Village Church

The Jesus Scandals | coming Sunday January 24

2010-01-04T15:48:00.000-08:00

"And they were scandalized by him..." ~Matthew 13.57

Controversy... What controversy?

We are now three Sunday's from the opening of Village Church and excited to see what God is going to do (and what he is already doing)!

I have been praying and thinking quite a bit about what to preach for the first sermon series. So many important things to discuss in regard to God and the gospel. I have decided to preach a sermon series called The Jesus Scandals, which will explore the God who scandalizes and challenges us. Who confronts us and our mistaken ideas about Him and ourselves in order to save us, find us, and restore us.

In this seven week series we will journey through some of the most scandalous parts of the life and teachings of Jesus, the most controversial man who ever lived, both to his own culture and to ours.

Throughout the study we explore his most controversial story, his confrontational claims and insults, his challenging teachings, his bold miracles, and his offensive death.

Come and explore the real Jesus | starting January 24th, 2010

Rosemary Heights Elementary School (Surrey, B.C.) - 10.00am

Four Ministries, and a Fifth.

2009-11-14T22:49:00.000-08:00

Village Church is launching in about ten weeks. It is amazing to think about what God has done in less than a year. Bringing people from all ages and all walks of life together around the vision of Village Church.

Since the beginning we have said that strategically we are not going to be a church that does tries to do everything because a new church which tries to do everything well, does nothing well. There are not enough people, leaders, or resources for a church plant to do everything well. So, we are not going to try. We are instead going to do our best to bring honor to God by a few things to start and to do those things with excellence.

1. Teaching Ministry
The ministry of teaching/preaching is, we believe, central to the life of the church. When the early church gathered one of their priorities was being taught the Bible (Acts 2.42). This is because being a disciple of Jesus is about being a "learner" (disciple means learner) of Jesus, which means we must be learners of Scripture, the book which is all about Jesus. This means we will unashamedly gather around the Bible every week to learn about what it looks like to love and follow Jesus in the twenty-first century.

In order to cultivate an environment of discussion and dialogue there will also be Q and A at Village Church, where you will have opportunity to ask any question you want, either on a microphone or through text messaging.

Village Church also has a Pastor (the only paid leader of Village Church) who is gifted in teaching and preaching the Bible in a challenging and relevant way, and who loves to interact with people around their questions about God, the Bible, and the cultural relevance of Christianity.

2. Worship Ministry
Worshiping God is also central to discipleship of Jesus. This is done with our whole lives, not with just singing. But singing to and about God (Acts 2.47; Eph. 5.19), reading Scripture, and expressing our love and service to Jesus through artistic mediums (original films, music etc.,) are tangible ways worship can be experiences when the corporate body of Jesus gathers.

Because this was a priority for the early church, like teaching/preaching, it is for us as well. Village Church has been blessed with some musically gifted people and a great worship leader. His desire is to serve those who gather by cultivating an atmosphere of worship each Sunday morning. Helping us focus on Jesus, in order to grow closer to Him in all things. By His grace God has gifted us with a great facility (Rosemary Heights Elementary School), and we are going to work to turn it into an fun, energetic, welcoming environment for everyone who comes and that it will help accomplish the mission of seeing lives transformed to become fully devoted followers of Jesus.

3. Children's Ministry (Village Kids) / Youth Ministry

South Surrey and the surrounding districts are full of young families. God has gifted us with two great Children's Ministry leaders. Both of them are qualified ECE educators, and directors of two separate daycare's in the GVA. Most importantly though they have a passion for both Jesus and kids. Their top priority is teaching kids about Jesus in a fun and safe environment. Rosemary Heights is a great school for the Children's Ministry of Village Church (called "Village Kids"), with lots of room, both indoor and outdoor, to play, learn and build relationships with other the kids.

What's amazing about the team God has brought together is that we also have men and women who are dedicated to seeing families flourish, and who are available to come alongside parents (together, single or otherwise) who have questions, struggles, and everyday pressures of raising a family, who are able to help carry the burden, as the apostle Paul instructs us to. We think this capacity to reach out and help young families in practical and tangible ways is going to be one way Village Church serves the community of South Surrey from the beginning.

