Soma Christou: a church of Christ

2010-11-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

Juxtaposition

2009-01-26T10:39:00.000-08:00

We just spent the last week at Strategy Lab with Kairos where we thought through the "first creation" of our church plant. The first creation is that which happens in our thoughts before we begin the work. If we haven't done the work of thinking through the entire church plant before we start, then we will be tossed around and easily move away from the vision which God has given us.

Also, this last week the Christian Chronicle posted an article about the decline of Churches of Christ in America. I sat in a room where 8 churches were in the first creation proccess and we heard from 6 churches that have been planted. If the Churches of Christ can shift the focus back to church planting (which has been our heritage), then the future is bright and numbers like 6 and 8 will begin to multiply. If the established churches do not help . . . well, we will still plant new churches, and we will still start a church multiplication movement. The established churches just may not survive to see it happen.

"Organic"

2008-11-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

I frequently hear people talk about wanting to have a church experience that is "organic" by which they usually mean that it doesn't seem to be overly structured.

But here's the thing: organic is hard (Note: this is not original to me, I just don't remember where I heard this).

Talk to a farmer who has had to do all the work to become certified as an organic farmer and you will hear how hard it is. It seems so natural, but it takes a lot of work to produce food without the use of inorganic aids. There are years of work ahead for any person wanting to be certified organic. In addition to doing all the things right for certification, the farmer also has to do them in such a way that still allows him to make a profit.

People want a church experience that feels very natural and easy without a lot of "inorganic" stuff tacked on. But in order to get this experience that feels very easy and unplanned it takes a lot of work and preparation.

Discovery Lab final

2008-10-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! God showed up at Discovery Lab. We had a great time and really did discover a lot about ourselves. A huge part of what happened was for us to reflect on how God has been shaping us for church planting and service in his kingdom. We shared stories with 5 teams of interviewers who were assigned to guide us through specific areas. We were encouraged and challenged by our experience. We spent time on a ropes course working through team issues.

The result was, I believe, inspired by the Spirit and spoken into the community of God's people. Kairos thinks that we will have a very high probability of planting a successful church once we have some more experience in ministry. Our plan is to target the experience toward evangelism and team formation.

Thank you so much for your prayers, God answered.

Going forward, please pray that God will provide the opportunities for the experience we need to put us in the best position to successfully plant a church.

Discovery Lab day 2

2008-09-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was interview day. We spent time sharing with some great people and exploring our lives. It was a great process, but it took long time to go through everything. We looked at the 13 characteristic that make for a successful church planter, and we shared about how we see God working to develop those in our lives.

Now on to the projects (that's where we pretend to plan a church plant and we will make a 30 minute presentation about it tonight).

peace

Discovery Lab day 1

2008-09-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

So we arrived at discovery lab last night. We had a good time of introduction and worship. I could feel all of the prayers that have been sent to God over this time and for us - Thank You!

Today Andrea and I will lead the group in worship and get a chance to share our story. Then the interviews begin . . . From what I hear it's not quite like torture . . . just kidding.

We are excited to share how God has been leading us to the moment and shaping us for a specific ministry. We trust that God will use his Spirit to speak through the community of his people.

More anon.

I'm Nervous

2008-09-23T14:56:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we head out for Discovery Lab with Kairos Church Planting Support. From the Kairos Website:

Discovery Lab is designed to provide you both these tools. It a behavioral assessment to help you, as a church planter candidate, gather information about yourself to see more clearly where you might best serve the kingdom with your abilities and skills. The final outcome of Discovery Lab is a Church Planter Profile summarizing your character traits, ministry skills and readiness for church planting.

I'm nervous because this is a major step in our journey toward church planting. There is a lot on the line here. We've been dreaming about this for years now. We moved across the country for school. We moved into the neighborhood where we feel God has called us to plant a church. Now in just a few days we will submit our dreams and plans to the oversight and direction of Kairos.

I would really appreciate your prayers for us.

Leadership Principles

2008-09-10T08:33:00.001-07:00

This last weekend we had our final dragon boat race of the season. In the picture you can see me as the tiller (the guy who steers the boat). Our team traveled to Seattle for the weekend, but we have been losing more and more people over the course of the summer so we had to join up with half a team from Seattle in order to fill a boat.

The first time we had paddled together was our first race (we came in 2nd out of three). Things weren't perfect, but I could definitely feel the power on the boat. The second race we didn't improve much (3rd out of 4). By the time we were getting to our third heat of the day the lake was getting choppy and we had lost a paddler who had to leave early.

We tried to compensate, but during the race something went wrong and the boat turned sharply to the left (remember it's my job to steer us). I had to stop us and turn us the right direction in order to finish - we were 30 seconds off the pace. I was upset with myself for not doing my job and costing us precious time in the race.

The next day we arrived to very choppy water and a moderately strong wind. The race coordinators were all cautioning us as to how we needed to avoid the wind and to keep the boat balanced so we would not capsize. We got out on the water and got ourselves aligned for the race. The start was good, but again about mid-way through the race the boat veered sharply to the left. I had to stop us to prevent us hitting another boat and then get us going the right direction again. I was furious. Livid. How could I have made the same mistake twice?!

