New Wanderers - Apex Church

Another sign of what the Spirit is doing in our time:

Apex Church in Dayton, Ohio is a large (formerly) traditional church that has chosen to emphasize their identity as a network of house churches. One description of their congregation is as follows:

"They have over 2,500 hundred people showing up every weekend, but that is the least impressive thing about this church. Rob Turner is a great, young leader. Their church is made up of 60-70 house churches that meet on different nights throughout the week. You are not a member of Apex if you do not go to a house church."

From Apex's own website, we get this:

Apex Community Church is a network of community churches
delighting in Jesus so much that we are compelled to love, equip, and send people. As a network of house churches we desire to spread a passion for Jesus through Christ-centered communities among individuals where He is yet to be worshiped.

Apex desires to see God work as he did in the early church, as detailed in God’s inspired Word, specifically Acts 2. We created a model termed 3G (e.g. Gathering, Growing, and Going), which is our way of making sure we are staying focused on the mission and vision the Lord has given us as a body of believers.

We gather corporately for celebration and teaching, growing spiritually as house churches and going, i.e., meeting the physical and spiritual needs of others.

This is yet another example of a traditional church that has shifted to a network of house churches focused not only on their own fellowship but on "the mission and vision the Lord has given us as a body of believers".

I appreciate the way Apex has embraced their call to launch a network of house churches that are not just appendages to the Sunday gatherings but are, in fact, the heart of this large congregation. Establishing house churches that care and serve neighborhoods, provide for intimate fellowship, and provide for the training and edification of the whole strikes me as the kind of balance that calls many New Wanderers to take risks in order to pursue.

New Wanderers - Northland Church

Up to now, the subjects of my "New Wanderers" series in my blog has focused on small Vineyard churches, very locally focused. But now, we move from the West Coast to the Eastern US - Florida, to be exact. This is the story of a megachurch of 12,000 that has left behind convention in order to embrace a most remarkable vision. It is not a Vineyard church either. But it is a most compelling and inspiring congregation as you will see.

I first heard about Northland Church from my fellow house church buddy Ken Eastburn who just returned from the church after being asked to visit there. The church leaders have recently announced their desire to partner with Global Media Outreach, the Campus Crusade online ministry to God-seekers from around the world, to plant one million house churches. That is not a typo. One million.

To get a little better picture of where a vision like this comes from, I have pulled a fairly large part of the the "about" post from Northland's website in what follows. I will be researching more, but I highly recommend you take a few moments to digest the following. I find it most inspiring:

The 1990s
With the initial renovation of the facility, God brought incredible spiritual and numerical growth to the congregation.

In the fall of 1990, the elders sent Dr. Hunter away on an extended retreat to hear a clarifying word from God concerning Northland’s future. Precisely, how did God desire for Northland to accomplish its mission of “bringing people to maturity in Christ”? From that mountaintop experience, Pastor Joel conceived, and the elders affirmed, the 10-year “Journey to Spiritual Maturity” emphasis that encompassed the entire worship and educational focus of all age levels of the congregation. In this journey together, one central preaching theme was focused upon for an entire year.

Attendance figures went from 300 to well over 5,000. The staff grew from four to 90; the church went from one service on Sunday morning to seven services throughout the weekend.

In the fall of 1997, the elders again sent Dr. Hunter away on retreat to begin envisioning the next millennium. He returned with a vision of a church unrestricted by geographical boundaries.

In April of 1998 the elders and pastors unanimously affirmed the vision: Northland would become a “church distributed,” arranging the church around the relationships of the congregation and partner ministries, rather than around a physical church building. Northland is calling people to follow Christ, distributing their lives every day in ministry to others.

Today
During Dr. Hunter’s tenure, Northland has grown from 200 faithful souls to a congregation of 12,000, worshiping at sites located throughout Central Florida and at thousands of smaller sites online. This growth forced the church’s leaders to make a decision as to the future character of the church.

Pastor Hunter remembers: “We had grown big enough to become a society within a society. If we had wanted to just do the traditional things to accommodate growth (i.e. be in perennial building campaigns, keep motivating people to live as much of their lives at the church building as possible), then we could probably have kept growing. But growing what? Another megachurch?