As part of this as well we have a Youth Ministry led by a great youth minister (Jordan) who has a passion to see young people transformed to become fully devoted followers of Jesus. The Youth Ministry will likely begin with opportunities to connect relationally monthly, and a Community Group which gathers weekly to study, pray and encourage one another.

4. Community Groups
Jesus instructs His followers to love one another. One way we intend on cultivating a community of love is through what we call Community Groups. These are smaller groups (say of 10-20 people) who meet in houses, apartments, and condo's, to study,pray and support one another. This is where more intimate, authentic relationships are built and sustained. Where real community is cultivated.

These groups will give the opportunity for individuals to be shepherded, loved and guided by one another. When people are in hospital for instance, or struggling with relational issues, or any number of other things, these are the people who will help care for one another in an intimate and deliberate way. This kind of relational connectivity is one of the most unique things about Jesus' church, and we hope to establish these communities as very hospitable, and welcoming groups from the beginning.

5. Missional
The last thing to mention here is not really a ministry but an attitude, a DNA, which shapes every ministry of Village Church, and that is being missional. What we mean by this is that Village Church desires to reach people who do not yet know Jesus, and that the primary way we see this happening is that the peo

ple who make up the church, must be like Jesus in that they spend time with non-Christians to love, serve and tell them about Him. This is captured well by Ed Stetzer when he says "A missional church is not succesul by its dynamic leaders but by its dynamic members." To work and walk together, create and play together, debate and eat together, all to the glory of God.

This means that we want to be a church that lives to for the good of people and the good of the city. That serves the people of Surrey by being engaged and involved in the life of the city and its six districts. Surrey is a diverse city. The second largest in B.C. It needs missional churches to reach out and be involved in gospel-centered renewal of city-life. This is part of the long-term vision of Village Church. It must begin small though (focused on the Southern Surrey districts) and then as God leads us we will begin doing more and more to bless the city: planting churches, helping resource ministries, getting involved in community projects, etc.,. This missional DNA is adopted from our mother church, South Delta Baptist Church with its focus on church planting.

In past generations the desire to reach people for Jesus has led some churches to abandon the gospel, and others to water it down. It led some to focus only on preaching and others only on works of good deeds. For us, neither of these routes is faithful to God, nor ultimately successful in transforming people into fully devoted followers of Jesus. What is needed is a group of real and authentic people, living missional, gospel-centered lives, clearly pointing people to Jesus in both their words and their deeds. Speaking the gospel and embodying it in their actions as they seek to renew both individuals and the cities in which they live.

We want to call people to nothing less than this.

Support: Serving, Prayer, Finances

2009-10-22T00:15:00.000-07:00

Its been exciting to see Village Church develop over the last year. From 16 people meeting in my home in April to now more than 40 people being on-board as volunteers and ready to serve come Launch Sunday (January 24, 2010).

God has been doing some amazing things among us. He has brought people around the vision of VC who are passionate about partnering with Jesus to love and reach this city.

People have asked us about how they can get behind and support the church right now, even before we launch. The following are three simple ways you can get involved in this great movement God is doing.

Support: 3 Ways

Serving: We envision starting Village Church with 50 volunteers serving in different capacities (worship ministries, welcoming, set-up/take-down crew etc.,). If you feel that God is directing you to help us launch by serving in any way, email us (info@myvillagechurch.org) and let us know.

Prayer: Pray for the leaders of Village Church. That God would give us wisdom, and insight as we seek to accomplish the specific mission God has given to us as a church. Pray for the community which surrounds us as well: that many people who do not know Jesus would come to know him as Lord, Savior and Treasure through the people and ministries of Village Church.

Financially: People have asked us about how they can help support us financially. We have been very careful in answering that question because we wanted to develop the most precise budget we could in order to accomplish the goals God has given us. After a lot of research and prayer we now have a clear picture of what we need in order to start Village Church.