I directed the paddlers to dock the boat and I immediately went to the race coordinators and asked if I could be replaced as the tiller. I explained that I keep making the same mistake and we don't have time for me to learn during the races. They were great and found us another tiller and I replaced our missing paddler on the boat.

I couldn't immediately join my team because I was still very upset with myself. So, I found a quiet place and sat alone for a bit. That's when Dr. Huffard would have been proud of me - I immediately thought of a leadership principle that I had learned from my experience ( I took a class in leadership from Dr. Huffard and he wanted us to develop the skill of finding leadership principles in our experiences).

A good leader will not allow their personal shortcomings to bring down the team which they lead.

There just wasn't enough time for me to work on my own skills. The only time we had on the boats was time to race. I found out after the fact that there are significant difference in the boat structure versus what we are used to and having a team that has never paddled together did not make my job easier. I'm sure that if we had some time to practice with that team in those boats on that lake that I could have done a much better job. However, without that opportunity the best thing that I could do as a leader is to defer to someone with more experience to step in and take over for the short term.

Have you ever been in this type of situation? Have you ever felt like there was nothing you could do to fix your mistakes? Sometimes, as a leader, there is nothing you can do in the moment; it's time to step aside and let someone else help. You can fix your mistakes later, when the work of the team isn't on the line.

Slow down, you move too fast . . .

2008-09-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

you've got to make the moment last . . .

In the lyrics of Simon and Garfunkle I find some good advice for this time in our journey. I feel as if we are flying along toward our goals. In just a few weeks we go to discovery lab. We have submitted all of our profiles and questionnaires for the interview team to review. We are working on some presentations for our time there. I am getting things in place to finish the last four classes of my degree (I should graduate in May 2009!). All the while we are working hard at Agape to help with their small group ministry. And we both have "real" jobs that are keeping us busy in our other moments.

Whew!

Art and Paul remind us that there are times to take a deep breath and calm down. We can only move so fast, and often we miss the great things that are happening right now. These moments are what we have been praying for and dreaming about for years. It's time to embrace the chaos and, perhaps, feel a little "groovy".

Kingdom Work

2008-08-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, August 23rd we were blessed to be a part of the Agape Blitz. Our contribution was to help out at Lincoln High School where we led a team in performing some much needed maintenance around the campus. We weeded and painted and took care of the place so that when students return it will look a little better.

What really struck me though was the people that joined in the service. Most of the time we think of service as being what privileged people do for those with less (and that is often what it is), but on Saturday I saw something that spoke of Kingdom to me - a small group of people from a brand new church were the ones working to help out the school where many of the wealthy citizens of Portland send their children. One of the servants had been homeless not too long ago! The wealthy people should be serving the poor, but the Kingdom uses the poor to serve the rich . . .

God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are . . .

I saw Kingdom Work on Saturday - and the parents in charge of the work day saw it too.

Tornadic Activity

2008-08-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about church planting the other day and it struck me that the planting of a church is a lot like a tornado. Stay with me here.

No weather forecaster has every been able to predict the exact time and place when a tornado will form. Through a lot of experience and research people have been able to identify the conditions which lead to a tornado. Better instruments allow us to see the path of a storm that might spawn a tornado. But with all of that science, it is impossible to exactly identify when and where a tornado will hit.

The same is true of church planting. So many people have shared their experience to help us understand what conditions usually lead to a successful church plant. We have great tools to help church planters understand themselves and their environment. But all of those things can't give us an exact time and place where a church will form.

Since God is the one who is calling these churches into being, the best we can do is be in the right place at the right time with the right tools. God will produce the growth.

Neighborhood

2008-08-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

The other day we were talking about the next steps of church planting and we came up with some ideas of ways to serve our community:

Host a bike/driver safety day where everyone could learn the rules and etiquette of sharing the road. Provide a biker certification similar to a driver's licence.
Find ways to connect with the dog owners who use the local dog park - bring in a dog trainer, vet, microchip service, etc. Find ways for the dog owners and the parents to get along and use the local park together.

These are just a couple of ideas, but we would have never thought of them right after we moved into the neighborhood. The year that we have spent here is starting to pay off in our familiarity with the community.

Carlos

2008-07-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

The other day we met Carlos while walking home from the store. We had done a little shopping on our way home from church and so I had our Bibles under my arm. Carlos stopped us and asked me to read Proverbs 21 to him. Needless to say I was a little shocked - I don't often find people requesting scripture readings (in fact, this was a first for me). I couldn't deny him, so I stood there on the street, reading to him. I would have felt less awkward wearing a clown suit!

But Carlos reacted to the words. He teared up. He thanked us for sharing with him. He told us that he had been kicked out of church that morning (he was pretty drunk when we met him). We told him about a church where no one would kick him out. He asked us to keep him in our prayers. We prayed for him then and there. We prayed that he would get a job. We prayed that he would be reconciled to his girlfriend. We prayed that he would be safe on the streets.