“We would be promoting the unspoken message that our congregation was more important to us than other congregations and ministries, and furthering the Western mentality of the rugged individualism of a church while ignoring the larger community life of the church—a philosophy that is neither biblical nor appropriate.”
The solution? Northland’s would construct a new church building that would serve as a “ distribution point” rather than a “destination.”
Completed in August 2007, Northland’s new $42 million facilities in Longwood, Florida, were built for both the local congregation and those who will never set foot in the building. The new facilities offer plenty of room—more than 160,000 square feet of space. However, the intent was never to see how many people could fit under one roof; it was to facilitate ministry worldwide with other believers.

The 160,000-square-foot facilities feature state-of-the-art technology with two-way interconnectivity that provides virtually unlimited seating for worshipers…virtually.

Congregants worship at multiple sites throughout Central Florida, where they connect with neighboring Christians for support and encouragement and to better serve their communities. Each weekend, these sites are joined in concurrent worship. A two-way video connection allows different parts of the services to be distributed among the sites and gives congregants opportunities to interact with one another in real time.

Worshipers also participate at more than 1,000 smaller sites worldwide via Northland’s innovative Webstream application.

People in Northland’s congregation continue to take leadership of nearly every ministry effort inside the church, out in the community and around the world. Elders, pastors and paid staff don’t try to control the initiatives of congregants or the connections they make, and, they don’t watch over their shoulders unnecessarily. Dr. Hunter encourages Northlanders: “Do what you can, where you are, with what you’ve got.” And they do!

Together, he teaches, we can accomplish more because of our differences than we would on our own—without giving up our unique identities. Dr. Hunter concludes. “Fear and suspicion of differences limit the church’s spiritual maturity. Both spiritual and intellectual maturity, grow from differences. A distributed church uses contrasts to accomplish Kingdom purposes.”

New Wanderers - Mogofians

The phrase "new wanderer" does not perfectly apply to Gale and Peter Mosgofian of the Arcata (Northern California coast) Vineyard. They are not "new" to the Faith, to Christian leadership and service, or to the Vineyard. So how is it that they deserve the honor of being mentioned in my blog series? Because of the way they have kept their mission and their community life "new" in the setting they are in.

A quick word about Eureka / Arcata, California where the Mosgofians live, work and minister. It is an area defined, in part, by its wooded surrounding, coastal beauty, and University (Humboldt State) youthfulness. Enter the Mosgofians who founded the Arcata Vineyard Community there. After establishing the Vineyard as a local church community, their mission for the care of the larger community moved them to establish a coffeehouse business (called "Mosgo's") in a part of town that was "dying", according to Gale Mosgofian. As a licensed Therapist and Vineyard co-pastor, she notes: “I have real concerns about people living so far from where they work. As a result they don't develop community where they live. They don't develop relationships where they're really vital.”

After studying the needs and developing the philosophy for their new endeavor, the Mosgofians took the rather large risk of opening their coffeehouse with a purpose. Not only does the site host the Coffeehouse venue but, thanks to a removable wall, can also be turned into a perfomance site that has featured local music acts and other performers -- from soft acoustic to the downright head banging stuff. One of the recent musical performers reflected on his experience by saying: "The people that work at Mosgo’s are top-notch people, and the coffee is great. They are genuinely good people who want to do something good for the community. I’ve had only wonderful encounters with the people there.”

In addition, Mosgo's space houses Common Ground Community Center next door which is available to anyone from the community for classes like dance and pilates, among other things. The Vineyard church also worships in this space on Sundays.

"If your church was suddenly gone tomorrow, who in the community would notice?" is a question that confronted Rich and Rose Swetman in Seattle who answered it in their own context as Vineyard believers (see earlier New Wanderers post). Peter and Gale Mosgofian and their compadres have come up with their own answer to that question given the challenges, needs and opportunities in their community. For them, Mosgos, Common Ground CC and the life of the Vineyard Church in Arcata have become more than destinations. They have become touchpoints through which relationships are begun and grown and the community around them is touched and changed. Perhaps these words from the Arcata Vineyard website say it best: "Someone's gonna change the world. Why not us?"