Available to you upon request (info@myvillagechurch.org) is a budget complete with a detailed list of items (with prices) which include children's ministry equipment, community promotions, music/tech equipment, and a variety of other costs in order to best serve South Surrey and the surrounding districts with the gospel of Jesus.

Our deep desire is to see lives transformed to live for Jesus. These are ways you can partner with us as we begin this amazing missional work.

Update: Core Values and Launch Date

2009-09-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce that Village

Church officially has a launch date: Sunday January 24,

2010! All are welcome to come and join us as we

celebrate what God is doing among us and launch our first

sermon series!

Village Church Sunday worship services will be at Rosemary Heights Elementary School, located in South Surrey (on 36th Ave., just off of 152nd). God is doing some great things among us and going before us as we pray and seek out his will.

As we lay the foundations of Village Church, here is a preview of our general Mission and some Core Values. It is exciting to see God really galvanizing these things among us as we use these to shape the specific Vision and Ministry of Village Church.

Core Values

There are certain priorities that shape and drive the mission and ministries of Village Church. These are three.

Gospel: The highest priority for Village Church is Jesus himself. Knowing him, and making him known in whatever we do. This means that the gospel, the saving message of Jesus and the means of knowing God, will be the central thing which shapes how we accomplish the mission God has given us.

Whatever Village Church does (Church services, Community Groups, Serving, Mission); it will all be based around transforming lives through the gospel of Jesus.

Culture: We seek to transform both individual lives and the culture we live in through gospel-centered ministry.

Firstly, this means that we see every Christian as a 'missionary' in the sense that they are on mission with Jesus to reach the people in their immediate lives so they come to know Him.

Secondly, this means that we seek to impact and transform the city of Surrey. Which means we will be involved in the life of the city in a posture of servanthood with the hope that we can make a positive difference in the name of Jesus.

Community: Cultivating community is another priority for Village Church. God calls us to belong to something bigger than ourselves. To love, serve and care for others. This will accomplished through different ways at Village Church, the primary way being participation in Community Groups. Being a part of a Community Group is the way Village Church can care for one another, grow larger while growing smaller, and integrate more fully into the life of the church.

---------------

Our desire as a church is to see lives transformed to live for Jesus through the gospel, community and culture.

The amazing thing is, we haven't had to wait for January.

It is already happening among us.

DNA of Village Church: Christ & Community

2009-07-22T23:44:00.000-07:00

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

The Anatomy of a Name: Village Church

2009-07-10T14:34:00.001-07:00

Names are important. We talk about the names of our children for months, debating back and forth; companies hire other companies to think up names for their company for marketing purposes; writers wrestle torturously over what to name their books, only to have it changed by the publisher. I am writing a Masters thesis right now, and while I am only half done I already know my title - which no one will actually see except the panel of men and women who have to read, and the three or four Regent College students who look at it for a paper or something between now and the second coming of Jesus (they get bound and placed in the Regent College library). The title? The Gospel of God: A Critical Examination of the "Sonderweg" Reading of Romans 9-11. I told you no one would read it.

So, when it came to naming the church which we are planting out of South Delta Baptist Church in South Surrey the challenge was on. First, we knew we could not name it South Delta Baptist Church for obvious reasons - it was not located in South Delta, but in Surrey. We knew it had to be something that made sense to South Surrey, something that connected to the people who live here - it had to be a missional and incarnational name. Secondly, it had to convey some of our values as a church.

Things to Stay Away From

The basic rule of thumb for naming churches today is that you try not to be explicitly geographically bound in your name, because it is limiting. For instance, when a church is called by its town name it has to work harder to include people from other towns which may be attracted to the church. And as today's churches move toward multi-site venues, video sermons, and campuses connected through movie-theatres etc., it is again limiting. For instance if my friends church, The Meeting House in Oakville was called Oakville Church - then what sense would that make to their Toronto sites, nevertheless to their new Ottawa site that gathers at a Famous Players in Ottawa?

We also wanted to stay away from trendy names because the one thing we know about trends is that they don't continue - sooner or later they stop being trendy and become, well, just look at your wedding photos and you know what I'm talking about. Many in this category choose not to have the word "church" in their name. From the outset we wanted to have "church" in our name. We are not a company, we are not a abstract entity, we are a church and telling people that in your name is, we thought, very important.

