J.R. Briggs

Christ. Mission. The Church.

September 8, 2008 // 10 Comments »

I’ve been pondering a diagram from Alan Hirsch’s wonderful book The Forgotten Ways. (Check out Alan’s blog here).

CHRISTOLOGY   –>   MISSIOLOGY   –>   ECCLESIOLOGY

As we study and learn about who Christ is and what he calls us to, we understand his mission more which informs and shapes who we are as the Body of Christ and how we live out the mission of Christ in our context.

Christ. Mission. The Church.

Simple chart, but quite profound.
The implications of this chart are making my brain smoke…

Posted in Church

The non-negotiables of the Body

September 5, 2008 // 1 Comment »

As our Renew launch team has been meeting weekly at the bar we’ve had some great conversations revolving around the question: "What is church?"

As we’ve been centering around and studying the first several chapters of Acts we’ve wondered what is it that absolutely has to happen for us to "be church" – the basic, yet essential elements, the non-negotiables of being a healthy, God-honoring, biblically based Jesus community.

Michael Frost, in his book Exiles, writes that a church is not a church unless it is:

1. Trinitarian in theology
2. Covenantal in expression
3. Catholic (universal) in orientation
4. Mission in intent

Alan Hirsch, in his book The Forgotten Ways, writes that we need several elements to be the Church. We need to be:
-a covenanted community - a deep bond that holds us together as we live accountable to God and one another
-Jesus-centered – this will result in lives that produce worship, community and living out the mission of God.

In our discussion here is what our launch team came up with:

God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit (a Trinitarian emphasis)
Evidence of discipleship
The Scriptures
The grace-saturated gospel
Worship (in its various forms)
Love
Prayer
Believers
Sacrifice
Mission – in word (proclamation) and deed (service)

We realized that when there is evidence of these components the byproducts will be:

passion
forgiveness
messiness
boldness
truth-telling and truth-living
the sacraments (baptism, communion, etc)
generosity
compassion

What would it look like for us to be led by God’s Spirit in such a way that we were a faith community that embraced and lived out the elements listed above and experienced the byproducts listed above?

This is how we are praying and dreaming and thinking…and hopefully, one day in the near future, living.

Posted in Church

Holy Spirit: Sailing as the Metaphor for Church Planting

September 3, 2008 // 1 Comment »

While in Florida with my extended family a few week ago my uncle took us sailing across the Sarasota Bay for the afternoon. My uncle admitted that he knew very little about sailing, having just bought a 19 foot sailboat from an ad in the newspaper at the beginning of the summer. He asked two people he knew to come out on the boat and show him how to use this 19 footer that he just bought. He learned the terms and the language. He learned how to raise the sail, where to anchor the boat (sort of), and how to read the impulses of the wind.

My uncle shared with me that sailing is a great metaphor for church planting. We talked about the similarities (and I have added a few more here). Hopefully I’m not taking this metaphor too far here, but here’s why I agree with my uncle:

• Church planters (just as my uncle with sailing) know little about how to plant churches (or sail) but are willing to ask others to show them how to do it. It’s a hands-on learning process.
• My uncle kept saying, "You learn to sail by sailing…you just figure it out as you go and learn what works." Many have said the same thing to me with starting a new church.
• Sailboats oftentimes have a small motors to get you out into the bay, but they are not meant to be used the entire time. The main "motor" of the sailboat is the wind. The motor (experience, education, book smarts, know-how, conference, etc) helps…for a little while, but ultimately you’re dependent upon the wind (the Holy Spirit) to fulfill what you were created to do.
• The experience is most enjoyable (and less dangerous!) when done with friends. Especially when you are teaching those friends how to sail.
• Knowing when – and where – to put your anchor down is extremely important. Without an anchor one floats purposelessly into the bay, oftentimes without even knowing it.
• It’s hard work and takes constant attention – but man, is it a blast!
• Sailors always acknowledge and greet other sailors on the water. There is a kindred spirit among others who are doing the same thing by depending upon the wind for their progress.
• Sometimes it can give you headaches and make you want to throw up, but you still would do it all over again.
• Sailors must have the right equipment. Sometimes that equipment is expensive and takes a lot of sacrifice to attain, but having the right equipment and knowing when to raise and lower the sails is of utmost importance.
• Wind: without it’s work, you get absolutely nowhere.

