Other posts in this series:

• Missional Church? Be Prepared To Lose
• Missional Church? Be Prepared To Get Dirty
  

Local churches that are networked locally and regionally have the best possible chance to incarnate the gospel in a neighbourhood. Whether a denominational church or an independent church, whether a house church or an established church, local Jesus-communities need to help each other, inspire each other, resource each other, and "work together for the good of the city" [that's TrueCity's tagline - TrueCity is one of the networks The Freeway is involved in].

Gone are the days when, like an island unto themselves, local churches could hoard their resources, build their own kingdom, run all their in-house programs, and maintain "their" thing alone, etc. Well, maybe those days are not gone... but they should be.

What we need to continue to do is re-imagine ways to work together. We need to ask the question together, "What is God up to in this place?" and then find out how we can collaborate in order to join him.

How has that played out at The Freeway over the years? Or what networks are we a part of?

Resonate - www.resonate.ca
A few years ago a group of friends and I decided to start a Canadian network "of people seeking out Jesus Christ in a world and country that is transitioning from the modern to the postmodern era. [Resonate] is a group of people who are looking at new ways of living out the faith in holistic ways."

Through Resonate we have started regional Echos [a series of conversations hosted by Resonate on theology, worship, church and Christianity in today’s rapidly changing culture], a national e-mail discussion list, and local Greenhouses [which are basically organic networks for church planters and those interested in creating new forms of church. We get together about every six weeks all across Canada, we tell stories, we inspire one another].

Cultivate Gathering - www.cultivategathering.com
A couple years ago, tired of the "same old, same old" conferences and big name speakers spouting off what they wrote in their latest book, and realizing that networking and conversation was the way we wanted to learn, we started a learning party to gather folks and create conversations, tell stories, and inspire one another.

Cultivate has allowed us the opportunity to hob knob with very cool people who are doing new and exciting and innovative things in the church in a distinctly Canadian context. Most of these folks "fly under the radar" of traditional networks/conferences/etc.

TrueCity Network - www.truecity.ca
TrueCity is a local Hamilton network of "churches working together for the good of the city." They host a conference once a year, They have neighbourhood networks of leaders and people from various geographic regions in Hamilton. They help and inspire each other.

We are still really finding our way in TrueCity [and they are continuing to find their way as well] as we have only recently gotten involved, but the friendships we and partnerships we are making so far have been invaluable to us. On Thursday this week I will be attending an all-day meeting with the TrueCity to help figure out the next steps for the network.

Allelon - www.allelon.org
We, at The Freeway, have been learning from Alan Roxburgh and others at Allelon for just over a year now. Him and I have really hit it off on a personal level as well.

This spring we are launching an Allelon Training Centre [the first one in Canada] which aims to "provide practical, affordable and flexible training for all church leaders. Delivered by men and women with hands-on experience of mission in the United States and Canada, the program aims to enable leaders and potential leaders to transform their thinking, their lives, and their ways of being church." You should go and read all about it, and consider registering for our Summer Institute.

Labels: church planting, leadership, the freeway, training centre, writing

• Last week I spoke six times in seven days. Tiring. I spoke at The Freeway twice, at SCD twice, and at Innovare [a gathering for Canadian Salvation Army youth workers] twice. All of these events were fantastic, but I was tired at the end of it all.
  
• Cultivate Gathering is coming up quickly... it's happening on Saturday, March 29th at The Freeway. If you haven't already done so, you should register. It's a good time, for sure. Cultivate is a learning party meant to inspire church planters and those interested in creating mission-shaped churches.
• In April I will be speaking at a big youth event in St. John's, NFLD. I am excited because I get to travel with one of my good buddies and visit a place I have never been. Hopefully, I will find something challenging and inspiring to say to the youth gathered.
  
• In May I want to go out to Vancouver, and I am looking for places to speak in order to help pay my way. I don't have any dates nailed down yet, but if you know of a venue that would possibly be interested in having me, please drop me a line: pernell@frwy.ca
• This summer we will be launching an Allelon Training Centre in Hamilton which I am directing. We are hosting a Summer Institute from July 7-11. The two courses we are offering are "missional church: it's nature and purpose" which I will instruct, and "mission-shaped groups: structures for missional formation" which Alan Roxburgh will instruct. You can register for the Summer Institute courses here.
  

Labels: leadership, speaking, training centre

Since moving to Hamilton in 2001 to start The Freeway, I have not really had an office space. There is a room in the basement of the coffee house which I could use as an office, but it's in the basement [no windows], it's not wheelchair accessible [important for me to be accessible to all members of our community], and it's too quiet [I have grown used to being in community to work and be creative... I enjoy collaboration and synergy].

I work on the go a lot... in cafes, restaurants, my house, etc. Our staff meetings and cohort meetings [and any other meetings or appointments I have] are usually in public places such as our coffee house.

In order to accomplish the work I need to do, being mobile is super-imperative. The following are pieces of technological genius that help make me more productive in my transient state:

My Sony VAIO FE series notebook. I've had it for almost a year now, and I still love it. It's still in great shape, works well, has never crashed [knock on wood].

My only complaint is that the video card is not the best in the world... I may upgrade that.

I have never been a big fan of Macs [and my tribe The Salvation Army won't approve of purchasing Macs as we have a national IT department, so standardization is important - they only allow certain brands of PCs, etc.]. And I have thoroughly enjoyed using PCs. I have blogged before about my feelings about Macs... I haven't changed my mind.

Sony gets mixed reviews about its notebooks, but I have been pretty impressed with mine. In fact, it is highly likely that my next computer will be a VAIO.

My BlackBerry Curve smartphone. I picked this up in January in hopes of having easier access to my e-mail while in transit. I wasn't sure I'd like it because the keys are pretty small [I am not much of a texter], but I got used to it and now I am really happy.

The GPS feature is pretty cool, and having access to the internet while on the road is handy... maps and information about places are good when travelling places you have never been before.

The camera in the Blackberry is really good too. In fact, the pictures are as good as any digital camera I have owned [not that any of my camera's have been very good].

It's funny, I always thought Blackberry's were kind of dumb, but the busier I get, the more I appreciate accomplishing more while I'm on the go.

My iPod Classic. All my tunes, a bunch of my photos, and a whole whack of videos, and still room to expand. Nice.

I love listening to music [especially ambient] while I am working and creating. And recently I have started downloading some podcasts, something I never thought I'd enjoy.