New Wanderers Case Studies

The New Wanderers (as I call them / us) come in a wide variety of packages. This is definitely not a "movement" in any kind of formal sense. There are no central leaders or clearing houses. What I observe is a number of courageous pioneers who are willing to break with the pack when considering the normal assumptions of "doing church" and ministry thinking in order to pursue Something More. However, this Something More is not so much "something more for ME". Rather, it is Something More for the Kingdom of God and, especially, its mission to penetrate the world with God's rule and reign. It is, in other words, focused on how we as Christ-followers can be more outwardly focused and (here's that word again) missional.

We of the Vineyard are no strangers to risk-taking and the risks of being misunderstood and missing the mark that go with such risks. Even so, I confess that my own quest has made me me a bit of an enigma to some of my fellow members of the Vineyard tribe. After some twenty five years in this movement, that has been a bit difficult for me. However, I am learning that I am actually not as alone as I first suspected. It seems the pioneer spirit of the Vineyard is actually alive and well after all.

Two of those I have recently come to appreciate for their pioneer spirit are Rose and Rich Swetman of the Vineyard Community Church of Shoreline, Washington (near Seattle). I already shared a few things about Rose's presentation on The Practicing Church delivered as a workshop during the Vineyard National Conference in Galveston (see my earlier post: "More From Galveston"). I had actually heard a bit about the Swetman's journey of faith and leadership at an earlier gathering of Vineyard leaders some months ago and was impressed. Hearing her in Galveston provided many more details -- too many to provide in a blog post, I'm afraid, but I'd like to share a few of the key features of their transformation into New Wanderers.

Taking a cue from Eugene Peterson's rendering of John 1:14 which begins: "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood..." the Swetman's led their "traditional/attractional" Vineyard church through an extended period of rethinking. One of the questions they faced has a familiar ring to us in VCMN: "If our church disappeared tomorrow, would anyone around us even know it?" The answer (as it often is with churches, I'm afraid) was "no". This revelation moved them to study, think, pray and act on an entirely new paradigm of what it meant for them to be a church in their area.

Lots had to change (big surprise!). Everything -- sacred cows, "the way we've always done it", and even the idea of using and maintaining a building were put on the altar. Rich and Rose began to look at their surroundings anew and, among other things, Rose joined their local community organization dedicated to the area's social welfare. This would come to involve teaming with, among others, a prominent lesbian -- a woman with whom she now regularly cooperates on community welfare issues (can't you feel the support and understanding from other conservative churches just pouring in at this point?).

There is nothing wishy-washy about this Vineyard's theology, philosophy of ministry or missonal commitment to follow Jesus into the lives of those around them. According to their website: "Jesus did not come to earth in the Incarnation to "hang out", he was on a mission. His mission was then and still is now a passionate pursuit of all of his missing children to draw them back into a real relationship with himself."

A key expression of where this journey has taken Shoreline Vineyard is something called Turning Point (www.turningpointseattle.org). A brief history of Turning Point can be found in the following text from their website:

"Since 2001 a group of people from Vineyard Community Church (VCC) wanting to put their faith in action, began serving the residents of a low-income apartment community in Lynnwood, Washington. VCC funded and staffed annual Christmas parties, Thanksgiving dinners and “back to school supply” giveaways as well as other service activities. From this group, Turning Point was formed into a non-profit organization to strengthen families and individuals through education, coaching, and care."

Oh, and -- by the way -- after putting the issue of a building before the Lord, He directed them to what has become "Vineyard Square". In providing this blessing, the Swetman's emphasize that the Lord told them they must make the building available to not only their church, put to the whole community. Thus the name "Vineyard Square" -- a name that is generic on purpose.