Posted in Church

Holy Spirit: Nudgings on the way to Gate D95

September 1, 2008 // 2 Comments »

A few weeks ago Megan, Carter and I went to Florida for a family reunion.
We flew home from the Orlando airport.
As we were walking to our gate, we let Carter get out and run around to get some of his energy out before boarding.

Megan was in front of me pushing the stroller down to our gate, Gate D95.
Carter was following Megan and I was behind him making sure he headed in the right direction.

Carter, now almost 20 months, would walk/run/rumble his way down the corridor following mommy…but occasionally he would get distracted and begin to head in the direction of a gate that wasn’t ours.
He is at the age now that he is getting so big. He is tall enough that the back of his head is perfect for me to reach down with my hand and nudge the back of it.

As he would be moving in a direction that wasn’t toward our gate, I wouldn’t say anything. I would lightly, tenderly, silently cup my hand around the back of his head and nudge him in the direction he needed to go – down toward gate D95. It was a silent exchange. Neither of us made a sound during the whole ordeal.
And each time it would remind him that we were going some place together and we needed to keep going and not get off track.
Every 15-20 seconds or so I would nudge him in the right direction as we walked and this continued for about five minutes until we arrived at our gate.
It made me smile.

As the gentle nudging of Carter continued I realized that the Holy Spirit was nudging me, telling me more about how he works and what he desires for me. He wanted me to know more about his character – how he guides me and points me in the right direction when I am so easily distracted and begin to move (oftentimes more willfully or unconsciously) in the wrong direction.
He simply wants me to travel with him toward the destination he has set out for me.

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Holy Spirit: The Wild Goose

August 30, 2008 // No Comments »

The early Celtic Christians had a term for the Holy Spirit which, at first seems laughable, but when one goes deeper is actually quite intriguing. They called the Holy Spirit the Wild Goose.

What would it be like to pursue the work of the Holy Spirit in the same way one might go on a wild goose chase? How much more exciting the Christian life would be if I chased after the movement of God’s spirit the way I might go on a wild goose chase!

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The Holy Spirit: intentions

August 28, 2008 // No Comments »

As I’m slowly working my way out of Matthew chapters 5-7, I’ve spilling over into Acts.
It seems that God is teaching me much about the role of the Holy Spirit lately, which I will blog about over the next several days.

As I’m reading Acts I’ve been challenged by a church planter down in the city with this question: "What is the Spirit’s intentions with the Church?"

I think I’ll chew on that for a little while…

Posted in Church

A Hindu, a Muslim and a Church Planter Walk into a bar: Part C

August 26, 2008 // 2 Comments »

After my meeting with Sam and Mohammed I had lunch with my good friend Todd, a pastor-friend of mine at (where else) Chipotle and told him about my morning.

In the middle of my steak burrito I received a call from someone regarding a rental facility we had agreed to in principle. But this person gave me some bad news: the location we had agreed to rent (good price, good space and ten minutes from downtown Lansdale) had fallen through. We had it all lined up and we were told we would no longer have the option to meet there.

I was not only disappointed, but I was stressed: I now had six days to figure out where our team was going to meet, despite feeling as though I had exhausted all the options in the previous month of calling and looking around.

Originally, we anticipated that our launch team for Renew would be about 15-20 people meeting in a living room for the next several months praying and talking, worshiping and dreaming. But when it was all said and done, we had a launch team that was much larger than what we thought, a size which would be impossible to accommodate in a living room, no matter how big the house.  It is an issue to find space, but a good problem to have for sure.

So for the past several weeks I had checked everywhere for a location space to rent once a week for the next several months.I checked several places. 
I checked at the YMCA.
The senior center.
Elementary and middle schools.
The library.
Storefronts.
Warehouses.
The Boys and Girls Club.
Parks.
A small Korean church.

