Part Two: Finding Mission on our Doorstep

By Alex Leighton

EDITOR's NOTE: This is the next installment in our "Into Harvest Series" where we are meeting and getting to know members of the Great Commission Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, learning more about who they are and why they are committed to the mission of church planting. The Rev. Alex Leighton continues with the second part of a two-part article on neighborhood evangelism.

 As a follow up to an article in last month’s Messenger, I've been asked to share the story of how God has led our family into our neighborhood, building relationships with neighbors, ministering to them, and seeing some respond to the Gospel. 

When we first moved to Virginia, we felt called to a certain neighborhood. As we learned more about where other folks from All Saints’ Church (Woodbridge, VA) lived, we saw that it was a neighborhood that wasn’t heavily populated with our members. We loved the opportunities that we were given as we were invited into our neighbors’ lives. And they were there with us as our third and fourth children were born. We hosted Community Vacation Bible School (CVBS) in our house there and our next-door neighbors committed their lives to Christ during that time. What an incredible joy! I can remember saying to my wife, Rebecca, that it could have been for that reason alone that we were called to that house. 

But as our situation changed and grew, we were finding our financial situation more difficult. The rent was becoming too high; we prayed and asked God for a solution. He led us to some parishioners who were moving away from All Saints’. They agreed to rent the house to us that they were leaving for something that better fit our budget. They had also prayed about it, and their children got a picture of us living in their house. It seemed like the Lord was leading us and yet we longed for the things we had experienced in our previous neighborhood.

We've been in this second house for three years now and God continues to bless us in amazing ways. We began hosting CVBS the first summer we were in it. One student hadn’t heard about Jesus, and she gave her life to him during that week. She wrote a thank you note to Rebecca, who led the Bible time, entitled “Thank you for telling me about Jesus.” We still have it as a reminder of God’s faithfulness. 

Our neighborhood is a double cul-de-sac, and is always full of kids playing ball, riding bikes, and having nerf gun battles. With all of those interactions there are inevitably some squabbles; one of our children found his way into one of these squabbles. We tried to help him see his part in it, and to own up to it; and both sets of parents were committed to seeing the kids reconcile. They were able to say their “I’m sorrys”. This same neighbor then came to CVBS at our house a few weeks later. He gave his life to the Lord and his mother sent us a picture of him reading the Bible we gave him. She said he couldn’t put it down! What a gift from God to see him at work in these relationships—we are praying for more!

The Rev. Alex Leighton is Associate Rector of All Saints' Church, Woodbridge, VA. He serves as a member of the Great Commission Committee.

The Rev. Jay Baylor: "I never expected to end up in the city.”

I never expected to end up in the city. I’m the son of farmers and truck drivers from Central Pennsylvania. In 2006, I was challenged by Heidi Baker’s testimony to “go where only the Gospel could make a difference.” I felt the Lord guide us into East Baltimore, one of the most challenged neighborhoods in our region. 

My friends and I spent several years doing church in our house just outside the city line, while doing outreach into East Baltimore and learning about the city. We have done many prayer walks and block parties. We still go each week to a methadone clinic to give away coffee or iced tea and water and pray for folks coming for treatment for addiction.

We made some friends and built some trust in the neighborhood. One of those friends is Pastor Carletta Wright. She’s African-American and she grew up in East Baltimore, has lived most of her life there and most of her family lives there. She’s like a spiritual grandmother to the community. If there is a death in the community and they need a pastor, they call Carletta. If there’s a desperate need, they call Carletta. She became my person of peace in East Baltimore, connecting me to the community.

In 2014, Pastor Carletta Wright and I felt that the Lord was leading us to plant a church together. We wondered if we could establish a church that brought together people who are very different from one another to worship the Lord and work together to bring the light and love of the Gospel to our city with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.  Could we tear down walls that separate people? Could we erase the lines that have divided and wounded our city? We found a beautiful old church building in a strategic neighborhood right on the old lines between historically white neighborhoods and black neighborhoods. 

We want to live out the Gospel of Jesus that is for everyone, everywhere in a real and tangible way. We wanted to see if we could plant a church that looked as diverse as Baltimore, as beautiful and rich as the Kingdom of God. We wanted to bring together—rich and middle class and poor, employed and unemployed, black and white, Pentecostal, Charismatic and Anglican. We want our worship to honor and host the presence of God in all that we do-—in our singing, reading and preaching of the Word, in our prayers and intercessions and in our celebration of the Eucharist together. The power of the Holy Spirit and the operation of the gifts of the Spirit among the people is also essential for us. We expect the prophetic gift to flow, we ask for words of knowledge and we see physical and inner healing in our church regularly.

