The Ecclesia Network

a missional church network

Ecclesia News

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From the Field: An update From Albuquerque- Jesse & Joanna Harden

 

This time last year my wife and I were attending Ecclesia’s Genesis Church Planters Training in Chicago, Illinois, attempting to soak up every ounce of information presented to us. We were discerning a growing sense of call to plant a church in a community full of people and experiences very different from our own.

Today, one year later, marks our third month on the ground in Albuquerque’s International District, a beautifully diverse, tragically marginalized and wonderfully resilient area of our city. We desire to see a missional community of faith spring up, which we are calling New Creation Albuquerque. We hope to be a people seeking the peace and flourishing of our neighborhood. 25% of our neighbors were born outside of the U.S. and nearly 50% live below the poverty line. It is where people begin when they have nothing or end up when they’ve lost everything.

As we begin our church planting journey, we are sometimes bold, often uncertain and growing ever more dependent on the Holy Spirit for moment by moment discernment. God is on the move and is affirming His call on our lives! He is building the beginnings of beautiful relationships between our families and our neighbors, men, women and children born in America, Vietnam, Laos, Cuba, Africa and Mexico. We have attended a Buddhist festival at the invitation of a monk I met while prayer walking. We have prayed for broken marriages, empty bank accounts and hurting legs and backs. We are seeing God move. And, others are joining us! Three families have moved into the neighborhood to be an intentional presence with us. We have had over 35 adults attend the first 3 of a series of 10 weekly interest meetings. These represent a diverse and gifted group of Jesus’ followers discerning God’s call to join us on mission to the International District. God is moving. We are encouraged and are expectant for what the Holy Spirit is bringing about as we strive to bear faithful witness to Jesus’ Kingdom in this place.

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Welcome New Ecclesia Member Church The Commons

The Ecclesia board is excited to announce the addition of a new church in San Diego California to our family.  The Commons Church was planted by Jon and Sarah Nichols 4 years ago to be an incarnational presence in San Diego.  The goal of The Commons is be a community conspiring to proclaim the cross, working to cultivate disciples, embracing the oppressed, and inviting others to join the movement.  To get an introduction to The Commons from Jon, check out this video here – http://www.thecommonsforall.com/#videos

 

 

Jon describes The Commons this way, “We are a young non-denominational church with a deep and rooted love for God and our neighborhood. We consider ourselves a family. What holds us together is not ethnicity, education, income, or politics. We are a family because of Jesus and owe Jesus a common allegiance. Christ, his broken body and shed blood, are at the center of all we do together. We each come, bringing our unique stories, to journey life together as a community. It is not about uniformity, but unity, so that together we may live for something bigger than ourselves.”

On joining Ecclesia Jon had this to say, “It was important to me that our church be connected to something greater than ourselves. This desire is rooted in both the longing to be in community with others and our desire to be in submission to others. Therefore, when I found Ecclesia and I began reading and talking to the people from Ecclesia it felt like we were home. Theologically and missiologically, Ecclesia has been what we were looking for. This conviction has been proved over and over again through the last two years by the encouragement and support we have received from Ecclesia.”

 

 

 

 

Here is a message from Jon to our Ecclesia community

 

You can find out more about The Commons at http://www.thecommonsforall.com.

We are excited to have Jon, Sarah, Micah, and Jude part of the Ecclesia family!

 

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Reflection on Ecclesia's Genesis Church Planters Training- Gary Alloway

I am a straight-A student.  Even though I haven’t been in school for a decade now, that identity remains.  I am one who succeeds, who passes the test, who figures out how to solve the puzzle.  Its one of the things that drew me to church planting.  But the truth about straight-A students is that they are driven just as much by fear of failure than by joy in success.  As much as I relished the idea of starting a successful new church, fear of failure was holding me back.In 2009, I attended the Ecclesia Church Planters Training.  And one of the lessons that I have kept with me since is that it is okay to fail in church planting.  In fact, you can fail in church planting and still be a tremendous success.  In the first session of our week, Bob Hyatt led a section on ‘Why Plant Churches?’ and he said:
“What is failure?  Failure is failing to love those that God brings us, not closing the doors.  Even churches that don’t last were probably great adventures of faith for those involved.  And God loves it when his people take a step of faith.  The greatest failures are the churches that only exist in the mind.”

I have tried to carry that with me ever since.  Are we loving people?  Are we caring for them and enjoying them and showing them the love of God?  If so, we are successful.  And if we have a 1000 people, but no love, we are nothing but a failure.

In 2012, our church nearly closed.  And while the straight-A student in me was dying, I fell back on these words.  In our first 3 years, we had seen God’s love change people.  We had helped neighbors find life, put on a wedding for a homeless couple, and we ourselves had been changed.  The church had not been a failure.  It had been a great adventure of faith.