I find it handy to take presentations with me wherever I go, store files and photos, and share my videos and stuff with people while I am in conversation with them... don't worry, I still doodle on napkins while talking.

I just purchased my iPod a few weeks ago. Now I wonder how I ever lived so long without an iPod... OK, that's an exaggeration, but still.

In a future post I will tell you about all the software I use on my computer [most of it is free]. Jordon Cooper recently did that and I found it so interesting how similar our lists of software are.

Labels: blogging, leadership

My friend, Steve Taylor, has a great post about daily Bible reading:

I was listening to someone rant this week. Discipleship was poor in the church. The evidence? Well, only 21% of people said they read their Bibles daily.

I thought back to the early Jews. They had hand-copied scrolls in the Synagogue. They never had a Bible to read daily.

I thought back to the first disciples. They never had a book. Although they did have the stories of Jesus to tell to each other.

I thought back to the church before the printing press. They had hand-copied scrolls in the church. They never had a Bible to read daily.

So isn't daily Bible reading as a mark of discipleship simply a contemporary phenomenon, based on the fact that due to the printing press and internet, we now have Bibles we can read daily?

I thought back to Jesus. When asked about eternal life in Luke 10. He quotes the Bible, mixing two Bible texts from different contexts. Then he creates a story from contemporary culture (the one about robbers and Samaritans and religious leaders). Then he says go and do likewise. That is discipleship for Jesus. Nothing to do with reading the Bible daily. Simply the ability to relate the Bible to everyday contemporary life in a way that changes behaviour.

Using that story, yes discipleship will include using the Bible. Although not necessarily daily and privately. And it must also include the number of contemporary stories told in church. And it also must include the way lives are lived.

I couldn't agree more.

Labels: friends, leadership

I previously mentioned that I was co-leading a session with Alan Roxburgh of Allelon at the TrueCity conference at the end of February.

Part one of the video of our session is up at Allelon now, and you can view it here if you are interested. Part two will be up soon... I'll keep you posted.

Labels: leadership, videos

This weekend is the TrueCity conference in Hamilton, ON. TrueCity is a network of churches in town who collaborate together and encourage and inspire each other to become more and more present in our respective neighbourhoods. The Freeway has been part of TrueCity for about a year now and have thoroughly enjoyed learning with the other fine folks in the network who are also trying to figure out what bringing God's shalom into a neighbourhood looks like.

I am leading two sessions at the conference this year:

• The first one, I am excited to be co-leading with Alan Roxburgh - my buddy and one of my mentors - called "growing missional leaders." Alan is a Canadian guru when it comes to developing missional leaders and congregations and is one of the key voices at Allelon. It is an honour to be "sharing the mic" with him.
• The second one, I am leading on my own and it is called "the gospel in our urban context."

I will try and make podcasts and notes of the two sessions available after the conference... although I have a funny feeling that Bill Kinnon will be there shooting video for Allelon.

I am spending the day tomorrow with Alan and his wife Jane working on developing our Allelon Training Centre which we are opening soon in Hamilton... and working out how we will lead our session together at TrueCity. Good times.

Labels: leadership, speaking

I am a contributor to a brand spankin' new missional community blog facilitated by Allelon called "Missional Journey", which focuses on:

• mission-shaped leadership
• re-connecting and engaging the “worlds” in which we live
• stories of engaging and listening to our context(s)
• the gospel and our modern Western culture
• Allelon initiatives

Other contributors to the blog include people from all over the world like: Andrew Jones, Len Hjalmarson, and Paul Fromont. Check it out... and add it to your blog feed reader.

Labels: blogging, leadership

The old blog hasn't been too cheery as of late. Sorry about that. It's not because there aren't good things happening in our family or our community... it's just been a rough go, that's all.

How about "the bright side" for a change:

• The Freeway has a new church planting intern, Jason Dockeray, who I am excited to be coaching. Jason and his wife Kristen will be planting a church community in the northeast end of downtown Hamilton a year or so from now. Very cool. I am sure I will update you as things progress.
• [CML] was granted some more support by The Salvation Army, allowing us to reduce the cost of registration [at least for the first year]. If you are still considering joining us for six months of mission training in an urban community, you should jump on. If you don't know anything about [CML] check this out. This will prove to be a fantastic experience.
  
• Cultivate Gathering - our learning party - is coming up on November 17, and it is almost sold-out. If you are considering going, drop me a line asap so I can save you a spot.
• I am away for the next two weeks: Next week from Monday to Thursday I am in Vancouver for a leadership retreat with the other "35 under 35" finalists. The week after I am in Ottawa at Imagine - the national church planting congress - with Jason Dockeray & Jordan Donald from The Freeway and some other friends from all over.
• Our family is coming through the darkness of the past few weeks and are beginning to breathe and see light and function "normal" again. I am thankful to God for his healing in our lives and for the wonderful community of friends and spiritual family he has surrounded us by. We are very fortunate people.

I will be posting whenever I can in the next couple weeks and will hopefully be back to giving you a little more than depressing thoughts and drivel.

Labels: church planting, leadership, personal, the freeway

Cultivate Missional Living [CML] is a six month training course for people who want to learn how to engage in mission in an urban community.

[CML] takes place in the Beasley neighbourhood in downtown Hamilton, Ontario - one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada - and is hosted by The Freeway.

[CML] is supported by Allelon, Resonate, and The Salvation Army.

For more information about [CML] or to receive an application form, please contact the [CML] director, Jordan Donald, by e-mail [jordan@frwy.ca] or by phone: 905-929-0890.

Labels: church planting, leadership, the freeway, the salvation army

Other posts in this series:

• Missional Church? Be Prepared To Lose
• Missional Church? Be Prepared To Work Together
  

One of the lessons we are learning at The Freeway in the past few years as we attempt to be a living Kingdom community in our neck of the woods in downtown Hamilton, is that it is impossible to be an active Jesus community in a neighbourhood without being... well... ah... active. That is, unless we were willing to get our hands dirty and be involved in our neighbourhood, it would be impossible for us to incarnate the gospel in this place.

We live in a diverse community with many:

• impoverished people
• street kids
  
• single moms
• retired folks
• new Canadians
• folks with physical and developmental disabilities
  
• artists and musicians
• young professionals
  
• folks with mental health issues
  
• etc.