And all of them were dead ends.
So the phone call was not bad news (i.e. the one place we had found that could accommodate us actually would not work after all) was really bad news.

Deeply disappointed, I hung up the phone and asked Todd what he would do if he were in my shoes.
We brainstormed ideas.
We sat there stunned.
As we were talking, it dawned on me: I remembered seeing place before as I had been driving around and doing prayer walks. I wondered what was inside because it had a sign on the door that said that musicians were to enter there, so I knew it had some sort of venue to accommodate some type of show.
I asked him if he would join me for a quick trip to visit this place.

"…and a church planter walk into a bar."

The place I had remembered was, in fact, a bar.
A bar that is two blocks from the Lansdale train station, on the same street as Nadia Thai Restaurant – at the corner of Third and Walnut.
I had never been to this location before, but when we walked inside we realized that it was a rather large and spacious bar – but very smoky.

It had a stage in the corner and tables and chairs throughout the area, an area large enough to accommodate the size of our team, along with several pool tables. But I thought, There is no way we can meet here…the place is pretty smoky. I wouldn’t feel comfortable with kids on our launch team running around a bar with open beer bottles. We’re just wasting our time. We should just go…

But before we left, we asked the bartender about the history of the place and the story behind it.
The building has a unique history: The building used to be a church, an old, historic church. The inside may look like a bar, but the outside looked like an old, traditional church – stone building, cupolas, high arching doors.
It had a churchy feel to it.

In fact, the bartender went on to tell us that the location was the first church the borough of Lasdale ever had! It’s been around for over a hundred and fifty years, was sold to the Elks Club
over 30 years ago and then bought by a guy in 1999 who turned it
into a bar.

The thought was staggering: the people in this old church had grown cold,  insular, irrelevant and ingrown and had forgotten it’s
purpose of the Body of Christ, passion for evangelism and direction…and so it shut its doors and sold the building. I remember driving by the place a few months ago and thinking two things: this is really peculiar…and this is deeply saddening.

The stained glass windows had been taken out and regular windows were installed with neon signs that said "Yeungling" and "Budweiser."

Pews had been replaced with pool tables.
The altar had been taken out to make way for the televisions broadcasting every sporting event on at any given hour.
Justin Timberlake songs on karaoke had replaced old-time gospel hymns on the organ.
And Blue Moon and Samuel Adams replaced the communion elements of bread and wine.
The people of God has been replaced with the people who truly needed God.

The bartender called over the owner and introduced us to each other.
Then the owner gave us a tour of his place.

Of course, we could see that it was a bar on the first level, but what we didn’t realize was that there was an upstairs, the old fellowship hall – and its a rather large fellowship hall. The owner told us that he rents out the space for dinners, bingo activities, events, banquets, wedding receptions, affairs and music shows.

It has a large dance hall/floor area – it includes a sound system, a portable stage, round tables and a
few hundred chairs, a disco ball…and (why not?) a neon Red Bull Energy Drink
sign.

Downstairs it has a eating area separate from the bar area that could be used for the kids on the launch team. The upstairs fellowship hall and the downstairs eating area had a different entrance from the bar entrance around the side.

Todd turned to me and said, "I am a bit jealous. We love our space where we are at, but if this place were in my area I would meet in this place."
He then said, "You would be foolish not to meet here with your launch team."

I couldn’t have agreed more.
We were thrilled.
It seems to make so much sense, especially with the vision that we believe God has given us for Renew.  It’s not just Todd and I that are thrilled. Megan thinks its a great fit. And the Board of Directors for Renew thinks its completely in line with our vision.  Here’s why we’re so excited about it and see if as being incredibly strategic and ideal for our context.

(1) It perfectly fits the mission of Renew.

We have said from the beginning that the vision of Renew is to connect with the spiritually
disconnected. As we have stated many times, we want to
live by the mantra that "we are here for people who are not here." We
said that Renew needs to be a place for skeptics and dreamers, a place that is
comfortable for people who are cynical and skeptical of church and who
even find Christianity offensive. A place that is more concerned with the de-churched and the unchurched, than the overly churched. Most bars are filled with cynics and
skeptics who don’t believe that Christianity is irrelevant, out of touch, foolish or has anything to
offer them personally.