We pulled through that slump and these days look a little more successful.  But in our successes, I still fall back on those words.  Are we loving people and showing them the love of God?  If not, it is all for naught.  Since 2012, we have planted several house churches and helped start a few ministry ventures.  And every time we start something new, I pass on those words.  Love those in front of you.  If you do this, you will always succeed.

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How to Kill the Church You Planted When You Move On

There are some occasions when I wish that I was an actual Bishop.  One of those repeated moments is when I find out that a church within Ecclesia is about to go through a pastoral transition.  In fact, I cringe almost every time that I first get the news.  Quite honestly this is born out of the pain of seeing several new churches (and some within Ecclesia) carry out the process of transition so poorly.  Normally, the transition decimates them to the degree that it sets the congregation on an inevitable path of closure.  What is most unfortunate about this is that prior to the change, they were actually quite vital.  Up until recently, Ecclesia has offered help in each of these situations for the churches in our network (and even some without).  I can tell you that in the situations our outside guidance has been received, the church has found itself on a good path.  In those situations where it has not (which is more often than I wish) in every situation, the church has been crippled or killed. 

Transitions are hard for all churches, but they are particularly hard for churches that have never gone through them before.  I’m not saying that the Ecclesia staff or other member churches are all knowing when it comes to pastoral changes, but in an abundance of counsel there is wisdom.  More than likely, our collective experience is greater than any of our individual churches. 

Here are the common mistakes I see made for younger congregations.

Mistake # 1:  The Lead Pastor or Founding Pastor assumes that the church they started will be fine.  They are almost always wrong.  If a church has been around a few dozen years and has seen a transition or two, they have weathered these storms before.  They are also not nearly as likely to be as attached to the pastor, as they have already had a few. 

Mistake # 2:  The Lead Pastor or Founding Pastor leaves too quickly.  For most churches, a month between announcement and departure is a good timeline. According to guardianship lawyers in Texas,  if it’s a retirement, longer is better and more tenable.  However, in most new congregations, longer is needed.   Usually 3-6 months is ideal.  You can click for info to know about the retirement benefits that they will enjoy.

Mistake # 3:  The church chooses the wrong interim leadership plan.  If the transition of the Founding Pastor cripples a new congregation, the wrong interim leadership plan is often a death blow.  The most honest reason for this is that young congregations are overwhelmed at the departure and also over stretched in time.  Typically they will choose interim leadership without the qualification that they cannot be considered for long-term leadership.  It should be clear that all interim situations cannot be the eventual situation to all parties.  Obviously, there may be rare exceptions, but they should be considered only at the very end of a leadership search or discernment process.

Mistake # 4:  The church chooses the wrong successor or successors to the founding pastor. 

More often than not, they choose someone internal to the congregation.  This may or may not be a good choice.  However, in our network, it should be a choice where other Ecclesia leaders look at and say “that makes sense”.  I have seen too many churches fail to heed our council.  None of them have done well. 

It is common practice to receive outside guidance during transition and for a new leadership situation to be affirmed from those “close” but not “in” the congregation.

Mistake # 5:  In a shared leadership situation, it is assumed that one of the other leaders is the right choice. 

This is a further application of the previous mistake.  Shared leadership is a complicated scenario.  Whereas I used to be an advocate of shared leadership, I now see its many pitfalls, despite my internal optimism that it should “work”.  Its pitfalls are often most obvious in times of transition.  The major problem with shared leadership is there is the lack of an honest account of “why” it works when it does.  My experience on this is wide-ranging and I only know of 3 situations where those in shared leadership had an internal and shared understanding of why it works and the gifts they each bring.  When that happens shared leadership can be beautiful, when it does not, transitions expose the cracks that were typically unspoken or obvious to those outside. 

Mistake # 6:  Not involving the founding pastor in the future direction. 

While I can often understand the rationale for excluding the previous leader in the future picture, among those who have started the church, I believe it should be held open for their inclusion.  I further believe that an external reference should be a primary guide on whether or not they should be.  From one angle, if the transition has come under good and noble circumstances, then there is likely no person more vested in seeing the church thrive upon their departure.  They also have a certain objective proximity that is invaluable.  The main reason I would suggest not involving them is if they have any associations of guilt or burnout with their departure.  These two realities typically make the founder un-objective. 

Why am I communicating this now?

I’ve noticed these things for a long while and wanting to maintain our value of the “primacy of the local church” I have always offered to help in transition, but have been quiet when it has not been received.  I know there are churches within Ecclesia going through transitions right now, and it’s possible that they will read this with an assumption that it is written for them specifically – it is not (though it is written for them generally).