Ours is not a "one-size-fits-all" neighbourhood [or church community]. On a daily basis we encounter folks who face all sorts of challenges in their lives: financial, emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, etc. Being part of The Freeway means that you are faced, first-hand, with what it means to live with and minister to people [and receive ministry from people] who:

• Crap their pants during church. Smell terrible. And haven't the sense to excuse themselves and go clean up.
• Have job interviews and come in looking for you because they need a pair of pants, because they don't have unsoiled pants to wear at the job interview you've helped them prepare for.
• Think that sex is the only way they can validate who they are, or make a living, or find love, or stay in the country. So they exploit others or are themselves exploited.
• Have to choose between baby formula and their next fix. They really don't know which would be the better choice for their family.
• Have been rejected by their family, friends and community because of their sexual orientation, or loss of work, or religious confusion, or a decision they made when they were a kid.
• Are desperate for God. But have been rejected by the church, or can't make their way through the religious mumbo jumbo, or don't know where to begin, or feel unworthy.
• Just need to eat a meal, or get a hug, or talk with another human being.
  

And on and on it goes. Everyone has a story, it seems. And in our community we are involved in those stories, and many more, on a daily basis. It's not romantic, or heroic, or adventurous, it's just the life we've chosen to live. This is the place we believe God has placed us. The often abandoned place. The place where Jesus is present in those we give some groceries to... we meet him there. The place where Jesus is present in those we embrace with a hug or a conversation... we meet him there. The place where Jesus is present in those we welcome into our homes and share a meal with... we meet him there.

Are we concerned about salvation? Of course we are. We talk about Jesus - The Way - at every possible turn. We live for Jesus and act like Jesus as much as we can. We fail. We fall short. We struggle to see people like he does. We struggle to love people like he does. But we want to. And more than that we are really trying to. We get discouraged, and frustrated, and think maybe we made a mistake in coming here, but we can't escape the feeling that Jesus is with us. And he wants us here.

We proclaim the gospel. But it happens relationally more than anything else. People here don't need us to shout answers at them to questions they aren't asking. They need us to love them. They need to see Jesus, in an approachable, authentic, living example as much as they need to hear about him.

If we are serious about creating a mission-shaped church, then we need to understand that "sharing the gospel" means sharing our very lives, rolling up our sleeves, getting dirty, sharing in people's story, and sharing God's most amazing story as well.

Please don't get the wrong idea, it isn't just in huge moments and huge crises all the time. Most of the time, it's in the hum drum day-to-day-ness of simply living, listening for the Spirit, thinking consciously and intentionally about how we "spend ourselves", and responding to our neighbours the best that we can.

Labels: church planting, leadership, the freeway, writing

In July, I had mentioned that I was one of the finalists in the 35 Under 35 National Recognition Project. Well, Christian Week Magazine has featured all 35 finalists in an issue of their magazine entitled "Surge" which I think is now available [or will be really soon].

Apparently, I made the cover:


You can read the article about me here [click on image to enlarge]:




Check out www.christianweek.org or click here for a PDF version of the issue, to read about the other 34 finalists.

Labels: leadership, personal

I am lucky to have the friends that I have. I have really been blessed to be surrounded by people who care about me, inspire me, and help me in tremendous ways.

• In the past few weeks I have re-connected with quite a few friends that I haven't seen/hung out with for a while, and have really been inspired while eating, laughing, and dreaming with them.
• I am involved in a few new[ish] initiatives and have met with friends to plan and dream about them. I am so excited about the projects I am currently involved with, and the ones I soon will be involved with.
  
• I have had some good quality time with people I deeply love in the past few weeks. After a summer of mostly dis-connection, that has been absolutely refreshing.
• Today I spent a whole day with the cohort from The Freeway, planning, dreaming, training, laughing. Good times. We recently added three new members and today was our first meeting all together. There is already tons of synergy and connection. It is going to be a fantastic year together, I think.

Labels: friends, leadership, the freeway

Apparently I was chosen as one of the finalists for the 35 under 35 national recognition project. Just being nominated (hundreds were) was a thrill and an honour, but to have been chosen as one of the top 35 nominated Christian leaders under the age of 35 in Canada... wow, I am blown away!

The award comes with some perks too, including an Arrow Leadership retreat this fall in Vancouver, an article featuring each of the finalists in Christian Week Magazine (which we get a year's subscription to), a luncheon for the finalists featuring Brian McLaren, etc.

Thank you so much to those of you who thought enough of me to nominate me. I am seriously speechless.

Labels: leadership, personal

Other posts in this series:

• Missional Church? Be Prepared To Get Dirty
• Missional Church? Be Prepared To Work Together
  

There are several shifts which we made a few years ago in terms of measuring the missionality of our community at The Freeway. Some of these fly in the face of how the evangelical Church (at least in our circles) has generally done things in the past number of decades, particularly since the church growth movement took root.

One of those shifts was that we decided we could likely not continue to measure "success" as we always had - by attracting numbers: money, people, programs, projects, mission trips, souls saved, etc. We needed new markers, as it were, to know if we were becoming more Jesus-y. Here's what one Freewayer said a few weeks ago about this whole "numbers game":

The idea of success being measured by numbers is so ingrained in who we are that its hard to escape. How much money we make, how many friends we have on facebook... it's so difficult to measure success in any other way, and so we continually fall back on numbers. Whether its business or church, how many people attend, how many people consume your product, how many sales you can make are all key markers. In fact, I'd argue that Christian colleges are producing Christian CEO's more than pastors. And to further the point, if I really wanted to learn how to pastor a church 'succesfully' in today's culture I'd go to Western University and take business. I could learn marketing, trend analysis, leadership, dynamic communication... all things that seem to lend themselves to church growth.

As we began to question whether or not the point of church really came down to adding more people, making more money, keeping people more and more busy with more and more programs, etc. we anticipated that if we weren't going to continue to try and attract large numbers of people to our services, we could likely expect that we would look like miserable failures in many ways to many people as we instead looked to "the sending out" as a way of measuring whether or not we were a living Kingdom community.

In other words, rather than counting the number of people who come in to consume church programs, etc. we would celebrate people who left to follow to Jesus outside of the church walls. This shift meant several changes in the way we had always done things and the "results" we had always seen (some of which we would never have been able to anticipate ahead of time):

1. It meant that Sunday services could no longer be the main focus of our week. If attracting people to our top-notch services wasn't the point, and living missionally was, then we should spend less time and focus on Sundays and actually encourage people to not come unless they needed to.
   
2. It meant that rather than creating and maintaining church programs, we should set out to intentionally and organically be-friend one another and our neighbours. We should seek hospitality and justice and deep community together as we respond to the call of Jesus in each one of us.
   