From names of churches already in the GVA for obvious reason, though this is not a hard and fast rule, many churches share names with other churches even in the same city! There may be another Village Church in the GVA but we couldn't find it.

Names that sound more like specified ministries. Churches today sometimes name themselves so that they sound like ministries instead of churches: The Warehouse, Elevation, The Highway. I am not being critical of these names, again, very successful church are named in this category (Guts Church) its just not the direction we wanted to go.

Names that mean nothing to anyone who is not a Christian or who does not speak Greek or Latin. Some churches like to be abstract so they name their church with a very Christian word, usually from Latin or Greek (i.e., Ekklesia, Imago Dei, Koinonia) which is something we also wanted to stay away from.

Names that need a lot of explanation. Its not wrong to have a name that may need some clarification if, for no other reason than to get a conversation started. So something like Mosaic Church is alright because then people say why Mosaic - "well because it is made up of many different cultures, and a wide variety of people." But sometimes church names are too abstract and again too Christian and need so much explanation: The Holy Tabernacle of the Anointed Ones, The Foundation Stone Temple Worship Centre, Church of the Incarnation., etc., etc.,

Why Village Church?

This is how it happened. I was away on vacation in March reading and thinking about

everything in regard to the church (and swimming in a very cold "hot tub" with my daughter, but that is for another day): How are we going to reach people? Who lives in South Surrey? What should we be called? One evening on that vacation we were talking to two members of what would go on to be the Core Launch Team over Skype and she said "What about Village Church?" - I liked it initially, but knew it was one word away from being the same name of church as a great preacher I listen to every week - The Village Church (Matt Chandler). So I told my wife that and she said "Where is that church?"... "Texas, I guess that's far enough away right?"

So I stuck it in the back of my mind, and it kept surfacing throughout the months. Once the Core Launch Team was assembled I gave them the assignment: research South Surrey, read your Bibles, and email me ideas. I expected lists and lists of names but that was not the case - people kept saying they liked Village Church. And then we moved into South Surrey and it all started to make sense. Everything in South Surrey is marketed as a village. You drive in over

the highway and the first thing you see is a massive sign with big block letters that says VILLAGE LIFE, promoting the condo/shopping complex they are building. On your way out you drive past a sign for a real estate developer whose website is southsurreyvillage.com - and all the housing complexes are marketed as creating a village lifestyle -

When I saw that I began to warm up to the idea that maybe we didn't need something completely original - and Texas was a long way away. Then we began to talk about what the idea of a village conveys to people: community, relationships, depending on one another, small in the midst of big, hospitality, etc.,. All of these cut to the heart of our values as a church.

I tested the name out on people I knew. Different reactions. Some scowled and said "It reminds me a horror movie" (referring, of course, to the M. Night Shamaylan movie The Village), and others "it reminds me of the Village People," all of which I took seriously - because it matters. Others said "it sounds welcoming" and "it sounds like you are building a community" - "it conveys relationship" - and even some who originally thought of a horror movie started coming back and saying "it is growing on me, I like it now."

In the end the Core Launch Team really adopted it, leadership at SDBC liked it and we decided that it really did communicate well to our demographic here in South Surrey.

I am still debating though, on Launch Sunday in January 2010, whether I should dress up like a police officer, or a construction worker. We'll see.

Why Plant Churches? (Part 3) - Tim Keller

2009-07-03T14:07:00.001-07:00

'But,' many people say, 'what about all the existing churches that need help? You seem to be ignoring them.' Not at all. We also plant churches because--

We want to continually RENEW THE WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST. It is a great mistake to think that we have to choose between church planting and church renewal. Strange as it may seem, the planting of new churches in a city is one of the very best ways to revitalize many older churches in the vicinity and renew the whole Body of Christ. Why?