We can think of no better place to rent than a place than a place with people who are desperately in need
of Jesus. Instead of running from it, we want to confront it up front and close.

What kind of church meets at a bar?
Renew.
Why?
Because we believe that this is where Jesus would be.

And
we strongly believe that the best place to find those who Renew is
trying to connect with – the skeptics and cynics, the de-churched and
the unchurched – would be found in a place like this.

The building – and the people who hang out here – will keep us on
our mission, constantly reminding us of the words of Jesus, "It is not
the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." (In fact, if you have a moment, crack open your bible and read Matthew 9:9-13 about the party that Jesus attended).

Jesus hung around in some pretty interesting places – so much so that he was accused to getting drunk and eating way too much (Mt 11:19; Mt 24:49 and Lk 7:34).  If we’re living like Jesus we will connect with those who feel like they don’t belong in church and we might actually begin to receive the same kind of
comments that Jesus did – religious people complaining that we are
hanging out in unique places.

(2) It fits our name perfectly.

When I took my pastor-friend through he said, "dude: think about the name of your
church and this location and how perfectly it fits… Your name is
Renew because you want to people renewed through the gospel and the work
of the Spirit. But think about this building: you guys want to be a
church that meets in a bar that used to be a church!" If we searched high
and low for the next 10 years in the area we might not find a better
place for a church called Renew to meet than at a bar…that used to be a
church – the first church in Lansdale.

(3) It will be a valuable tool and teacher.

Some of us did not come from faith traditions where hanging out in a bar is "normal."
For some of us, this will stretch
our minds to think about "church" being in a bar. But it will help us
(me included) over the next several months to unlearn some aspects of
what we expect "church" to be.
It
will remind us that we are not trying to be a "normal" or traditional
church (there are enough of those in the area already doing good things) but to bring fresh expressions and fresh extensions of the kingdom of God.  We feel as though this is fresh and unique – something the area desperately needs.

It will put us in contact with people who are different from us and will allow us to hear their stories.
It will open our eyes to see needs we would never see if we were meeting the original location we had lined up. 
It will show us a unique side of Lansdale we might never have seen.
It will force us to grapple with the power of the gospel, prompting the
question, "Is the gospel powerful enough to transform the lives of
even these people?"

These
are all good things for us to be wrestling with, as we will see that it
is Jesus who came for the least, the last, the lost, the broken and
those that feel left out and irreligious.

How long will we be at this location? Who knows. But while we’re there, we feel as though the locale and its people have much to teach us.

(4) It has already provided fruitful opportunities to talk about Jesus.

When
we first walked in the bar we had no idea what we were
getting into, nor did we know that they rented an upstairs area. On the tour the bar owner asked me what type of organization we were. I told him we were an
organization that was called Renew because we wanted to renew the
borough and the region physically, emotionally, mentally and
spiritually in the name of Jesus. Some would call us a church but we see ourselves as much
bigger than that.

I took someone else on Monday night to see the place to see what they thought of it. That night met a guy
named John in the bar area who told us more about the place and we told
him about Renew. He,
too, said that he would have to come check us out: a church that
wouldn’t despise or even just tolerate, but would welcome the
opportunity to meet in a bar – he told us he would have to come to that.

I met with another borough leader a few weeks ago and told him Renew was going
to be meeting at the bar. He was intrigued that we would want
to do something like this and commented, "Wow…this is a kind of
church I have never seen before and this is a facet of Christianity I
did not know existed."

When people with admittedly little or no church background are
telling us that they are intrigued by what we are doing and feel
compelled to come check out what we are doing I think we’re on to
something significant when it comes to reaching those in the region who
are far from God.

We do this so that those who are spiritually disconnected – those on the fringes who don’t feel as though they have a place at the banquet table, can experience the saving grace and love of Christ. We do this to see people experience life to the fullest measure offered through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

(5) We desperately need the space!