3. It meant that we would lose two thirds of the people who actually join us (we would lose many more "Christian tourists" who come to check things out, and many of the folks who want the church to be a "self-help" group). One third would leave disgruntled. One third would leave as Jesus called them on to new and exciting missional ventures (often they are some of our brightest and best folks). One third would stay and continue to learn to live out mission as a community.
4. It meant that we would lose money. Lots of money. Many of the people who leave are the best financial supporters.
5. It meant that our tribe would need to be very patient with us and that we would need to intentionally foster relationships with the "powers that be" because our monthly statistic forms and financial records would be terrible indicators of Kingdom activity. Much time had to be invested listening to each other and creating space for each other. (Thankfully our Kingdom-focused leaders have been a brilliant support to us.)
   
6. It meant that we would never have a good answer to the "important questions" (insert sarcasm here) like, "How many people are you guys getting now?" To which I like to respond "10 or 12"... I just like to watch the expression on their faces. Or, "What percentage of people are involved in small/cell/house groups?" To which I usually respond "about zero".

As we realize that journeying towards the cross actually costs us something, maybe we should also realize what this means for churches. It makes more sense to me that as people learn about what it means to follow Jesus then they also learn about the way it challenges how you live in every capacity. Which then means that many people, like the rich young ruler, will simply opt not to continue. I don't think church should be a place where people are able to simply drift on the fringe, consume the Sunday morning message, sing some upbeat hillsongs, and continue living in a way that is unaffected and unaltered.

If we are serious about creating a mission-shaped church, then we need to re-think church attendance, budgets, and butts in programs.

I will explore more of the shifts we have experienced, including: leadership, communication, justice, cultural interaction, etc. as we have sought to become the missional presence of God in our community in upcoming blog posts. But for now, feel free to give your two cents worth in the comments section.

Labels: church planting, leadership, the freeway, writing

Here's the deal: I am taking a blog break for the month of June. I need to. Breaks are good. June is busy: two of my kids birthdays are in June, I am putting a significant amount of time into writing my book, preparing for [CML], I have a week-long trip to Chicago to see this guy [and hit an arts festival], community barbecues every week at our house, building a front and back deck at our house, interior renovations of the de-construction nature in the basement of the coffee house, painting the exterior of the coffee house and getting proper signage up, etc. all of this in addition to the regular duties of being a husband, a dad to three young kids, a pastor, a friend, etc.


Peace.

Labels: blogging, family, friends, leadership, the freeway

Huge blanket statement here.

I would be very interested to talk to someone from an organization/church/company/whatever of larger than 40 or 50 people who use a purely flattened leadership structure. My sense is that they either don't exist, they aren't as "flattened" as they let on, or they don't accomplish much of anything. Would someone please direct me to someone who can disprove my theory? I want to be wrong on this one.

By the way, chaordic leadership [a model of leadership which we adopted at The Freeway five years ago] is not, in my opinion, "flattened leadership".

Labels: leadership

Someone recently sent me this and said that it reminded them of my leadership style. I don't know whether to be flattered or offended.



P.S. I won't leave you hanging on the "flattened leadership thing", I will post more about it tomorrow.

Labels: leadership, videos

In emerging/missional church circles we talk a lot about, and have experimented with, flattened leadership structures. Here's the problem: They don't really work.

Labels: leadership

I have to admit something which is fairly embarrassing for me: I iron clothes a lot. Jeans, shorts, t-shirts, pretty much everything I wear [aside from undergarments] I iron them, and iron them well. I have to iron them in the morning right before I put them on. I really hate wrinkles. I don't totally know why, but I do. I am obsessive about ironing clothes. I bring an iron with me on trips... just in case. I iron shorts that I am about to wear to go ride my bike, or play basketball, or jog. Ridiculous.

I tell you all of this, because public humiliation is great... no, because this is one symptom of a larger problem I have. I need help. My obsessive compulsive perfectionist tendencies are simply annoying. I like things a certain way, and I am prepared to work my arse off to get them that way. I need things to be just right.

Those who know my family know I come by it quite naturally. I come from a long line of perfectionists.

Now, this is not all necessarily bad, in that working hard to achieve goals and doing your best can be admirable traits. The problem is, however, I have the same - often unreasonable - expectations of others that I have of myself.

See, I want things done right and deep down I think everyone should strive for that level of perfection. They shouldn't. But I think they should. And, frankly, I often think I can do better myself.

One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn in the last decade is that no one can do things exactly like me. Thank God, because I screw a lot of crap up. It is unfair and unreasonable to expect others to achieve things at the same level, and in the same way as me.

Being a church planter has made me face this weakness in my character over and over again. In fact, it has exposed every single limitation within me constantly.

Being a bit of a pioneer and having vision as a leader and the ability to start new initiatives, comes with a high price tag for me in terms of this weakness. Basically, my tendency is to have everything have to be built on me... my ideas... my hard work... my decision-making... my skills. I have needed to fight that urge at every turn, and I continue to have to fight it.

My feeling is that if I am to continue to become the missional practitioner in this context that I think Jesus desires me to be, and to lead The Freeway into the next phase of living as a missional community, then I have to kill the urge within me to be successful, to do everything well, to be recognized, and to lead everything myself [or to have it done the way I would do it]. I need to relinquish, trust God, and trust those I am in community with. This has been very hard for me in the past, and likely will continue to be.

I guess at the end of the day, I really want to be OK with wrinkly clothes... or clothes ironed by someone else that don't look like they would if I had ironed them myself. Because those who iron them bear the mark of the Creator as well... and from the beginning he has been drawing people to himself and accomplishing his work, not by the great skill of those who iron perfectly, but by our inability to do things by ourselves, and our total reliance on him.

Labels: leadership, personal, writing

For the past couple months, we have been re-thinking how we organize ourselves at The Freeway in terms of leadership. Tonight we had a community meeting to discuss some thoughts we have been working through in terms of who and how we lead the church community. We really wanted to bring some ideas to the community to get feedback and support and critique and more ideas. We are hoping that more conversations will come out of this process about what missional leadership looks like for us.

We need to expand our leadership community in order to: remain mission-shaped, diversify to better reflect the community, get more done, and move into the next phase as a community. Currently one team, the cohort, lead the whole kit and caboodle basically, and we are suggesting that we need to expand not only the size of the team, but the number of teams that lead.