1. First, the new churches bring new ideas to the whole Body. There is plenty of resistance to the idea that we need to plant new churches to reach the constant stream of 'new' groups and generations and residents. Many congregations insist that all available resources should be used to find ways of helping existing churches reach them. However, there is no better way to teach older congregations about new skills and methods for reaching new people groups than by planting new churches. It is the new churches that will have freedom to be innovative and they become the 'Research and Development' department for the whole Body in the city. Often the older congregations were too timid to try a particular approach or were absolutely sure it would 'not work here'. But when the new church in town succeeds wildly with some new method, the other churches eventually take notice and get the courage to try it themselves.

2. Second, new churches are one of the best ways to surface creative, strong leaders for the whole Body. In older congregations, leaders emphasize tradition, tenure, routine, and kinship ties. New congregations, on the other hand, attract a higher percentage of venturesome people who value creativity, risk, innovation and future orientation. Many of these men and women would never be attracted or compelled into significant ministry apart from the appearance of these new bodies. Often older churches 'box out' many people with strong leadership skills who cannot work in more traditional settings. New churches thus attract and harness many people in the city whose gifts would otherwise not be utilized in the work of the Body. These new leaders benefit the whole city-Body eventually.

3. Third, the new churches challenge other churches to self-examination. The "success" of new churches often challenges older congregations in general to evaluate themselves in substantial ways. Sometimes it is only in contrast with a new church that older churches can finally define their own vision, specialties, and identity. Often the growth of the new congregation gives the older churches hope that 'it can be done', and may even bring about humility and repentance for defeatist and pessimistic attitudes. Sometimes, new congregations can partner with older churches to mount ministries that neither could do by themselves.

4. Fourth, the new church may be an 'evangelistic feeder' for a whole community. The new church often produces many converts who end up in older churches for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the new church is very exciting and outward facing but is also very unstable or immature in its leadership. Thus some converts cannot stand the tumultuous changes that regularly come through the new church and they move to an existing church. Sometimes the new church reaches a person for Christ, but the new convert quickly discovers that he or she does not 'fit' the socio-economic make up of the new congregation, and gravitates to an established congregation where the customs and culture feels more familiar. Ordinarily, the new churches of a city produce new people not only for themselves, but for the older bodies as well.

Sum: Vigorous church planting is one of the best ways to renew the existing churches of a city, as well as the best single way to grow the whole Body of Christ in a city.

Why Plant Churches? (Part 2) - Tim Keller

2009-06-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

1. New churches best reach a) new generations, b) new residents, and c) new people groups. First (a) younger adults have always been disproportionately found in newer congregations. Long-established congregations develop traditions (such as time of worship, length of service, emotional responsiveness, sermon topics, leadership-style, emotional atmosphere, and thousands of other tiny customs and mores), which reflect the sensibilities of long-time leaders from the older generations who have the influence and money to control the church life. This does not reach younger generations. Second, (b) new residents are almost always reached better by new congregations. In older congregations, it may require tenure of 10 years before you are allowed into places of leadership and influence, but in a new church, new residents tend to have equal power with long-time area residents.

Last, (c) new socio-cultural groups in a community are always reached better by new congregations. For example, if new white-collar commuters move into an area where the older residents were farmers, it is likely that a new church will be more receptive to the myriad of needs of the new residents, while the older churches will continue to be oriented to the original social group. And new racial groups in a community are best reached by a new church that is intentionally multi-ethnic from the start. For example: if an all-Anglo neighborhood becomes 33% Hispanic, a new, deliberately bi-racial church will be far more likely to create 'cultural space' for newcomers than will an older church in town. Finally, brand new immigrant groups nearly always can only be reached by churches ministering in their own language. If we wait

until a new group is assimilated into American culture enough to come to our church, we will wait for years without reaching out to them.

[Note: Often, a new congregation for a new people-group can be planted within the overall structure of an existing church. It may be a new Sunday service at another time, or a new network of house churches that are connected to a larger, already existing congregation. Nevertheless, though it may technically not be a new independent congregation, it serves the same function.]

In summary, new congregations empower new people and new peoples much more quickly and readily than can older churches. Thus they always have and always will reach them with greater facility than long-established bodies. This means, of course, that church planting is not only for 'frontier regions' or 'pagan' countries that we are trying to see become Christian. Christian countries will have to maintain vigorous, extensive church planting simply to stay Christian!