While disappointed and stressed by the phone call at lunch that day, God orchestrated this place, a place that I had driven
by and walked past many times. From the time I hung up the phone at lunch to the time we had secured the space above the bar it was just over a hour… Talk about God’s timing!

Ironically, I had prayed for this building very specifically and out loud a few weeks prior on a prayer walk with two other members of our launch team. I prayed that if that was even a remote
possibility for us to be in that building that God would orchestrate it
to be a good fit. Little did we know what God had in store.

The location of where we are reminds me of something that Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of the Church of England, said:

"If ‘church’ is what happens when people encounter the Risen Jesus and commit themselves to sustaining and deepening that encounter in their encounter with each other, there is plenty of theological room for diversity of rhythm and style, so long as we have ways of identifying the same living Christ at the heart of every expression of Christian life in common."

So, for the past month our launch team has been meeting at this location. A stretch for some of us, to be sure, but we all have the conviction that this is the right place for us to be meeting. And we can’t think of a better place to gather.

[Sidenote: Before I close I want to speak very briefly to those who might have a difficult time knowing that a church would be meeting in such a non-traditional and "interesting" place as a bar. I feel no need whatsoever to defend ourselves, but because we are all on different places on our journey and in our convictions, let me speak to this specifically so as to to be as clear as possible. Above I’ve tried to explain the correct reasons we are meeting at our location. Let me share what the incorrect reasons are.

These are not the reasons we are meeting in a bar.

1. We are doing this to be controversial and cause a stir. This is not the reason we’re doing this at all. We believe it fits in line with our vision, putting us in the proximity of the people that need the gospel the most. And this excites us.
2. We believe that drunkenness and abusing alcohol is alright. Scripture is extremely clear that being drunk – being controlled by anything other than the Spirit of God – is in direct violation of our bodies – the temple of God’s spirit. We do not condone drunkenness in any way. In fact, we hope that our presence at this location will help to see lives transformed and those who attempt to find hope in alcohol would instead find it in the story of the gospel and the life of Jesus.
3. We are just trying to be a cool and hip church. We are not trying to be a hip and cool church, but a faithful one made up of broken people who are honestly seeking God and how he wants us to participate in where he is already working. That’s all he asks of us. We are not wanting anyone to think, "Oh, they are just selling out to the culture so they can fit in and look like they are doing something radical." The truth of that matter is that we were desperate for space and God provided us a terrific place. We believe that we can best live out the mission of what we are called to do  – be a light to the darkness – better here than almost any place else.
4. We are trying to force everyone that has the conviction not to drink alcohol to change their convictions. Whether you believe that drinking is something a Christian has the freedom to do or not is not the issue (and we’re not going to get into it here). But as followers of Jesus who read and study our Bibles we all have to agree that Jesus himself hung out in some places that made certain religious people nervous. He did it not to be controversial, but to bring light in the dark places. We fully believe that if he lived here in 2008 in Lansdale he would be hanging out with these types of people, loving them, caring for them and showing compassion to them on their terms. Jesus’ strategy was simply: meet people where they were at and take them to where they need to be. Living missionally is a "we go to them" mindset, not a "they come to us" mindset. 
5. We think that traditional church buildings are bad. Not at all. Buildings are important (but should be kept at an appropriate priority level). Buildings allow us to fulfill ministry. Church buildings are not bad, but they must serve the mission for which we are called to. And we believe the building we are renting falls in line with the vision we’re called to live out.
6. We want to have our identity be solely wrapped up in us being a "Bar Church." We feel our current location is unique, but we certainly are not trying to be known in the area as that. We hope we wouldn’t be known for our location, but for our love. We desire to have people know us as that faith community that represents Jesus clearly and compellingly.

Sam.
Mohammed.
Lunch at Chipotle with a friend.
The location of Third and Walnut in downtown Lansdale.

A Hindu, a Muslim and a church planter walk into a bar. And all that happened before 3 pm.