Here's some of what we presented tonight and what we're considering in terms of structure:


There are three main identities that make up The Freeway: the church community, the coffee house, and now [CML]. In the diagram above, the blue rounded squares represent the leadership community. In this model, we are suggesting the cohort would be responsible for the church community, the coffee house manager would be responsible for the coffee house, and the [CML] director would be responsible for [CML]. The "staff team" [blue rounded squares] led by the lead pastor [currently me] would be responsible for visioning and connection/networking for all three identities.

We will add at least two new members to the cohort [which will now just lead the church community]. In addition, we will form a new worship gathering planning community and a new special events planning community [parties, events, spiritual retreats, etc.]. Twice a year we will have "dream sessions" where the whole community will come together and vision the next leg of the journey as a community, work out kinks, and inspire each other about what we're really doing.

We have asked for suggestions of people we can add to the cohort, and gave some general descriptions of what we are looking for. We don't vote, so the cohort needs advice and guidance from the community so that we can select new people for the cohort.

In this new model we are suggesting, basically every second week on Mondays during the day, the staff team would meet to vision for The Freeway in general and keep each other in the loop, and the cohort would meet every second week on Mondays during the evening to keep things rockin' with the church community.

If you are part of The Freeway and want to offer suggestions, ideas, critiques, etc. please drop me a line... or any member of the cohort through e-mail or a phone call. If you are not from The Freeway and want to add your two cents or observations or ask a question, please do so in the comments section.

Also, please pray for our community - if you are the praying type - as we go through some major transitions as a community in the next few months and attempt to follow Jesus into new territory for us in terms of our missional presence in our neighbourhood. Thank you.

Labels: leadership, the freeway

As I have been preparing for the teaching portion of our worship gathering for this Sunday [my first time speaking in a number of weeks], I have realized that I have not taken many creative risks with my speaking for quite a while. I think there are a few reasons for this:

1. Time has not allowed me to be too creative or think through creative ways of taking risks with my messages. The bottom line is, there have many important projects I have been working on, many important people I have been spending a significant amount of time with, and a few speaking engagements elsewhere which have all taken more time than I care to admit. Being creative, thinking through ways of communicating differently, and taking risks takes quite a bit of time and energy... of which I have not had a lot of "extra" as of late.
2. I have been emotionally drained for a while now. The pressures of ministry, a demanding schedule, and some personal "hits" has taken a tole on my emotional energy. I find that being creative takes tons of emotional energy... as well as the fact that perhaps I have steered away from risking in communication and "played it safe" in order to not add to the emotional pressure I have been feeling [ie. "don't rock the boat"].
3. My default is to do things in a way that I know I can without too much difficulty. It is easy to get in a rut, especially when you are comfortable with the way things are going. Even though I know it isn't the best way for me or anyone else, I think I sometimes do what I do the way I do because I can get by doing it like that.
4. I often wonder what difference it makes. Does anyone really listen? Does my teaching really produce any more missionality when I prepare creative, risk-taking messages than when I don't, in the community that has gathered at The Freeway? How much time should people who want to lead mission-shaped churches really spend writing sermons anyway?
   

This Sunday, I will take some risks. I will communicate out of my love for a story I am re-learning rather than my knowledge of stories I have studied much. I will do things in a way I haven't before. The thing is, even if the whole idea bombs, the process of thinking through a passage of scripture creatively has been life-giving for me this week. The story has really come to life in a way it never has before. I have tried to think through all the ways different people learn and take them all into consideration. I am actually excited about communicating this message to the community I have grown very fond of because I know it is a safe place to risk.

See you at church.

Labels: leadership, speaking, the freeway

My friends at Allelon are gearing up for Allelon Summer Institute this June. It looks like a really great event. Alan Hirsch, Alan Roxburgh, and Cam Roxburgh will lead three tracks during the event. It's happening on June 18-20 at Carey Theological College in Vancouver.

I wish I could afford to go because I love Allelon and I love Vancouver. And I realize I have so much to learn about missional leadership... and frankly, there are not very many good events which I would want to attend.

I love Alan Hirsch's writing, especially The Forgotten Ways, and I realize he has a lot to offer in terms of helping leaders think through issues surrounding leading mission-shaped churches. Alan Roxburgh's The Sky Is Falling was very influential when we were developing The Freeway's leadership structure a few years ago... and having met him in March [when I heard him speak at a Resonate Echo in Toronto - podcast here - and he interviewed me at our coffee house for a podcast on Allelon coming later this Spring], I know I need to learn more from him and would welcome opportunities to hear him speak on leadership. Cam Roxburgh is now the leader of an organization that did a lot to resource and invest in me when I was planting this community, Church Planting Canada, and I am sure will have good things to say.

If you are interested in attending an amazing event on missional leadership, you should definitely consider attending this event. Go to the Allelon website for more details.

Labels: leadership

I asked Nathan Colquhoun to write a short "testimonial" about his time as a church planting intern at The Freeway in 2006, in order to help promote our new intern initiative, [CML]. Here's what he had to say:

"I worked with The Freeway for a summer and it was the exact experience that I needed to prepare me for planting a church. I lived with Pernell Goodyear and his family and participated with their family in everything that a family does. I worked alongside of their leadership cohort as if I was one of them. I played and hung out with the kids as if I had been there since the beginning. I was given experiences that tested my skills and stretched me to be better at them. I was given responsibility to run great programs and participate in a new church environment through its ups and downs."

"I can't tell you how much The Freeway means to me. Through their words and actions they actually believe in the Kingdom and not just their kingdom. They poured resources and time into me knowing full well I was going to another church and wasn't going to be there in a few months, but they didn't care because they knew they were working towards something bigger than their four walls. Pernell's family accepted me and taught me so much about grace, hospitality and family. The coffee house gave me experience in how to live and be in relationship in downtown environments. Overall, my internship at The Freeway was something that challenged me to my core. It forced me to look at myself and re-evaluate why I did things and the type of person I wanted to be."

"Now I'm in Sarnia, planting a church called theStory and my relationships with The Freeway are still as strong as ever. If you ever get a chance to be with the people at The Freeway, do it, and if you let it, you will experience a community that truly is on a journey of what it means to follow Christ."

If you are interested in finding out more about [CML], check out the website: www.frwy.ca/cml

Labels: friends, leadership, the freeway

I received this comment by an anonymous person recently on one of my blog posts, and I've been thinking about it quite a bit since. Here are some observations:

• I really hate anonymous comments. I deleted two previous blogs partly due to my frustration with people's annoying, anonymous comments. If people aren't willing to identify themselves, what business do they have taking verbal [or written] jabs at me? I don't think anybody should write anything anywhere they aren't willing to attribute to themselves [unless they are quoting someone else, in which case they should attribute it to the author]. I may even delete anonymous comments from this blog from now on, because they really bug me... and that includes positive ones as well. I realize not everyone has a Blogger account and needs to log in as anonymous, but they can sign their name at the end of the comment.
  
