fri-Mon; $80 Fri-Sun; details here; RSVP here.

And that's pretty much it! We'll have a few more opportunities for folks to get to know one another, but we're keeping the calendar pretty open, to allow you time to build relationships, love your neighbors, and live on mission, even in the early stages of our church's life.

Kids Ministry Kick-off
While the adults talked logistics and prayed over the fall, our "Kid City" ministry began as well, and through the work and dedication of some great parents, we're farther ahead than we originally thought! Taking over the Hudsons' guest rooms, our kids played games, made and decorated paper trumpets, made a little noise with those trumpets, and above all, started talking through the Old Testament story of Joshua from The Jesus Storybook Bible. Different pairs of background-checked adults will rotate through heading up kid stuff each week, with ready-made lessons prepared in-house by a great team of wonderful, godly City folk - we're hugely blessed by this, as Kid City made a strong kick-off!

Need A Book? Can't Make Sundays?
All in all, it was a fantastic beginning. We're amazed and grateful to God for the grace and blessing he gave, and we're excited to see what he's going to do this fall as we work together to build a strong foundation for The City Church, for the glory of God and the good of Fort Worth.

If you weren't there last night, I need to get you a copy of Total Church at some point this week, so you can be ready for next Sunday's discussion of chapter 1. And I know some of you are committed to other ministries/organizations on Sunday nights this fall; if that's you, let me know as we consider how to best involve you in the discussion, and as we ponder what our next step is in building The City Church. Either way, email Ben and we'll figure out what to do.

:: AIP#52 - Praying for Downtown Fort Worth ::

"But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." -Jer 29:7

In the past two days' posts (here & here), I've talked a lot about downtown Fort Worth, its brokenness, and its opportunity as The City Church focuses our sights on engaging the heart of our great city. Wednesday night, 20+ folks gathered at Common Ground (a Christ Chapel-owned meeting space in the heart of Sundance Square [thanks, friends @ CCBC!]) for our first Worship+Prayer night.

Reminding ourselves of our mission, we worshiped through song, creed, prayer, and communion, because we exist for the glory of God. Then we prayed for each other, our developing church community, and split up into groups and went throughout downtown on "prayer walks" or for some, "prayer drives," because we exist for the good of Fort Worth. Groups simply went up and down each street in their area, praying together or individually over apartments, lofts, condos, houses, restaurants, businesses, for the people living, working, eating, drinking, or otherwise involved in each, and for our work and involvement in downtown Fort Worth.

We invite you to join us in praying for the heart of our city.
Click the thumbnail to open a .jpg of the downtown Fort Worth map we used on Wednesday. Then either pick a "zone" or "segment," or "sector" (as they became lovingly-defined!) and head downtown to pray through the area, or devote yourself to praying for one area of downtown each night of the week. We ask that you pray for downtown and for our church's involvement through the rest of September.

Thanks for joining us in seeking God on behalf of Fort Worth; we'll see you Sunday at 5:30pm as we kick off The City Church's first-ever Village [details/RSVP], and we invite you to join us for our next Worship+Prayer, Wednesday Oct 7 in a different part of Fort Worth! [location & details coming soon]

:: AIP#51: Why Focus on Downtown (And Are People Really Moving There for This)? ::

[Part 9 of 10 in answering some FAQ's about The City Church]

On the morning after several of us gathered to worship and pray over downtown Fort Worth, I'll answer the second part of this question first: are people really moving into downtown as part of the growing mission of The City Church? We're thrilled to say "yes!"

As Jess and I continue to pray about selling our home and moving closer to downtown, people have caught the vision for the area and have jumped ahead of us in the process:

• At least three "City folk" are now in homes just south of downtown, in the Fairmount/hospital district
• At least three more are considering apartments and condos in the W. 7th Street area (some with Apartment Life - shameless plug for one of our partner organizations).
  
• One of our folks has moved into an apartment just northeast of downtownA
• And just last week I learned that someone is in one of the condos just south of Sundance Square.
  

We are thrilled beyond belief to see the vision take off, and are excited to see what God continues to do these folks engage with their neighborhoods, and as they work, play, and live in this focus area of The City Church.

So why is The City Church focused on downtown Fort Worth?