I don't know if we will ever see Carlos again, but he knows where to find us and he knows where there is a church that won't kick him out for being drunk.

Divine Affirmation

2008-07-13T16:29:00.000-07:00

I don't want to jump on the wagon of attributing everything that ever happens to divine intervention. I think that God has given us free will for a reason (ask me, and I'll tell you), and a whole lot of what goes on in life is better attributed to our freedom and the laws of nature. But I do believe that God is in the business of breaking into our world with glimpses of his kingdom (in fact, I think that's what the church is supposed to be doing).

All that qualifying stuff said: I love it when God gives some affirmation to what I've been planning. Church planting can be nervous work - we are stepping out in faith with no guaranteed paycheck or congregation. But we believe that God has called us to this work and that he will provide for us. I always get chills when the provision confirms the call. Even though it has happened a bunch of times, I still find myself surprised when God steps in and provides for us.

Thanks to the Living Streams Church of Christ for helping us with our Discovery Lab expenses. Especially, thank you for being the voice of God helping to confirm his calling in our lives.

First Newsletter

2008-07-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

We are about to send out our very first newsletter! For some this may be long overdue (we're not that good at sitting down and publishing a document - that's a part of the reason behind this blog). For others it may be a welcome surprise. Whatever the case we would love to hear back from you. Go ahead and comment on this blog, send us an e-mail, call or write. Tell us how you are doing and what we can do for you.

Oh, and please pray that God will bless this Newsletter and all who read it.

Discovery Lab

2008-07-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's not that kind of lab . . .

Andrea and I are scheduled to go through the Kairos Discovery Lab at the end of September. This is the next step in our journey toward planting a church in Northwest Portland.

In the lab we will go through a series of profiles and interviews along with other potential church planters. The purpose is to determine if we are ready for church planting and to help us to know ourselves better. The better we know our strengths and our weaknesses the better we will be able to serve.

This is an exciting and anxious step for us! We're excited to be moving closer to the dream that has been moving us for the last 5 years (even moving us across the country to Memphis). We're anxious because this is a vulnerable time - we will leave no stone uncovered when we go through the interviews. We will have to admit and discuss all of those deep, dark things that we traditionally like to leave hidden.

Please pray for us as we fill out our application together (it's a long and detailed one). We are also beginning to look for more support as we move toward this next stage. The Discovery Lab will cost $750 for the two of us. Pray that God will provide for our needs.

Religious Conversations

2008-06-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

One great/scary/odd thing about being a church planter is that it is almost impossible to avoid religious conversations. This last weekend we went to a barbecue (that's a cookout for those of you in the South) with some people from our dragon boat team. It was great to meet the "other halves" for the people on the team and to spend some time not paddling but getting to know each other. But in the course of getting to know people the conversation always turns to employment (why do we always want to define people by their jobs?), and I get to share with people that I'm a church planter and a graduate student in addition to slinging coffee and lattes.

In Portland, there are a predictable few reaction to the revelation of my church planting activities:

Incomprehension: What is church planting? Why would you do that? Aren't there already enough churches? Usually this is followed up by a dismissive: "Good luck with that."
Indifference: No questions, just the dismissal.
Indecision: This is usually the case when I have made friends with someone who thinks that church/religion is worthless. They like me, but they don't like what I'm doing (kind of like love the sinner, hate the sin?). They have a hard time deciding if they should re-evaluate their position on me or on church/religion.
Interest: This is the rare one. This is the one I hope for--I pray for--but seldom get. There is a little surge of excitement when someone's eyes light up when they get what we're doing. Maybe they have had similar thoughts about the need for churches in this neighborhood. Maybe they are tired of religion that doesn't offer hope and joy and transformation. Maybe they are ready to join us as we join God in what he is planning for Northwest Portland.

I'll gladly deal with all of the dismissals and questions for those few religious conversations that turn into something more.

Dragon Boating

2008-06-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are learning how to dragon boat. We are on a local dragon boat team that practices twice a week and we will go to several races this summer. We're having a blast getting outside and spending time on the river, but there's more to it than just having fun. We're having fun with lost people! We are shoulder-to-shoulder with people, working toward the same goal, enjoying the same things. This weekend we will be having a party and barbecue with our team. May God use us to show his love to these people.

In the Beginning

2008-02-17T17:10:00.000-08:00

We want to let everyone know about our plans for church planting in Northwest Portland. Our working name for the church is Soma Christou which is Greek for 'body of Christ'. This comes from the analogy in Scripture, repeated several times (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 14, and all through Ephesians).

The beauty of this metaphor is that it points out how the disciples should live and work together - we all need each other, we embrace our God-given diversity, we hurt together and rejoice together.

We are in the pre-production phase of our church plant. That means that I am finishing the last few classes of my Masters Degree while we get to know the neighborhood and look for people who will help us launch this work. We are also looking for individuals and congregations who will be willing to support us financially.

By June we would like to have our launch team in place so that we can prepare to have our launch service by Fall of 2009.