• I was also bugged by this comment because, judging by a couple of things they said, it would appear to be someone who knows me... maybe even a member of my family. Ouch. They still haven't identified themselves, and I don't expect that they will. But the fact that they would leave an anonymous comment like that... annoying to say the least. Have the decency to at least e-mail me a message like that for goodness sake.
  
• I am an embarrassment. It's true. I even embarrass myself often. I cross the line. I go too far. I say stupid things. I am egotistical, rude, selfish, self-centered, overbearing, mean, and arrogant far more than I care to admit. The reality is, it is usually only when people I care about, and who I know care about me, point out my mistakes that I learn, grow, change, repent, apologize... or whatever else is necessary for me to correct the situation. If you don't care about me, don't think for a moment you can really have any impact on me in the long haul [this is a good reminder for me as a pastor when it comes to how I deal with others and their shortcomings]. And if you are leaving an anonymous, negative comment... you obviously don't care about me one iota.
  
• I need to be far more careful with what I say and to whom I say it... "oh, be careful little mouth what you say..." That likely means that in some situations I likely can't "be myself". I wish this weren't the case, but sadly, I think it may well be.
  

Well, I probably won't blog again until after the weekend [by the way, I am really excited that Mark Jefferson is going to accompany me to the youth retreat at Muskoka Woods that I am speaking at this weekend].

Peace.

Labels: blogging, leadership, personal, the salvation army

You have to read this post by my friend, Bill Kinnon. Brilliant stuff. Here's a couple short excerpts from the rant:

We are the eikons who once sat in the uncomfortable pews or plush theatre seating of your preaching venues. We sat passively while you proof-texted your way through 3, 4, 5 or no point sermons - attempting to tell us how you and your reading of The Bible had a plan for our lives. Perhaps God does have a plan for us - it just doesn't seem to jive with yours.

Money was a great concern. And, for a moment, we believed you when you told us God would reward us for our tithes - or curse us if we didn't. The Law is just so much easier to preach than Grace. My goodness, if you told us that the 1st century church held everything in common - you might be accused of being a socialist - and of course, capitalism is a direct gift from God.

And this:

We truly long for the release of servant leading men and women into our gifts as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. We believe in Peter's words that describe us all as priests. Not just some, not just one gender.

Labels: community, friends, leadership

Steve Taylor [one of my favourite leader/hero's] talks about Kingdom leadership in a recent blog post. He contrasts those who race ahead and those who "dig in". Here's an excerpt:

At our most recent AGM I told the story of taking my 2 children for a holiday walk to a nearby river. One child (no prizes for guessing which one) decided she was "the leader" and strode off ahead. The other dawdled behind, then hurt her knee trying to cross a fence. She decided she could no longer walk. Effectively, she was simply going to dig in.

This is exactly the situation many change processes find themselves in at some point or another. Should "the leaders" stride off, leaving some behind? Or should we let those who are "dug in" dictate the pace, meaning we are never likely to get back to camp?

Excellent stuff. Read the rest of the post here: link

Labels: friends, leadership

A couple days ago I gave some suggestions of things folks in our community at The Freeway could do to help the community continue to become more of a missional presence in our neck of the woods and help curb the "us and them", "in and out" dividing line in the community [cliques]. I did so in a post called, The Freeway Is Becoming Institution-y.

I would like the opportunity to elaborate further as I think some folks got the wrong impression, and also because perhaps these thoughts could benefit communities elsewhere as these issues are certainly not unique to us. Keep in mind, these are only suggestions. I do not expect everyone in our our community to do all of these... though that would be great. I think these are all really important in the shaping of things to come. That does not mean that if you don't do these you will somehow not be included in our community [of course not], but if we are to be serious about creating missional community and not just establishing another churchy church to attend, we all must think these through and make adjustments as Jesus leads us individually and as a community.

The four suggestions were:

1. Hang out with and be generously hospitable to those on the fringe of the community, and those who you wouldn't normally associate with.
2. Be present more.
3. Consider being involved in our guiding / coaching / mentoring initiative... or adding another person to your network if you are already involved.
4. Move closer.

I will elaborate on one of these per day for the next four days. Here we go:

Hang out with and be generously hospitable to those on the fringe of the community, and those who you wouldn't normally associate with.

We have been talking about and exploring this idea for some time at The Freeway. This is not an "out of the blue" idea for us. For five years we have been "beating this horse" and have made huge strides in terms of seeing deep community with a diverse community come to fruition [although we sometimes don't see it - forest for the trees?].

Granted, human nature is to stick with those who we have affinity with or who are like us [age, culture, socio-economic status, interests, etc.], but that is simply not the Kingdom Way. The Kingdom Way welcomes the stranger. The Kingdom Way cares ridiculously for those who Jesus places in our path. The Kingdom Way levels the playing field so that we are all brothers and sisters, and therefore need to love each other generously. the Kingdom Way sees no "us and them."

How? Start off simple: Sit and talk with someone new. Engage in conversation. Accept their quirks. Hear their story... it will change you. Invite someone new over for dinner. Invite yourself over to someone's house you haven't been to. Have coffee/tea with someone new. When you are going out for food, ensure you include people regardless of whether they have enough money to go.

Don't wait to be invited into someone's life. Invade their space with friendship and hospitality. Look for those who are excluded, and include them. Make a way... in fact, bend over backwards for them to be involved.

And hey, when you are feeling like you are being excluded or shunned, like you are on the fringe, if you have the where-with-all, speak up. We have to help each other learn to love each other better. It will be messy and hard, but necessary. We must inspire each other to love more. No one can apologize for - and subsequently learn from - something they don't know they did worng. Allow people to become better.

Our community must continue to be about creating a safe space for people to engage in deep community. No more superficial bull crap. No more individualized consumerism. No more thinking only about ourselves in a self-centered way. We have to engage with Jesus and learn how he interacts with people... all people... and incarnate that as a community.

Labels: community, leadership, the freeway, writing

I am becoming more and more aware [and concerned] that our community has to work really hard to be missional and not just become institution-y these days.