First, Fort Worth is the fastest-growing large city in the U.S., and is slated to reach one million in population by the year 2030. Over 10,000 new living units are currently being built downtown, whose target audience of post-college single and young married professionals. Without even considering this growth, over 80,000 people live within three miles of downtown Fort Worth, with a minimal presence of evangelical, Bible-preaching churches. In addition, it puts us near the thriving arts culture and in close proximity to TCU, TWU, and TCC’s new Trinity River campus.

But downtown Fort Worth is a beautiful paradox of wealth/development vs. need/poverty, with many of the largest homeless and impoverished populations sitting on the edge of the new growth in downtown. And many non-profit ministries find their homes within a few miles of downtown. We have a perfect opportunity to teach and boldly live out God’s mission, and The City is excited to help meet the dire needs for both these populations, providing a strong, strategic, engaging, impacting church for the unique, diverse people.

That's why we're headed downtown: you can read more in our full prospectus here, but it's a huge mission field, and there are broken, hurting people who need the gospel, and who need to be restored to their Creator.

Next we'll wrap up this "FAQ" series: As we move into the fall, what are current needs?

:: AIP#50 - Can I Be Involved If I Don't Live Downtown? ::

[Part 8 of 10 in answering some FAQ's about The City Church]

Absolutely you can! There it is; simple as that. This post is meant to make up for all the more-lenghy ones as I try to thoroughly answer people's questions. So if you've been a critic of my "long-windedness," this one's for you!

Tomorrow I'll post some of the many reasons why one focus of The City Church is downtown Fort Worth (and thus, our first Worship + Prayer will be there tonight), but we recognize that our whole city is broken, and that God has put you in your neighborhood, job, social circles, etc. to accomplish his mission there, not just in downtown. We've said we're "one church in many locations; communities on mission for the glory of God and the good of Fort Worth." We love this whole city; you love Jesus and your neighborhood. While All-Church Gatherings will happen downtown, and while we hope to see many Villages spring up there, our heart is to see downtown as a "hub," as we send church communities into homes, coffeeshops, and pubs across the entire city.

So you don't live in downtown but still want to be involved? You're more than welcome in The City Church; please come worship and pray for our city tonight, and join us as we pursue God together!

:: 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!

:: AIP#48 - What's a Typical Week Look Like in "City Life"? ::

[Part 6 of 10 in answering some FAQ's about The City Church]

Here's the "rhythm" we're building in The City Church, and it's actually easier to look at on a monthly basis, rather than weekly. Our aim is to "do more by doing less," and to live in the balance of the three areas to which the Gospel calls us: God (to worship and grow in him), community (sharing authentic life together), and mission (fulfilling the great commission).

We find that typically, strong Bible Belt churches are really strong in the "God circle," with great worship services/experiences and preaching; do a mediocre job with the "community circle," with 50-70% in classes, groups, etc. which at least attempt true biblical community; and are found lacking in the "mission circle," with the exception of sending money or a few of their folks to a foreign country. Of course there are exceptions to this, and we praise God as he works in many expressions of his local body. But we're building out a DNA that doesn't try to devalue any of these areas, but rather tries to "re-value" the aspects of our calling on which we've missed out.

Your weekly Village: described more fully yesterday, Villages are smaller "church communities" meeting in neighborhoods across Fort Worth. With the idea of taking the church to the people, you'll pick a Village near your home, and gather on a weeknight in a house, apartment, condo, coffeeshop, pub, etc. for a time of "breaking bread and fellowship, ...devoting [yourselves] to the apostles' teaching, and the prayers," and meeting each others' needs (that's the basis of "church life" described in Acts 2:42-47).

Sunday All-Church Gatherings: this is the section of Acts 2 left out of yesterday's Village description: "attending the temple together..." At least three weeks of each month (and sometimes more), everyone involved in The City Church, and all the Villages across Fort Worth, will gather together downtown on Sunday evenings, for a celebration: we'll celebrate God through singing, creeds, and prayers; we'll celebrate scripture through the reading and preaching of the Word; we'll celebrate Christ through regular communion; and we'll celebrate what God is doing in your Village, your life, and your part of Fort Worth, through times of sharing and testimony. These are weeks of worshiping together, as theologians would say it, "the assembly; the church gathered."