I’m breaking my silence on this now for two reasons.  First, I’m very tired of seeing churches in Ecclesia (and those like our congregations) decimated by poor transition.  Almost always they are decimated needlessly.  I am also observing, at this very moment, what appears to be the conclusion of a very good transition that Ecclesia was involved with and our outside input was greatly considered.  Second, I’m returning from speaking to the entire Kentucky Methodist Annual Conference which happened to coincide with the retirement of Bishop Lindsay Davis.  It was a joy and honor to attend his retirement celebration.  He had been a good Bishop and it was obvious.  His help and wisdom in seasons of difficulty within churches and the conference was particularly valued.  Of course, he had the authority in which his help was not in question.

While I am not a Bishop, I have a Bishop’s care.  The least I can do is speak plainly and provide a warning to all our churches and those like them elsewhere. 

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Ecclesia 2015-2016:  Looking Back & Looking Ahead

As 2015 came to an end, it closed the 8th chapter in the short history of Ecclesia.  For all intents and purposes, Ecclesia really began in 2008 with a few churches and a small handful of church planters who were looking to provide a unique witness to the gospel in a scattering of cities, mostly on the east coast.  There was a good deal of experimentation in that small collection of churches and churches in development. There was the hope of friendship between leaders and churches that shared a heart to be about God’s mission in the world together.

For the first 6 years our network had a good and consistent rhythm of two steps forward and one step back.  We had even more limited funds than we have now and we stretched those as far as possible.  Through a good deal of effort and sacrifice, something more solid began to emerge in ways that I believe many sensed and could see happening – but were not as easily coherent in those early days.

In the last two years, something significant has changed, as we have had enough solid footing to actually make some “leaps of faith” toward the future.  In 2014 we brought on two other Ecclesia pastors at 1 day/week to help give time to our network that was pregnant with opportunity.  This was a step of faith for us in that we didn’t have funds to pay them even at 2/3 of what we should pay them.  It was a year to re-connect to both our churches and mission and Jesus provided us with enough funds to pay the bills.  Last year we stepped out in faith again, moving everyone on staff to 1.5 days/week with the knowledge we would need to raise outside funds for that to happen.  2015 became a year of solid growth for our network, with not only many churches in our network continuing to develop more vital ministry in their community, but also several churches that were already a decade or more in age, deciding that Ecclesia was the family for them.  Within the last year we started several Leaders Circles, strengthened our media and communications, and were able to make more visits to more churches to preach, train, equip and support, etc. our leaders and congregations.  Again, Jesus met our needs.

As we come into 2016, there are so many good efforts at work.  Leaders Circles are expanding and there is a desire for more to be organized.  After some groundwork in 2015, we are preparing to launch a Residency Initiative for churches to help equip future leaders.  Our coaching network is in place and available to support leaders and we are preparing to launch our first collective, Ecclesia-wide offering at Pentecost for church planting and pioneering mission.  We have 3 new congregations being welcomed into Ecclesia at our National Gathering in March and a least a dozen more that are in process.

When I look through 2016 into the next season of life in Ecclesia, there are 5 words that seem more settled in my soul (and yes, they all start with “f”) – friendship, family, faithfulness, fruitfulness, and future.   

Friendship – Ecclesia began with the bedrock of friendship and a desire to leaders to journey together through the uncertain course of ministry in these transitional times.  My hope is that, with each passing year, these friendships are taken one step further and new friends are welcomed in.

Family – One of the unique desires of Ecclesia is that we would be a network of churches built off a network of leaders.  Our heart from the beginning is to increasingly become an extended family on mission together as churches and leaders.  In the coming season, my hope is that this extended family transcends those of us who are in more identifiable “clergy” roles and moves more and more into the churches we shepherd through connecting leaders together, collaborating on joint projects or global partners, or supporting new pioneering church plants and mission endeavors.

Faithfulness – In the midst of a church culture that can easily become captured by a vision of success that looks more like the American dream than a Kingdom dream, we strive for faithfulness to the gospel and the mission of Jesus together.  In our time this looks like attending to the work that is in front of us and the community we’ve been called to, over the long journey of cultivating disciples of Jesus from the ground up.  In addition, I believe it will increasingly look like the need to encourage one another toward faithfulness around the historic gospel that has been handed down to us from past generations of the church, even though the exclusivity of the good news of Christ will be increasingly challenged by our cultural context.

Fruitfulness – While we want to be faithful, we don’t want to exchange faithfulness for fruitfulness.  Our heart in Ecclesia is to see the fruit of the Spirit proliferate our churches so that they are filled with the character of Christ and therefore can carry the power of Christ as made possible through the revelatory ministry of the Holy Spirit.  With the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit at work, we can only expect then to see tangible Kingdom impact from our churches.

Future – Perhaps at the core of what I believe Ecclesia to be about is that we are creating a future together – one that is not isolated – but is a forerunner in cultivating an identity and practice for the whole church as we transition to an increasingly post-Christendom era in the West.  When I look at the various streams of influence that flow into our network, it is hard to understand how they can all fit together.  Yet, my belief is that somehow the Holy Spirit is at work among us to prepare a community of leaders and churches for faithful mission with an apolitical evangelical identity for the future.