What I mean is, when we first began it was much easier to remain organic, non-hierarchical, Kingdom-focused, big on community, and natural. But it becomes increasingly difficult the longer we've been around, the more people we gain, and the more projects we undertake.

Some observations about what I see as signs that we may be losing a bit of our loose, organic, movement vibe:

1. Cliques - They have existed within the community for some time, but they are becoming increasingly divided. There are pockets of friendships... which is great... but there is also dividing lines drawn as to who is "in" and who isn't. We will need to make conscious, intentional moves to embrace more people into our networks / friendships if The Freeway is to remain a missional presence in this neck of the woods. Suggestions: 1) Hang out with and be generously hospitable to those on the fringe of the community, and those who you wouldn't normally associate with. It takes a big effort, but it is super-duper-important. There are lonely people in our community who need to be embraced. 2) Be present more. And I am not talking about church services here either. I am talking about making more of an effort to be involved in people's lives. Pick up the phone. Drop by. Send an e-mail. Hang out at the coffee house... whatever it takes, but be involved. 3) Consider being involved in our guiding / coaching / mentoring initiative... or adding another person to your network if you are already involved. Intentionally investing in someone as a spiritual friend will change you... and us as a community. I can't say it any stronger: if you're not involved at present, you should seriously consider being involved. 4) Move. Live closer. You will be part of deeper community partially by proximity. Seriously, if you could walk to someone's house, you would see them far more and be able to inspire each other to live the lives that God intends for us. It's really not rocket science. If we are serious about this community, this neighbourhood, then more of us need to live here.
   
2. Strategy - We are beginning to have to be more strategic in our planning and development as a community. We can "fly by the seat of our pants" less and less. That sucks. It sucks because that's where we have pretty much always existed as a community... not planning months and months ahead, just living and going with the flow as we follow Jesus. And while I do think we do need to formulate some ways of reaching community goals and continuing to foster a learning environment that will work better for us as a community at this point, I am concerned that we don't lose our "fly by the seat of our pants" way of life. We will need to remind each other of this along the way. We will need to stop along the path we are journeying on and smell the flowers, watch the sunset, and have play fights and parties now and then.
3. Complacency - We don't seem to have the same passion for Jesus or each other that we once had. It seems like we are often "getting by". Not cool. The Freeway was a community built on the idea that we didn't want to sit around and consume Christianity anymore. We wanted to do something. We wanted to get involved. We wanted to shake things up. We wanted to be part of the revolution of the Kingdom. We can't become complacent. We can't sit around on our arse's getting fat on our cozy leather couches. We can't "attend church" week after week and leave the same. We have to be about the Kingdom... and we have to inspire each other in the same.
   

Well, that's my Monday morning two cents worth any way.

Labels: community, leadership, the freeway, writing

In no particular order:

1. I have met so many brilliant people in the past five years. I have been in the right circles [networks] I suppose, and have had the opportunity to meet so many creative, amazing people who I now consider friends... and who inspire me to take risks and to continue seeking the kingdom.
2. I have had the opportunity to be part of re-thinking the church. Not just how it does stuff or what it looks like, but what it's very nature is as well... and who it exists for.
   
3. Life-change. The bottom line is I have seen people change. People being transformed as they encounter Jesus... even "a wretch like me". Wicked cool.
4. Less structure. More room to be creative, think differently, take risks. Fail, and get back up and keep going. Structure suffocates me for the most part. Like Kramer, "I'm out there and loving every minute of it!"
   
5. Following Jesus is always the best way to go. I highly recommend it. I came here believing that this is what he wanted. Had he not been in this thing I am sure I would see the experience differently. But he has been at every turn and has changed me so much.
   
6. Flexibility. I essentially do what needs to be done, but my time is far more flexible. That's not to say I am less busy than I was when I was working in a traditional church, but the things I spend time on are more flexible and very different.
7. Worshiping with a community you love in a coffee house at a busy street corner in the downtown of a great city is way under-rated.
   
8. I am reminded constantly what a weak man I am. And I am forced to relinquish and trust God. Quite refreshing for the soul.
9. It has allowed me to stay in full-time pastoral ministry. Honestly, other than a church I start, where would I pastor? Who would hire me? How long would I have lasted?
   
10. Fostering healthy community, participating in the kingdom, and incarnating the gospel is the task of every follower of Jesus. Church planting has been the best way for me to begin to do that and inspire it in a community.
    

Labels: church planting, leadership, the freeway

Followers of Jesus have the tendency to re-hash the same old, same old in terms of the communication of the gospel. We all too often lack imagination, creativity, and authenticity. Now, while I think that the message should never change, I do think that each of us needs to find our own voice in the telling of the story [new wineskins]. And we need to live/speak our own story in the midst of God's most amazing story.

Fellow pastors, please... please stop downloading sermons to regurgitate. I have heard far too many "Rick Warren Purpose Driven sermons" and "Bill Hybels sermons" and "Mark Driscoll sermons" and "Erwin McManus sermons" and on and on... spoken by well-intentioned pastors who are actually, I believe, doing a disservice to the Kingdom. It's annoying. And wrong. And by the way, where do these guys get off selling their sermons? Ridiculous.

Also, please stop copying every new neat program or idea that comes along, jumping at the next new latest and greatest. It's tempting, I know. I have done the same thing. We all want to be effective, but we need to learn how to hear God's voice and learn to respond to our own postal code, led by the Spirit.

For God's sake [literally] find your own voice. And please, inspire me to do the same. The people we encounter on a daily basis deserve for us to be authentic, creative, and imaginative, especially when it comes to telling the amazing story of God.

This scene in "Walk The Line" says it better than I could:

Labels: leadership, videos

I have been fighting some sort of a nasty virus for a few weeks now. I know a bunch of people who are feeling [or have recently been feeling] ill. Some days I feel fine, other days not so much. I have also not been sleeping well at all... not at all. And I have been feeling pretty worn down... and sometimes even depressed.

Today I feel like garbage. I want to lay in bed, put the covers over my head, and stay there all day long. But I can't. I have stuff to do.

Here are some observations about me which I think are related to how I feel, and what I intend to do about them:

• I have not had a whole day off since September. This is not good. I have tried to take one, but something always comes up. This is no longer good enough. I need to take some time off. I need it. I have really never been very good at taking time off. I feel guilty, there's always so much to do, people need me, etc. I will write a day off per week, and a weekend off per quarter into my calendar and that will be that. Period.
  