Sent-out Sundays: because we also believe in worshiping through as James 1 talks about (serving the poor, feeding the needy, loving our neighbors), we'll take one Sunday every 4-6 weeks not "off," but worship as "the church scattered." These weeks are intentional moments carved into the rhythm of our corporate church life, as living symbols of what we should all be doing individually: living lives of mission. We're not sending you out to knock on doors, distribute tracts, or anything like that, but rather, as Jesus sent his disciples into the world, we're being sent out to build relationships, love our neighbors, and seek the welfare of our city. You might throw a Super Bowl Party or have your neighbors over for dinner; you might mow a neighbor's yard and eat dinner with her afterward; occasionally, we'll serve together as an all-church family on larger projects.

Other gatherings: once or twice a month we might host a seminar or class, a women's or men's gathering, a worship + prayer night, a student or college retreat, or another "event" like that, as it fits our mission and structure. However, in "doing more by doing less," we want to keep your calendar sparse, so you can build non-programmed relationships, both inside and outside the church family, as you play, live, and work in this great city.

All this will be different this fall, in The City Church's core phase. But looking long-term, that's the rhythm we hope to build together as we live as "one church existing as communities on mission, for the glory of God and the good of Fort Worth."

Next FAQ: What kind of missions will we do/how much $$ will we give away?

:: 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"?

:: AIP#46 - This week = Worship, Prayer, & our First Village! ::

This is a big week in the life of The City Church; help us spread the word:

Our first monthly Worship + Prayer night is this Wednesday, Sept 9 (09.09.09)! We invite anyone interested to gather at 7pm, at Common Ground in Sundance Court, the heart of downtown Fort Worth. We will worship in singing, creed, and prayer because we exist for the glory of God, and because we exist for the good of Fort Worth, we will pray for the city, for the hurting and broken people in the area, for our mission, and for each other. No childcare provided, but kids are welcome to come. Let us know you're coming: RSVP on facebook, or email Ben

[Getting around downtown FW: Park for free in the 3rd St./Houston St. parking lot or the 3rd St. Parking Garage (between Taylor & Throckmorton); enter through the "Sundance Court" arch on 3rd St.]

Our first Village begins meeting weekly this Sunday, Sept 13! We're meeting weekly, Sundays at 5:30pm, at Matt and Angie Hudson's home. In order to give you a feel for "City life," this fall we're asking the question, "if we're a community on mission, what does __[insert an aspect of church life]__ look like?"

There is no cost and no commitment required during this initial phase; kids are welcome to join us as approved folks take turns caring for them, and we'll rotate through providing food. Each week we'll eat together, talk about life and God, pray for each other and meet each others needs, carry out local mission, and encourage each other with the Bible and theology as we build our church community! Let us know you're coming: RSVP on facebook, or email Ben

We hope you'll tell other folks, and join us for this exciting first step toward becoming "one church in many locations, for the glory of God and the good of Fort Worth!"

:: AIP#45 - When Do Gatherings Start? ::

[Part 4 of 10 in answering some FAQ's about The City Church]

As we move into the fall, we're excited to begin gathering regularly as we develop a "core group" and move toward our "official launch." The City Church will begin gatherings in three phases over the coming months:

Phase One: Building a Core (beginning Sunday, Sept 13):
Beginning this coming Sunday(!), folks who are interested in The City Church will begin meeting weekly, Sundays at 5:30 pm, at Matt and Angie Hudson's home (directions/details here). In order to give you a feel for "City life," this fall we're asking the question, "if we're a community on mission, what does __[insert an aspect of church life]__ look like?"

There is no cost and no commitment required during this initial phase; kids are welcome to join us as approved folks take turns caring for them, and we'll rotate through providing food. Each week we'll eat together, talk about life and God, pray for each other and meet each others needs, carry out local mission, and encourage each other with the Bible and theology as we build our church community!

What do we do about "worship" during the core phase? Knowing the value of gathering corporately for worship and teaching, we want to provide opporutnities for you to ease out of the church experience most of us are used to: this fall, we're totally fine with you attending another local church for worship services, then coming to our first Village as we gathering Sunday evenings. We only ask that you make sure it's OK with the leadership of the other church first! As another option, our friends at The Rooted Church have invited us to "camp out" with them on Sunday mornings through the fall. Additionally, "City folk" will gather the first Wednesday of every month (beginning this week, Sept 9), for a Worship+Prayer night, reminding us of our mission, for the glory of God and the good of Fort Worth.