After nearly three years at this, we have much to celebrate. Our worship is multiethnic, coming from very different parts of the city.  We are still small—averaging around 25 on most Sundays, but we are full of hope and we’re learning to love each other better. A few families have felt called to move to Baltimore to join us and more are on the way! The Lord has sent us dynamic top-quality worship leaders.  We have been able to live out our care for the poor by collecting and giving away school supplies, coats and Thanksgiving meals to families in need at Collington Square Elementary School in East Baltimore. One of the things that has consistently given me the most joy is praying for people on the streets-—we are always welcomed, people almost always welcome prayer and we see the Lord do miracles all the time!  

We would welcome your prayers in several areas. We are praying for more support of every kind—we need more money, people and prayer support. We have favor in the schools, so we would love to have a children’s pastor to come and reach the children and families of our neighborhoods with the Gospel. As a missional church, we desire to establish Missional Communities to reach deeply into our neighborhoods, so we are praying for leaders to be raised up, developed and sent to establish and lead MC’s.  Perhaps the Lord is speaking to you about moving. Would you consider moving to Baltimore to join what God is doing here? Would you like to come visit and experience the power of God moving through you in salvation, healing, or the prophetic out on the streets? Come for a day, the weekend, a week or the rest of your life. We would welcome you!

I’m honored to serve on the Great Commission Committee for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic and I am committed to the Kingdom work of planting churches that plant churches. Our God is a God of mission and He is inviting us to join Him in declaring salvation to all creation. We have been rescued from our rebellion and failing so that we can become rescued rescuers. We have been healed and restored so that we can become healed healers. We have been reconciled with our Father through Christ Jesus and now we can serve as reconcilers, bringing others back into right relationship Him. We have been redeemed and restored as sons and daughters of the King of Kings and now we can take our place as co-heirs with Christ.

The Rev. Jay Baylor is vicar of Church of the Apostles in the City, Baltimore, MD. He serves as a member of the Great Commission Committee.

How do we reach out in our culture today?

By Tom Herrick

One of the great questions we, the Church, have to deal with today is how to relate to our culture. This is a complex question that resists simple solutions, yet it is a vital part of learning to think and act missionally. In the midst of a rapidly changing world, we can find ourselves vacillating between various postures: “going with the flow” (you can’t change City Hall), actively building walls of separation, or ignoring what is happening altogether. Unless we learn to engage consistently, we will not be able to effectively communicate our message to those who most need to hear it. 

Tim Keller unpacks this for us in his book Center Church, explaining that churches can place their ministries on a continuum ranging from being “overadapted” at one extreme to “underadapted” at the other. His counsel is to find the center. This will be that place where we are able to affirm those values that closely align to those of the Kingdom of God, while simultaneously challenging and confronting those which do not. Overadapting places us in danger of losing our unique identity as we gradually accept the idols of the culture and lose the credibility necessary to call others to change. Underadapting renders us irrelevant, as no one will listen to us, deeming us to be judgmental, confusing, or offensive. Keller says, “To the degree a ministry is overadapted or underadapted to a culture, it loses life-changing power.” (p. 24)

Church leaders have struggled to find the center from the very beginnings of the biblical record. Old Testament leaders well understood the tendency to overadapt to the surrounding cultures. Despite their love for the Mosaic Law, they struggled constantly with keeping it, as they succumbed to their desire to become more like the nations around them (1 Sam 8:4-9). These instances of overadaptation resulted in their compromising their unique identity as God’s people. Despite reform movements under faithful kings like Hezekiah and Josiah, Israel typically found themselves slipping back into places of idolatry and spiritual adultery. Given their experience, it is understandable that some of their leaders would underadapt and become more separatists in their views, as the Pharisees were. Yet, this misses the point, too, just in the opposite direction.

The struggle to find the center came to a head in Jesus’ ministry.  His focus on the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” consistently placed him in the company of those furthest from God, much to the displeasure of the religious leaders. Fearful of syncretism, they constantly opposed his ministry and saw him as a threat to their way of life. Yet, Jesus was clear in his priorities and understood that reaching out to those who were sick and in need of the doctor didn’t indicate a lack of love or concern for those who were well. His example was (as remains) a clarion call to engagement. He was expressing the need to listen to those who were hurting and without hope, reaching out with the healing touch of a loving God. This was not syncretism—it was pure and unbounded love.