2. New churches best reach the unchurched--period. Dozens of denominational studies have confirmed that the average new church gains most of its new members (60-80%) from the ranks of people who are not attending any worshipping body, while churches over 10 years of age gain 80-90% of new members by transfer from other congregations. This means that the average new congregation will bring 6-8 times more new people into the life of the Body of Christ than an older congregation of the same size.

So though established congregations provide many things that newer churches often cannot, older churches in general will never be able to match the effectiveness of new bodies in reaching people for the kingdom. Why would this be? As a congregation ages, powerful internal institutional pressures lead it to allocate most of its resources and energy toward the concerns of its members and constituents, rather than toward those outside its walls. This is natural and to a great degree desirable. Older congregations therefore have a stability and steadiness that many people thrive on and need. This does not mean that established churches cannot win new people. In fact, many non-Christians will only be reached by churches with long roots in the community and the trappings of stability and respectability.

However, new congregations, in general, are forced to focus on the needs of its non-members, simply in order to get off the ground. So many of its leaders have come very recently from the ranks of the un-churched, that the congregation is far more sensitive to the concerns of the non-believer. Also, in the first two years of our Christian walk, we have far more close, face-to- face relationships with non-Christians than we do later. Thus a congregation filled with people fresh from the ranks of the un-churched will have the power to invite and attract many more non-believers into the events and life of the church than will the members of the typical established body.

What does this mean practically? If we want to reach our city--should we try to renew older congregations to make them more evangelistic, or should we plant lots of new churches? But that question is surely a false either-or dichotomy. We should do both! Nevertheless, all we have been saying proves that, despite the occasional exceptions, the only widescale way to bring in lots of new Christians to the Body of Christ in a permanent way is to plant new churches.

To throw this into relief, imagine Town-A and Town-B and Town-C are the same size, and they each have 100 churches of 100 persons each. But in Town-A, all the churches are over 15 years old, and then the overall number of active Christian churchgoers in that town will be shrinking, even if four or five of the churches get very 'hot' and double in attendance. In Town-B, 5 of the churches are under 15 years old, and they along with several older congregations are winning new people to Christ, but this only offsets the normal declines of the older churches. Thus the overall number of active Christian churchgoers in that town will be staying the same. Finally, in Town-C, 30 of the churches are under 15 years old. In this town, the overall number of active Christian churchgoers will be on a path to grow 50% in a generation.

Why Plant Churches?

2009-06-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

The following is a list of the 6 reasons[1] that SDBC’s leadership (Pastors, Directors and Elders) decided to make church planting a central part of The Mission of our church in January 2008.

It is Biblical: In the Great Commission Jesus lists several tasks relating to congregations: going, baptizing, and teaching. These are the ways, Jesus says, that the church is going to make disciples. The “earliest church believed they were fulfilling the Great Commission by planting new congregations. The Great Commission calls us to evangelize and to congregationalize.”[2] Also, the church in Antioch committed itself to sending leaders from their congregation to plant churches in other geographic areas (Acts 13-14). This is why church planting authority Ed Stetzer says “The New Testament points to the fact that new churches and church planting are direct and inevitable consequences of believer’s involvement in witnessing and proclamation.”

To reach the lost: Studies show that “The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches.”[3] It has been shown that established churches make greater progress in kingdom evangelism by initiating new daughter churches. “New churches are more effective than large churches, particularly in evangelism. On a per-capita basis, new churches win more people to Christ than established churches.”

Bruce McNichol explains the findings of his research in Interest Magazine:

- Churches under three years of age win an average of ten people to Christ per year for every one hundred church members.

- Churches three to fifteen years of age win an average of five people per year for every one hundred church members.