Phase Two: Launch of Villages (beginning January or earlier)
The second phase of The City Church's "launch" is to turn our single Village into many, as we send you out to various weeknights and various homes, coffeeshops, and pubs across Fort Worth to begin regular, weekly Village gatherings. Our initial plan is to see this happen in January 2010, but depending on the size of our core gathering through the fall, we may multiply earlier than originally expected!

The structure of these Village gatherings will look much like the initial phase, but before we launch, we will ask folks to commit themselves to The City Church as their local church, and during this phase, we'll begin meeting more regularly for All-Church times of worship, teaching, and prayer.

Phase Three: Normal "City life" (likely beginning sometime in Spring 2010)
The final phase of The City Church's launch will be stepping into the normal rhythm of City life: weekly Villages gathering across Fort Worth on weeknight; All-Church Gatherings with our initial City Kids' ministry on Sunday evenings, and carving time into our schedule to live on mission to Fort Worth.

Rather than put a timeline on this final phase, our Board of Directors - with help from other Acts 29 pastors - is creating a list of standards we want our church family to meet before we add the regular All-Church Gatherings. The list will contain things like "our body understands Villages as the primarily weekly gatherings of the church"; "our people are living on mission in their daily lives"; etc.

So there it is: it's an exciting time to jump in on phase one, as we look not for a team of folks to give us "criticial mass" for a few months and disappear, but folks who want to build a long-term foundation in what God is doing in our city and our new church community, for his glory and the good of Fort Worth!

Next FAQ: What Will Villages Actually DO?

:: AIP#44 - FAQ's: What's the Leadership Structure? ::

[Part 3 of 10 in answering some FAQ's about The City Church]

We're carefully studying scripture on elders, deacons, and other leaders within the church, and will begin the slow process of building out a five-tier leadership structure once the church officially begins in January.

Jesus: It often goes without saying, but should be said anyway - the single, sole, and only head of the church is Jesus (Col 1:18; Eph 5:23); Jesus is the rightfully-titled "senior pastor" of his body, the church.

Pastor-elders: The title/office of "pastor" and "elder" are the same Greek word in the Bible, so it seems that the scripturally-defined human leadership of the local church is a plurality of co-equal men, eventually staff and non-staff, who are qualified and proven for the office, whose role is less of a business leader and more of a loving father, leading the church family well by protecting it from heresy and false teaching, overseeing the vision and direction, and shepherding its members well.

Deacons: In the Bible, deacons are persons who have been delegated specific tasks or ministries within the life of the church. Deacons in The City Church will be qualified and proven men and women, eventually staff and non-staff, who carry out and lead ministries under the oversight of the elders. Specific roles for deacons will be developed prayerfully as "City life" develops.

Leaders: In The City Church's decentralized structure, any Village Leader, Kid City Leader, band leader, student leader, or other leader will go through a several-week training before being commissioned as a leader, and will work closely alongside the pastor-elders and deacons to facilitate discussion, growth, care, shepherding, and other elements of church life for a small number of "City folk."

Everyone! Scripture calls the entire body to partner together, using our time, gifts, talents, and passions for the good of God’s church. Too much ministry is taken out of the hands of the church body and is replaced with a "less-than-biblical" distinction of "professional ministers." Thus, we're going to be extremely slow to “hire out” needs - only when a ministry becomes too much for a small team of leaders to handle will we consider seeking a staff position. If The City Church will be all it can be, everyone must live out your unique design and get involved!

There's the eventual leadership structure of The City Church. In our early days, and until we get the ball rolling on some of this, we are governed by a three-man Board of Directors. Matthew Hudson, Dennis Connelly, and Ben Connelly serve in this interim role, the tenure of which will end upon the installation of The City Church's first elders (at that point, the elders will become the Board of Directors, a legal entity required for non-profits in Texas). Additionally, a small group of other, experienced and qualified Acts 29 Network pastors are serving as an "advisory board" in this early phrase, and will officially approve our first elders. Questions? Comments? Post below or email Ben!

Next FAQ: When and Where Will Gatherings Start?