Church planting certainly is a wild ride…

Posted in Church

A Hindu, a Muslim and a Church Planter Walk into a bar: Part B

August 25, 2008 // 2 Comments »

"…a Muslim…"

After meeting with Sam I hustled over to the North Penn Mosque to meet with the imam of the mosque, Mohammed Ali (no, not that one). An imam in Islam is the equivalent to a priest in the Catholic church or a rabbi at a synagogue or a pastor in a Protestant church.

The North Penn Mosque is located in the Lansdale borough and has been there since 2001. I  had set up a time to meet with Mohammed to introduce myself and to listen to him and potentially lay some foundation for a friendship. I had befriended many Muslims when I lived and studied in Israel and found them to be very pleasant people, known for their hospitality. (It’s amazing how the media can stereotype an entire people group and make people think that every person in that people group act and think exactly the same…)

Mohammed and I had a wonderful conversation.
He gave me a tour of the mosque (shoes off, please) and told me about the weekly activities that take place through the building.
I asked him questions about where he is from (Bangladesh), his family (who still live in South Africa), how long he had been in Lansdale (four years) and how he ended up there (long story).
I asked him about the basic tenets of Islam and how that works in the context of being in the North Penn district.
I asked him about Lansdale and what he finds pleasant and difficult being a minority in the region.
We talked about the discrimination he and the mosque sometimes experience and the backlash of starting the mosque right after the attacks of September 11.
He even gave me some books to read on the basics of Islam and how Muslims practice their faith.

I found him to be a very pleasant, humble, generous and trusting man who was willing to answer any question I had. He even invited me back for further conversation in the future.

I told Mohammed when I left: "While we differ significantly on our understanding of God and our view of the world, I still want to continue to build a relationship with you. Let me know if there are ways in which Renew could serve you and the people who pray at the mosque."
I even invited him to come over to our house for dinner in the near future.
He was very grateful for the invitation.

I shook hands and told him that I needed to run to meet my friend for lunch…

Posted in Church

a good challenge: church

August 2, 2008 // 1 Comment »

"On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs,
sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea
what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one
believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor
with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday
morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to
church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue
life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For
the sleeping God may wake someday and take offense, or the waking God
may draw us out to where we can never return."

     -Annie Dillard in Teaching a Stone to Talk

Posted in Church

Renew: What about location?

July 2, 2008 // 2 Comments »

After much prayer, discussion with others who know the area well and demographic and geographic study we’ve come to believe that the most strategic place where we need to start Renew is in Lansdale, PA.

We came to this conclusion for many reasons, but here are just a few:
-Population: from the Five Points intersection there are 350,000 people within a 20 minute driving radius and 100,000 people in the North Penn district. The population of the immediate area is growing and experts predict that it will continue to do so in the future.
-Transportation: the PA turnpike and train station make it a hub and a strategic place for the future
-Ethnic diversity: The different ethnicities are evident just by simply driving around Lansdale – signs, ethnic markets, individuals, etc. The largest minority is Asian, followed by Indian and then African-American. There are 65 languages spoken in North Penn High School alone.
-Accessibility to home, work and play for many in the region.
-Potential: the fact that as we walk around we see so much potential for the gospel to be expressed in new ways! Percept, a demographics research group, indicates that if everyone in the North Penn area were to attend church and fill every seat in every pew in every church in and around Lansdale there would be more than 50% of the people who would not have a place to sit. There is an incredible need for the gospel in the region!

If you aren’t from the Philadelphia region, Lansdale is a unique area about 30 minutes north of the Philadelphia Art Museum. Philadelphia is the sixth largest city in America. Approximately 7-10% of people in Philadelphia attend church in a Sunday morning. The city ironically is no longer considered a city, but a megacity which is surrounded by ten edge cities. The Lansdale/Montgomeryville/North Wales region is considered one of the ten edge cities of Philadelphia.

Continue to pray for us as we interact with those in and around the Lansdale area who are far from Jesus and in need of hope. Pray that Renew would be a connection for people to experience the God of the Universe in an intimate way.

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