- Church over fifteen years of age win an average of three people per year for every one hundred church members.[4]

Tim Keller, lead pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, known all over North America as an inspiring model of a church that plants churches, says “no single church, no matter how large and active, can all by itself change an entire area. We must saturate areas with gospel-centered new churches. This is the only way to truly insure the transformation of our cities that we so much desire.”[5]

To develop new leaders: Like Jesus developed the twelve and like Paul developed Timothy, Titus and other Elders and Pastors, new churches have the opportunity to develop people who would not otherwise have stepped up to lead, serve or minister because those roles in established church have already been filled.[6] Planting churches helps SDBC to accomplish one of our other main goals central to The Mission: to train and develop new leaders for the Church within Canada. Central to this is the idea that we train and send more and more people to plant churches in our immediate area and beyond, our “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1.8) – a paradigmatic text for both Acts and for the church in general. Our vision is to be an Antioch church, which is not afraid to identify, train and send the best of us (Paul and Barnabas).

To grow the Kingdom of God: Ed Stetzer says, “A maturing kingdom awareness is more important than a local church mentality…Leaders who are unwilling to make organizational sacrifices for the benefit of the kingdom become stunted in both growth and in understanding God’s larger purpose.” This kingdom mentality has always been central to SDBC, and is seen in our global mission focus; this will help us direct those efforts toward a local mission focus. This is why one of the visions of the book Discipling Our Nation: Equipping the Canadian Church for its Mission, published by Outreach Canada, is that each local church plants “at least two daughter churches: first to replace itself and second to extend the Kingdom.”[7] There is great wisdom in such a vision for the local church.

Growth and Health of SDBC: Studies show that Mother Churches often experience a surge of energy and excitement from the existing congregation when they plant a church because they see God’s people sacrificing and multiplying and because they are seeing the kingdom grow. Tim Keller points out that planting new churches is “perhaps the best way to renew and re-vitalize older churches and enhance all ministries.” He says, “The mother church usually experiences a surge of high-esteem and an influx of new enthusiastic leaders and members. There is usually an increase in numbers and confidence.”[8]

Churches who have church planting as part of their DNA attract leaders. Churches who have church planting as part of their DNA attract leaders. There is a church in Vancouver which began about 4 years ago with 20 or so people which always had church planting at its heart. It is now over 600 people, and there are multiple church planters who intern at the church to be sent out. This church also hosts a gathering of church planters once a month for teaching, equipping and prayer. Part of that growth and health comes back to the priority of leaving a lasting legacy: Our lead Pastor (Paul Johnson) often says that planting new churches will “help our church have a legacy long after we are dead and gone. A hundred years from now there could be churches existing all over BC because of our efforts.” We can be a part of stamping Canada and reaching beyond the geographic boundaries of where our local churches exist.

To increase the number of evangelical, Gospel-centered churches: In an age of bad doctrine, and theological challenges to the historic Christian faith, our denomination (Fellowship Baptist), and our church specifically, need’s to extend its influence. We are responsible for what we do with who and what we have, and cannot assume that other churches are preaching the Gospel and doing Gospel-centered ministry.

This is the aforementioned reasons The Fellowship now has church multiplication as a top priority. The director of the Fellowship, Dr. Jon Kaiser said in his 2007 address to the Fellowship: “What is the best contribution we can make? I believe each region should see it’s calling as growing and multiplying healthy churches. We should be involved in leadership development, community outreach, and church multiplication.” The more churches that carry the gospel into different areas the better. This is why it is necessary that “the local church DNA comes to believe that every church should plant churches.”[9] In this sense we can set the tone and inspire many other churches in The Fellowship to follow our lead as we follow the lead of Dr. Kaiser and others.

[1] More reasons can be explored in Paul Beker and Mark Williams, The Dynamic Daughter Church Planting Handbook.

[2] Ed Stetzer, Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age, 33.

[3] C. Peter Wagner, Church Planting for Greater Harvest, 11. See also Tim Keller, Advancing the Gospel into the 21^st Century, 3: “New Churches are by far the best way to reach (1) new generations, (2) new residents, and (3) new people groups. Studies show that newer churches attract new groups about 6-10 times better and faster then older, established churches do.”

[4] Cited in Aubrey Malphrus, Planting Growing Churches for the 21^st Century, 44.

[5] Tim Keller, http://www.redeemer2.com/rupc/rupc/index.cfm.