The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles present a similar picture of a young church seeking to find God’s center. Following the vision of the great sheet containing all kinds of food, Peter reaches out to Cornelius and his household (Acts 10). His explanation to his fellow leaders reflects Jesus’ more nuanced understanding that one could maintain the call to holiness while simultaneously engaging the culture. Barnabas and Paul followed Peter’s lead in Antioch and later took the call to reach the entire Gentile world with the message of the Gospel as their primary mission. Like Peter, Paul also understood that the call to holiness and the call to engage the culture were not mutually exclusive, but two sides of the same calling. In fact, it is clear that in Paul’s mind, one could not adequately live out his calling unless he was engaging the culture (1 Co 9:20-22). Ultimately, it is this vision that has fueled all of the great missionary movements throughout church history. 

These questions remain relevant for us today and must be addressed. The Fresh Expressions Movement that began in the Anglican Church in the UK almost 20 years ago is a great example for us to follow. Pioneer planters began establishing relationships with micro communities that would never darken the doors of their churches. Biker gangs, prostitutes, skaters, and hip hop artists are just a few. The emphasis for them began with listening. Each of these groups represented a sub-culture that had developed its own ways of thinking and communicating. Each of them had little or no relationship to the Church. To communicate the Gospel, they reasoned, they needed to first understand the other’s language. To do this, they had to establish relationships first, gain trust, and gradually earn the right to be heard. These relational bridges are “pre-evangelistic” and need to be strong enough before the Gospel can be shared. The key is to be sure the bridge is strong enough to hold the weight of the message. Today more than 10% of the Anglican Church in England is made up of these Fresh Expressions who were previously far from God and completely disconnected from the life of Christ and from the Church. All of this became possible because faithful missionaries stopped waiting for them to come visit their churches and decided to go to find them in the highways and byways of their communities. 

As our churches grapple with finding the center, we too need to master the art of listening and learning how others think and what they believe. There are vast differences which must be bridged. In a recent meeting, the Missional Planning team from All Nations DC recently articulated it this way: “Who do we want to be? In working towards our goals, are we catering to who we currently have in the congregation or tailoring for who we want to reach?” Excellent question! Another way to ask this might be, “For whom are we doing our ministries: ourselves or others who need to receive what God has given to us?” The faithful Church in the twenty-first century must find the middle ground, the solid center, where we are unapologetically faithful to the One who has called, redeemed, and is sanctifying us while also building bridges and sharing the Gospel with those who do not yet know or follow Him. This is the fullest expression of our discipleship.

The Rev. Dr. Tom Herrick is Canon for Church Planting for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. Read part one of this three-part series here.

Learning to think and act missionally: How effective structures empower mission

This is the third in a three-part series. Read part one here and part two here.

By Tom Herrick

Every congregation develops structures to facilitate the things they need to do on a consistent basis. We normally refer to these as our “ministries,” and depend on them to create order as we carry on the functions that are important to us. Like any other organization, the church needs these structures to give shape and consistency to its life together. Whether that structure is to provide leadership, coordinate activities, or provide processes to accomplish the things that need to be done, creating structures is a natural part of living life together.

In new churches, creating ministry structures often happens organically in response to needs that arise. For instance, in Acts 6, the apostles faced one of their first ministry challenges. Luke records that the church was increasing in number and that this growth resulted in the Hellenist widows being neglected in the daily distribution of food.

To respond to this need, the apostles appointed the first “deacons,” and delegated this responsibility to them. This was more than a small, tactical decision on their part. They realized the need to respond strategically to their changing circumstances so they would not lose focus on their essential mission. In the process, they created a new structure that has survived in the church until this day. Although the functions of deacons have morphed over the years as needs have changed, the deaconate remains a vital part of our organizational system. 

The older and larger a church becomes, the more these structures settle into place and become “set.” While necessary, these structures need to remain nimble and responsive to the needs they are meant to address. Like the early church in Acts 6, we too must become self-reflective and responsive in our leadership.

With our circumstances continually changing, we must develop the expectation that our structures will also need to be flexible. We’ve often heard the saying that the seven last words of a dying church are: “we’ve never done it that way before.” If we are to remain responsive to the massive and pervasive changes occurring in our culture, we need to learn to remain supple and nimble, as the first Apostles were. Unless our ministry structures are developed in light of our mission, they will calcify and become ineffective in the long run.  

This challenge is especially acute for us in the Anglican Church in North America. For those of us who were initially formed in a “maintenance” vs. a “missional” mentality, our assumptions about what to do and how to do it are deeply rooted in our collective subconscious.

The process of becoming missional hinges on our willingness to identify our assumptions about what we are doing and actively examine them in light of our mission. This may lead to confrontations, yet, as we see from another conversation in Acts 15, sometimes these skirmishes are a necessary part of our growth. Indeed, failure to confront decisions and structures that run contrary to our mission will ultimately lead us in the opposite direction from where God is leading us.