There is nothing generic about the Swetman's and their fellow belivers at the Vineyard Community Church of Shoreline, Washington. As New Wanderers, they are a little farther down the road than many given the fact that their shift began about five years ago. Still, as all New Wanderers know, the road ahead is marked more by values, vision, calling and mission than a five-year masterplan. If, at times, this can lead to things feeling a little "dynamic", the Swetman's report that their desire to "grow the church big (as measured by a consuming commitment to God and His mission)" is being fulfilled. And -- wonder of wonders -- Sunday attendance is "up", too.

Many of those now being drawn to this congregation are those "missed" from the Father's family who have been touched by the love of a practicing church made up of New Wanderers. May their tribe increase!

The New Wanderers

In my last post I mentioned that I have begun to be aware of a growing tribe of folks I refer to as The New Wanderers. They are not disenfranchised, angry, axe-grinders who have "had it up to here" with traditional church modalities and philosophies of ministry (there are plenty of folks in that category but I do not speak of them). Instead, they have been, or are being, extracted from ministry assumptions, structures, histories and philosiphies that simply no longer serve their deepst Christian values, personal callings or desires to serve Christ authentically.

These New Wanderers are not so much interested in "reforming" the church at large as they are in answering their present questions about the meaning of their lives and ministries. Many (not all) have a long history of kingdom life, church leadership (as it is usually configured) and spiritual giftedness. Nevertheless, they find themselves being tugged by the Spirit into the wilderness because they cannot quench, silence or escape the fact that He is calling them there. As in the case of all wildnerness wanderers, they have as many questions as they have answers. But they also have something else -- something of inexpressible value and incredible potential. They have the kind of faith that is willing to take big risks and a vision for something that looks a whole lot more like what we see in the New Testament than most of what is on the current church landscape.

I will write about a few specific "case studies" in upcoming blogs, but for now I would like to identify a few words that seem to capture what is at the heart of their quest:

1. Relationship - The New Wanderers are not focused on making a name for themselves, "branding" their ministry identites, kingdom building (that is, their own -- not His) or lording it over others by invoking titles or engaging in spiritual one-upsmanship. They value relationship, community, and fellowship of the real kind. They tend to be open set types, generous in their attitudes towards other, avoidant of drawing harsh lines about who is "in" and who is "out". They understand that they have a role to play in influencing others and take this seriously, but they are doing so by feeling their way forward into God's mission and, by this means, calling others to do the same.

2. Authenticity - The New Wanderers value the authentic, the "real", over the merely efficient. The tend to shun programs and structures that simply imitate someone else's success. They are attracted to what is often referred to as "organic" or "simple" ministry forms, structures and endeavors that actually land in people's lives in describable ways. They are not interested in the merely theoretical. They are interested in the palpably real and transformational. They like stories more than theories. They trust the organic over the manufactured and are willing to live with messes and loose ends as long as Jesus Christ the Crucified, Risen and Life-Changing is at the center of it all.

3. Economy - The New Wanderers appreciate the simple, stripped-down and efficient over the bloated, showy and wasteful practices, buildings, programs and vehicles associated with contemporary ministry "success stories". They are more likely to boast about what they have managed to give away than what they have managed to amass by way of symbols of ministry success. They are focused on the poor, the overlooked and the needy and believe that it is a serious sin to ignore or overlook them. If they have any gripe with the traditional church it is that it is too often self-serving, wasteful, self-aggrandazing and shallow when it comes to how its store of time, talent and treasure are actually employed. I recently heard one of those I would characterize as a New Wanderer describe her church's shift in the following terms: "we decided to stop trying to grow a "bigger church" and start growing the church (we already had) "big".

4. Missional - If there is any word that captures the spirit of the New Wanderers it is the word "missional". Of course, "missional" has now become the current buzz word in church circles of various kinds and is defined differently by different practitioners. Nevertheless, the New Wanderers are captivited by the Missio Dei - the "mission of God" -- and its outward-focused thrust. They embrace "incarnational" ministry that brings the ministry of Jesus to bear on the marketplace, the neighborhood, the campus and other everyday places over the "attractional" models of ministry that requires the people to come to the Christians' turf in order to recieve the message or the ministry that awaits them there. That has spurred a whole new set of ideas, sometimes very controversial, about what it looks like to "church plant" (for example).