• 2006 has really sucked in a lot of ways for us. I am glad that it is almost over. It has been the hardest year of my life, I think. Even in the midst of that, a lot of incredibly good things have happened as well. Both the incredibly good and the sucky things that have happened have been very stressful. I am under way too much pressure [partially self-imposed] and am getting wound too tight. I feel like I am "behind the eight ball" in many areas of my life, and there is so much I need to accomplish. I really need to find a way to relinquish more. I will talk to my close friends and see if I can't find some ways to "let go" of some stuff.
  
• I don't hug enough. I used to be more of a hugger. But I am not so much anymore. I have been finding myself becoming more and more closed off emotionally [and even bitter in some ways] as of late. Not with my family so much, but with everyone else. I really need more human interaction and to show love more [perhaps not while recovering from this virus]. I want the people who I care about to know that I care about them. I will intentionally be more open. I will give hugs. Look out.
• It has been grey and dreary and dirty here in Hamilton for too long. I need the sun. I need snow. It's Christmas for crying out loud. Weather has an effect on how I feel [more so the older I get], partially because I am outside less - because it's gross out - and partially because I let it get me down. I will take walks. I will get outdoors more. I will breathe fresh air more deeply. I will stop and look at things. Really look at them.

Recap: Time off. Talk to friends and relinquish. Hug. Be outside and breathe.

Feel free to ask me how I am doing with these things, if you care.

Labels: leadership, personal

This past weekend I visited theStory [a new church plant of The Free Methodist Church in Canada] in Sarnia, Ontario with my family. The point of our visit was that Joe Manafo [he, along with Nathan Colquhoun and Darryl Sylvestri are planting the church] asked me to come and meet with their new little community and tell them the story of The Freeway in order to encourage, inspire and warn them what the deal is with planting a church like they are endeavoring to plant.

Here is an open letter of encouragement and critique for theStory... and for all of us who are trying to create new forms of church in this new culture we find ourselves in. I hope we can continue to learn from each other:

After my weekend at theStory, there are several words which have been rolling around my head which help to describe our experience with this new church community... words which I think will also be key to explore as the church community continues to bring God's shalom to the people of Sarnia. While our trip was only a weekend long, I believe it provided a snapshot of what this community is and is becoming.

Generosity
This brand new community put my whole family up in a nice hotel for the weekend... in adjoining rooms even. And they offered to give me money on top of that [which I did not accept]. That was huge. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is a huge generosity principal.

As a new community, tons of money isn't just sitting in their bank account waiting to be spent. I have traveled a lot further and spent more time "working" for other churches and they have given far less in terms of "taking care of us". Usually, t-shirts, cheap gift certificates, books, and cards are the "thank you" for hours and hours of preparation, and time away from my family [because they don't offer me to bring them] to help them out. Which is one of the reasons I am very picky as to what I travel to do now... I have to be. I simply haven't the time to do more... and I have a family to take care of.

If theStory can find a way to show outrageous generosity, they will raise people to a new plain. As The Red Hot Chill Peppers say: "give it away, give it away, give it away, give it away now." Bringing shalom into a neighbourhood/city requires generosity. Money, time, talents, dreams, life.

My advice: Live with less. Give away more.

Hospitality
When we arrived we were treated to a huge Italian dinner at the Manafo's house. Sarah Manafo is an amazing hostess. We ate delicious food in an incredibly comfortable environment with very warm, relaxed people. We told stories and laughed and just plain felt good.

Every Sunday morning the church gathers at the Manafo's house at 11:30am and enjoys a potluck lunch together. Again, very warm people in a very welcoming environment with loads of flex time to chat, catch up and really talk. I met some incredible people [who I will briefly describe in the next section] who welcomed us and made us feel like a "million bucks" - part of the family.

If theStory can find a way to be hospitable in this way - to create a space for people to feel welcome, and to eat and share their stories regardless of who they are - they will find that hospitality becomes "like the new preaching," opening up a door to real life transformation in the lives of those who receive and show hospitality.

My advice: Even when the church community grows, keep hospitality at its core. Eat together. Invite people over. Get in each other's lives.

Diversity
When we gathered on Sunday morning there were likely twenty adults [plus 10 or 12 children] or so there - a very good size for a church planting core team, I think. What was amazing was the diversity already present in that community. There were several young adults, some young families, high school students, university students, parents with their grown children, single parents, two adults with developmental disabilities, etc.

There was, however, not much cultural or ethnic diversity. That's often the way it is, it seems. But looking back on The Freeway's story I really wish that we had thought through cultural issues and been intentionally seeking to be in community with people from different backgrounds way back when. But we simply didn't. It's hard to start later. I think it is key to learn from and be in community with very diverse people... and have diversity change us. It will be essential for theStory to think through these issues and make some moves to broaden the community.

If theStory can continue to welcome people of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, etc. they will see the Kingdom in ways many church communities simply will not.

My advice: Start thinking through these issues now and start making intentional decisions in this regard.

Teachability
The leadership and the community at theStory are active learners:

• Nathan did an internship with us at The Freeway, even living in my family's house, for three months this past summer, just so he could gain church planting experience. That's a big commitment. He is an active learner who asks lots of questions and thinks deeply about the gospel and the Kingdom of God and actively tries to live it out.
• Joe called "cold" and "out of the blue" two years ago. He heard about what we were doing and was anxious to learn from me. He asked great questions. Since that time, although he is a rock star leader in his own right, I have found him to be far more eager to learn than to teach. It is an admirable leadership quality which he possesses.
• The church community asked us questions on Sunday when we were telling The Freeway story. They were observant, deep and reflective questions. The whole group were active listeners who value the story of others.

Teachability can not be... as George Dubya would say... "misunderestimated". It is a much needed [though not entirely common] trait of a community hoping to start a church community in this culture.

My advice: Do the best you can to always ask lots of questions. Don't ever "arrive". Be more anxious to listen than to talk.

Fun Loving
I'm not kidding. This is essential. Church planting [and life for that matter] is often hard, tireless, thankless work. Jokes, laughter and good times are essential.

theStory already has developed a fun vibe. They smile a lot and really seem to enjoy each other's company. They seem to be able to laugh at themselves and let loose and have a good time.

My Advice: Throw parties. Do fun things together. Build laughter and fun into the "program" of the church community.

Jesus-y
I know it's not a real word... but it should be. The folks from theStory really seem to love Jesus and his community, the Kingdom. They are interested in establishing a church community that loves Jesus and lives out his message of love, justice, peace and transformation in the city of Sarnia. In their own words, theStory is:

A Jesus community intent on playing its part in the social fabric and spirit