When a missional DNA forms in the heart of a congregation, their entire church life takes shape around it and becomes an expression of who they are and what they are called to do. As the Apostles said then, we too need to be able to shape our ministry in ways that “seem good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”

As we do this, we reach those we are called to reach, bringing them into a saving relationship with Jesus, and sharing the abundant life that is available to all in Christ – indeed, becoming a missional church in every respect.

The Rev. Dr. Tom Herrick is Canon for Church Planting for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. 

Instilling a missional imagination

By Tom Herrick

Editor's Note: This is a first in a three-part series by the Rev. Dr. Tom Herrick on how we may become more missionally focused and create a missional church culture. It will also be published in the new Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic church planting blog online called Into the Harvest.

In early April I was blessed to attend the New Wineskins for Global Mission conference in Ridgecrest, NC. It was such an amazing experience to be with more than 1,000 Anglicans who were fired up about missions.

As I listened to our plenary and workshop speakers, I realized we are in the midst of an amazing shift that has been taking place within our Anglican movement over the past 10-20 years.

Some refer to this shift as going from a maintenance mentality to a missional mode of doing ministry. I like to think of it as a heart change where we are learning to love the world the way Jesus does. Although Jesus modeled for us how to care deeply for those who are not part of our church families, we are often slow to follow his lead. Hence, the need for a laser focus on missions—to insure we are intentionally seeking the one lost sheep, not just caring for the ninety-nine who are already in the fold. 

So many people think of missions as an add-on for those who happen to be interested in that sort of thing or as a luxury item for big churches who can afford it. The truth is that EVERY church needs a missional DNA, especially new church plants. But how do we create this critical element, whether in an established congregation or in a new church? I believe there are three practices that will greatly aid us in becoming missionally focused:

1. Instilling a missional imagination;

2. Learning to listen to and understand our culture; and,

3. Creating effective structures that will empower mission.

Together, these three elements will create a powerful ecosystem capable of moving any of our congregations out of the box and out the door. 

The great saints in the bible all shared a common trait: they were able to imagine how life could be different when one is in a relationship with the living God. They didn’t accept life as they were experiencing it as being the last word. They saw beyond the present circumstances to a world that was being cradled and transformed by the love of God. This became their standard and shaped what they thought and how they acted. In short, it became the driving force of their lives and defined reality for them. In Mary’s prayer, which we call the Magnificat, she expresses this so beautifully in these words, 

“He has mercy on those who fear him
    in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
    he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
    and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
    for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
    to Abraham and his children forever.”

We, too, learn to see life differently when we look through their eyes of faith. We realize that we are part of much larger mission that originates in the heart of God. We come to understand that this is his very nature. The God we are serving is missional to the core of his being. That is to say, God is a sending God. The Father sent the Son to redeem his lost creation; the Son sent the Spirit to empower the Church to spread the word; and now the same God sends us to complete this mission and bring the nations into the fold.

Theologian Jürgen Moltmann notes that the Church does not have a mission of her own; God has a mission, so God created the Church to carry it out. This is known as the “missio dei” and we are invited not just to participate in it during our free times, but to see the whole of our lives in the context of it and to realize that our individual portions are significant pieces of a much larger puzzle. God is actually depending on us. He has no Plan B.

Once this takes root within our souls, it becomes life changing and begins to alter our priorities, our decisions, and our actions. Authors Branson and Warnes (Starting Missional Churches: Life with God in the Neighborhood) tell us that this takes shape in a number of ways. We begin to discern God’s initiatives, realizing that he is actively working every moment to bring the world to himself. As we press into this, we begin to see where we fit into God’s plans and how we can join him in what he is doing.

Missional thinking also helps us to see our neighbor differently. Rather than an object of our ministry efforts, s/he becomes a subject—one who is drawn to join and participate with us. We share our lives with others and invite them to claim their own calling from the God who loves them. This type of life and mission necessitates “boundary crossing.”

Like the God who is sending us, we are not content to sit idly by while others perish for lack of God’s love. We move beyond our own self-constructed walls and into the unknown without fear. And, we learn to go together. Contrary to the hyper-individualistic culture in which we live, the missional mindset is shaped as a community gathered in Jesus’ name.

We are never alone; nor are we sent out alone. We’re in this together, with each other and with the Holy Spirit, who empowers us. When we begin to think and act missionally, we are no longer content to go to church and live in the world. We realize that we must be the Church and go to the world. For, as St. Paul says, it is God who calls us to think and to act for his good purposes.