[6] See Ed Stetzer, Planting New Churches, 322; Tim Keller, Advancing the Gospel into the 21^st Century, 3.

[7] Murray Moerman, “Discipling Canada and the Nations” in Murray Moerman ed., Discipling Our Nation: Equipping the Canadian Church for its Mission, 7; see also Murray Moerman and Lorne Hunter, “Saturation Church Planting: Current Needs & Recent Progress,” 20: “Every church, in fact, must contribute to these emerging church planting movements by planting at least two new congregations while it is able” one to replace itself, because, like humans, no congregation lives forever, and a second to extend the Kingdom” (14). He goes on to point out that at the end of 2003 evangelical churches in Canada existed at the ration of 1 for every 3, 189 Canadians.

[8] Tim Keller, Advancing the Gospel into the 21^st Century, 3: “I know of a small congregation in our area who had filled 100 seats twice to max 4 years in a row. Finally they sent 50 people out to a new town to form a new church. Just two years later there were 350 people coming to the daughter church and the mother church had filled its seats back up in three weeks.

[9] Murray Moerman and Lorne Hunter, “Saturation Church Planting: Current Needs & Recent Progress,” 17.

South Surrey Church Campus

2009-05-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

"The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches." (C. Peter Wagner)

We, at South Delta Baptist Church, have decided to plant a church campus in South Surrey BC to publicly launch formal services in early 2010. We are excited that Pastor Mark Clark and SDBC both feel that God has identified him from our community as the Campus Pastor.

Village Church be a campus of SDBC for an undetermined amount of time which means it will exist under the Eldership of SDBC - we will be one family - sharing stories, resources, and people - doing our best to expand the kingdom of God around the GVA in communities of love, faith and hope - faithfully preaching and living for the fame and glory of God in Jesus, in unity.

Pastor Mark has identified and gathered a Core Launch Team (CLT) to help serve and develop the plans for the church. The CLT (16 people) meet every Tuesday night at 7pm to pray, plan, study and dream about the direction God is leading them.

The Plan

-Pastor Mark moved into South Surrey in March 2009.

-CLT started meeting in April 2009 (weekly).

-The CLT will get involved in community events (Summer 2009).

-Community Groups will launch in different locations in South Surrey (Sept. 2009).

-Community Groups will all gather together for times of connection and vision-casting once a month from Sept - Dec.

-Soft Launch #1: Christmas Eve Service

-Soft Launch #2: January

-Soft Launch #3: February

-Begin public church services Feb./Mar. 2010.

Some Facts about Surrey

The slogan for the city seems fitting for our new church - the slogan is "City of Surrey: the future lives here." Surrey is BC'a second-largest city by population after the city of Vancouver. The six "town centres" comprising the City of Surrey are: Fleetwood, Whalley/City Centre, Guildford, Newton, Cloverdale, and South Surrey.^[2]

Surrey’s name came from Queen Victoria. She had named New Westminster, thus it is called the Royal City. In England, across the Thames from Westminster is the County of Surrey. It seemed appropriate that across the river from New Westminster there should also be a Surrey. Surrey was named by the first Clerk of the Municipal Council, Mr. H. J. Brewer, around 1880. "Due to the geographic similarity of this district to that of County Surrey in England, in relation to Westminster, I suggest it be named Surrey, British Columbia."

In 2007, the population of Surrey was 461,150, a 17 percent increase from the 2001 population - Vancouver itself boasts of a population of 611,869 - Surrey, many believe, will bypass Vancouver in population in the next five years - it is the second largest city in BC and the fastest growing in the province.

Religious affiliation

25.8% No religious affiliation
19.2% Sikh
16.2% Roman Catholic
11.0% Protestant
6.4% Other Christian
2.9% Muslim
2.8% Hindu
1.9% Buddhist

We are excited as a church to be doing our best to listen to Jesus and to the moving of the Spirit as he calls churches all over the world to plant other church-planting church so we can reach as many as possible with the life changing message of the gospel.

We will keep this blog up to date as to what is happening in regard to this exciting venture - please pray for us as all involved are fully dependent on our gracious God.