On Friday July 17 we had our first Village Church information night. The intent was to do two things: (1) connect those interested in Village Church together, (2) to give an update of where we are in the roll-out phase of the church. These two things were accomplished. People hung out, talked about life, the church, and I shared for 15 mins or so about how we got to this point in the journey, and a few points of Village Church DNA. Here is basically what I said, with some extrapolation, highlighting Christ and Community.
Christ: First, and foremost we are a community of people who have as our top priority Jesus himself. To Know him and to make Him known. This means when we gather corporately (services, small groups etc.,) we will worship, preach, teach and honor Jesus unapologetically in everything we do week in and week out without fail. Our conviction is that Jesus is God, that he died for our sins on the cross, rose again from the grave for our salvation and that all who believe in him are given eternal life.
Community: Community is one of the top values of Village Church and it works in two directions. First, we will establish and nurture Christian community. The way people grow, are discipled and crafted into the image of Jesus, which is God's will for Christians (Rom. 8. 29), is communally. We want to be a loving community of people who care for and support one another.
The second direction Community travels in is being missional and community-oriented: how do we serve South Surrey and the surrounding districts to the glory of God? How do we serve the people who live here? We want to be involved in their lives, help them, connect with them as a church corporately and individually. Being missional means we take the incarnation of Jesus as our model and we live in their world, in their lives, and not expect them to simple "come to church" where we are comfortable but to live and move and have our being in their world. God got his hands dirty and came to earth to live and die beside us, for us, instead of us and because of us. The churches posture must never be removal from the surrounding culture but engagement from start to finish. Salt and Light not from the comfort of our pulpits, but from the shoulder to shoulder, day to day, life of the church in the midst of its community.
Simple Church: The Three "S's"
One thing that kills young churches is that they try to do too much. Every need that arises, and
every person who says "we should start a ministry" gets addressed and this causes them to be stretched too thin, because of limited resources and people, and while it may keep more people around for a few months, it is not sustainable in the long run. So we are going to be very selective about what we do and what we do not do as a church, especially in the early years.
We recognize that we cannot be all things to all people, so instead of doing many things poorly (shotgun approach) we will try to do a few things well. The book Simple Church by Thom Rainer is helpful here. He suggests a simple process of discipleship based around churches doing a few things well. Keep it simple.
Village Church is going to revolve around three "S's": Sunday Gather
ings, Small Groups, and Service.
Sunday Gatherings: In the scramble to do a hundred different ministries often Sunday's themselves are left until the last minute, making them stale, monotonous, unchallenging and uninviting. We will spend time making Sunday gatherings a place where people feel welcomed, engaged, and challenged through thoughtful worship and preaching.
Welcome
Most people make decisions about community engagement within the first 3 minutes upon arriving at a place, if not sooner. We want to help people, especially new people, or the un-churched to feel welcomed. We will do our best to greet you and/or your family, give clear answers to questions and generally be hospitable as a church. We really are here to serve others as Jesus served.
Worship
We want to lead people in worship which, for Village Church, is about music, Scripture reading, and a variety of artistic contribution (i.e., short-films, original songs, etc.,). Worship ministry is about helping us to connect to God so we can know Him deeper and we want to do this using all the different avenues, technologies and talents God has given us.
Word
Central to our gatherings, and our life as a church in general, is the Bible itself. We will preach and teach the Bible every week at Village Church in an intriguing and thoughtful way centered on Jesus and relevant to life at all different stages. In our age we believe preaching from Scripture is integral to the life of the church. Thus the most popular form of preaching at Village Church will be sermon series' which will go through whole books of the Bible verse by verse understanding it and applying it, and secondly, theme-based series' still centered on Scripture but addressing issues and theological themes (i.e., a series on the questions skeptics ask about Christianity).
*One of our top priorities for Sunday Gatherings as well will be Children's Ministry. We will serve the young families of South Surrey and the surrounding districts by having a top quality Children's Ministry with qualified teachers, and leaders teaching kids about Jesus, the Bible and the Christian Life in a fun and safe environment.
Small Groups
Small Groups will be groups that meet in homes all over South
Surrey and the surrounding districts which will meet weekly to grow together in prayer, study, accountability, and relationship with one another. It gives Village Church an opportunity to grow larger while at the same time growing smaller. Where a Small Group can care for one another, love one another in a more intimate and effective way than a larger church can. Small Group content will revolve around notes and questions connected to the sermon of the previous Sunday morning, or formal studies with set curriculum.
Service
This is where the people who make up Village Church get to give back. There will be a lot of spaces to fill and a lot of things to do at the Village as we move forward, including people to do set up/take-down, coffee bars, music, art, welcome, hosting small groups, leading small groups, media, children's ministry, and a whole lot more. We want people to use their God-given talents and gifts to serve Him in a way that equips the church and serves those who may not yet know Jesus at all.
These are the three simple things we are going to begin with, and which we are going to ask Village Church people to engage in, and only as God provides us leaders and clear calling will we begin to add ministries to this. Which means we may not have all the ministries that everyone is looking for, and that is alright, there are other good churches in our area we can point people toward, but we are going to do our best to reach and serve as many people as possible being good stewards of the people, passions, gifting and resources God has given us.
If you have any questions please contact us at info@myvillagechurch.org