It’s an exciting time to be journeying together in the years ahead.  Please keep going with us and inviting others along the path too!

Chris Backert- Ecclesia Network National Director

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Ecclesia 2015-2016:  Looking Back & Looking Ahead

As 2015 came to an end, it closed the 8th chapter in the short history of Ecclesia.  For all intents and purposes, Ecclesia really began in 2008 with a few churches and a small handful of church planters who were looking to provide a unique witness to the gospel in a scattering of cities, mostly on the east coast.  There was a good deal of experimentation in that small collection of churches and churches in development. There was the hope of friendship between leaders and churches that shared a heart to be about God’s mission in the world together.

For the first 6 years our network had a good and consistent rhythm of two steps forward and one step back.  We had even more limited funds than we have now and we stretched those as far as possible.  Through a good deal of effort and sacrifice, something more solid began to emerge in ways that I believe many sensed and could see happening – but were not as easily coherent in those early days.

In the last two years, something significant has changed, as we have had enough solid footing to actually make some “leaps of faith” toward the future.  In 2014 we brought on two other Ecclesia pastors at 1 day/week to help give time to our network that was pregnant with opportunity.  This was a step of faith for us in that we didn’t have funds to pay them even at 2/3 of what we should pay them.  It was a year to re-connect to both our churches and mission and Jesus provided us with enough funds to pay the bills.  Last year we stepped out in faith again, moving everyone on staff to 1.5 days/week with the knowledge we would need to raise outside funds for that to happen.  2015 became a year of solid growth for our network, with not only many churches in our network continuing to develop more vital ministry in their community, but also several churches that were already a decade or more in age, deciding that Ecclesia was the family for them.  Within the last year we started several Leaders Circles, strengthened our media and communications, and were able to make more visits to more churches to preach, train, equip and support, etc. our leaders and congregations.  Again, Jesus met our needs.

As we come into 2016, there are so many good efforts at work.  Leaders Circles are expanding and there is a desire for more to be organized.  After some groundwork in 2015, we are preparing to launch a Residency Initiative for churches to help equip future leaders.  Our coaching network is in place and available to support leaders and we are preparing to launch our first collective, Ecclesia-wide offering at Pentecost for church planting and pioneering mission.  We have 3 new congregations being welcomed into Ecclesia at our National Gathering in March and a least a dozen more that are in process.

When I look through 2016 into the next season of life in Ecclesia, there are 5 words that seem more settled in my soul (and yes, they all start with “f”) – friendship, family, faithfulness, fruitfulness, and future.   

Friendship – Ecclesia began with the bedrock of friendship and a desire to leaders to journey together through the uncertain course of ministry in these transitional times.  My hope is that, with each passing year, these friendships are taken one step further and new friends are welcomed in.

Family – One of the unique desires of Ecclesia is that we would be a network of churches built off a network of leaders.  Our heart from the beginning is to increasingly become an extended family on mission together as churches and leaders.  In the coming season, my hope is that this extended family transcends those of us who are in more identifiable “clergy” roles and moves more and more into the churches we shepherd through connecting leaders together, collaborating on joint projects or global partners, or supporting new pioneering church plants and mission endeavors.

Faithfulness – In the midst of a church culture that can easily become captured by a vision of success that looks more like the American dream than a Kingdom dream, we strive for faithfulness to the gospel and the mission of Jesus together.  In our time this looks like attending to the work that is in front of us and the community we’ve been called to, over the long journey of cultivating disciples of Jesus from the ground up.  In addition, I believe it will increasingly look like the need to encourage one another toward faithfulness around the historic gospel that has been handed down to us from past generations of the church, even though the exclusivity of the good news of Christ will be increasingly challenged by our cultural context.

Fruitfulness – While we want to be faithful, we don’t want to exchange faithfulness for fruitfulness.  Our heart in Ecclesia is to see the fruit of the Spirit proliferate our churches so that they are filled with the character of Christ and therefore can carry the power of Christ as made possible through the revelatory ministry of the Holy Spirit.  With the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit at work, we can only expect then to see tangible Kingdom impact from our churches.

Future – Perhaps at the core of what I believe Ecclesia to be about is that we are creating a future together – one that is not isolated – but is a forerunner in cultivating an identity and practice for the whole church as we transition to an increasingly post-Christendom era in the West.  When I look at the various streams of influence that flow into our network, it is hard to understand how they can all fit together.  Yet, my belief is that somehow the Holy Spirit is at work among us to prepare a community of leaders and churches for faithful mission with an apolitical evangelical identity for the future.

It’s an exciting time to be journeying together in the years ahead.  Please keep going with us and inviting others along the path too!

Chris Backert- Ecclesia Network National Director