Poverty vs. Poverty

Apart from a head full of happy memories, a continuing legacy from having grown up in Kenya was a burning desire to return and live in the great continent of Africa. Beginning a Masters of Divinity at Tyndale Theological Seminary, Amsterdam in 1991, I anticipated that God had put me on a path back to Africa and would somehow combine my M.Div. and previous horticultural studies into a career in church-based development. But God was to redirect my plans in a significant way. Two direction posts of some significance stand out.

First, I began attending Crossroads International Church in Amsterdam. Planted in 1987 by 3 families working with Christian Associates International (CAI), the church was successfully using a contemporary approach to ministry to reach out to English speaking Internationals and Dutch. In the 6 years that we were there we saw the church grow from about 150 people to a weekly attendance of almost 500 people with a large number of them in the 20-30 age bracket.

Secondly, I used to work part-time in a supermarket to support my studies. On one evening, during the coffee break, I happened to share with the other staff that I was studying at a theological seminary. Later, as I was stocking the shelves, a girl came up to me and said, "Do you know, you are the first person who believes in God that I have ever met." At first I really thought that she was trying to be funny but it turned out that until a few minutes beforehand she seriously thought that "God" was an idea that had died out during the Middle Ages - No joke!

I sometimes liken her to the "Man from Macedonia." God had taken the successful contemporary ministry I saw and loved at the Crossroads and combined it with this personal experience of a sad product of post-modernism in Europe to convict me of the need for church planting in Europe. It was as if God took my passion to alleviate material poverty in Africa and replaced it with a new and greater passion to help alleviate the tremendous spiritual poverty that exists in Europe. Considering the eternal consequences of a decision for, or against Christ, spiritual poverty is an issue of immeasurable importance. Since then I have longed to see many contemporary churches raised up in Europe - churches filled with believers who have a radical love for God, for each other and for the lost. Churches sharp enough and hot enough to cut through the indifference to the Gospel that hangs over Europe like a cloud.

A commitment to 
church planting in Europe

It seemed natural, having completed my Masters of Divinity in 1996, to join Christian Associates International (CAI) as a long-term church-planter. CAI is seeking to raise up effective leaders and plant culturally relevant churches in Europe. They are particularly targeting the large international business communities associated with the cities of Europe with English speaking churches. These international communities contain large numbers of people who, either as a first or second language, speak English to a high degree of fluency. Some are looking from the start to get involved in a church but many, finding themselves alone in a foreign country, turn to the church for friendship and support. Hopefully these "friendship seekers" not only have their immediate relational needs met but in the process get introduced to Jesus Christ. It must be said though that the vision for these international churches does not stop there. At it’s core CAI is about the re-evangelization of Europe, considered by many to the most spiritually needy continent in Europe. The long term goal is a snowball effect. These international churches growing and developing to the point where they are able to promote other church planting works through ministry modeling as well as having the resources and skills to train and develop quality Christian leaders for ministry throughout Europe.

A team approach to church planting.

In 1997 I moved with my family as part of a CAI church planting team of 3 couples to Lisbon, Portugal’s large capital city and home to some 2 million people. Team ministry plays an important part in church planting strategy. We see it modeled by both Jesus in the Gospels - he traveled and ministered with the disciples, and Paul - who we read in Acts took along traveling companions. From the start the team provides the church plant with a wide resource base of gifts and abilities, but also we found that with 9 children contributed by the 3 couples, the sheer mass of people involved made us significantly more convincing to those who were considering joining us in the venture. One warning about teams. Although they are God’s way to get the job done they are also prone to conflict. Although we expected it we were in some ways broad sided by it’s intensity. I have come to understand that conflict is unavoidable and indeed an integral part of the team building process but would nevertheless recommend some kind of formalized team building/protection system be put in place from the beginning. For example, set aside a specific time each week, where team members have the freedom and safety to share, as well as knowing that they will be heard. You cannot diffuse all the bombs but you can diffuse some of them!

Does Lisbon need another English speaking church?

During previous research trips to the area, we had been quoted estimates that there could be as many as 80 thousand internationals living and working in the greater Lisbon area. There were several small international churches serving the community. However, they were more traditional and largely serving the needs of their members rather than purposefully reaching out. When one considers that in addition to the large international community the young in Portugal are studying English to a high of proficiency the numbers of people that could be reached by an English speaking church were very high. We felt that there was more than enough space for a contemporary, outreach orientated international church and amazingly the other international churches felt that too.

A vision-led church plant

Rather than developing the vision along the way we pre-wrote our vision for the church plant in Lisbon which is simply stated as the following:

Putting the vision to the test

One of our first formal activities was researching the views of English speaking people in the area regarding church. We wanted to test the validity of our vision statement - were we really barking up the right tree - as well as glean some general some demographic data from the survey. So we headed for locations where we figured we’d find English speaking people. After finding out if they spoke English we simply asked people to picture their ideal church. Our suspicions were more than confirmed. The processed data, from almost two hundred responses, revealed that the overwhelming majority of people (in the region of 80%) felt the church should be more contemporary and relevant, and a place where one could find authentic loving community. It was not only comforting to know that our vision statement was supported by the survey, but also as we began presenting the vision to a growing core of people interested in a new church plant, it was helpful to have the support of data taken from the local community.

The first few months

During the first few months much of the time was devoted to networking, finding people who may be interested in becoming a part of the church plant. We benefited early on from meeting a couple who had been trying to combine planting a church with holding down a full time secular job. As our vision was somewhat similar we decided to join forces. We gained their skills and inherited a group of people interested in a new international church. We developed our identity through a name and logo for the church plant. Riverside International Church was decided upon. A safe name for the unchurched - reflecting Lisbon’s geographical location beside the River Tagus, as well as filled with meaning for the believer - God’s blessings being described numerously as a river in the Bible.

Countdown - building 
a quality core for a quality church

Throughout the summer of 1997 core numbers grew and in September 1997 we held a cruise on the River Tagus, a social event to which we invited all our core and contacts, some 90 people. As part of the evening we briefly presented the vision for the church and invited people to join us the following Sunday to Countdown - building a quality core for a quality church. The aim of Countdown was to develop a core of people committed to the vision of Riverside prior to a launch of the church in 1998. We took 20 weeks to present the mission, vision, purpose statements, value statements and doctrinal statements of Riverside.

Improving your Countdown

May I offer this improvement suggestion for core building? In hindsight our core building was perhaps inadequately formalized. The end product had too much variability regarding peoples views of the church plant - even 18 months later I am surprised that some of the core people, who were with us from the beginning, lack clarity on key issues. Church Planting teams need to formulize the vision clearly, and beyond dispute, and I recommend the core building time be similar to a presentation of the membership class or indeed the membership material itself. Carefully pre-write it to ensure that all the necessary information is adequately presented. Give weekly hand outs for people to take home - even go so far as to give them a nice folder at the beginning to keep them in.
Once the core-building is over and prior to the launch of the church, run something along the lines of a catch up seminar for those who have joined during the core building season or who have missed other weeks. Try to ensure that everyone who considers themselves part of the core has covered all the material and is on the same page. It might also be wise, prior to the launch of the church, to seek some kind of signed commitment, like a membership covenant, from the core that they have completed the written material and are committed to the contents of the document.
An added benefit of having a such a document is that when the questions arise you have a point of referral.

Launching a contemporary service

In February 1998 we launched the church and have for the past year been running contemporary worship services on a weekly basis. We have seen numbers grow from a weekly average of 50 to some 75-100 people attending each week. Included are a number of people who are marginal to Christianity but who have been attracted not only by the contemporary ministry but also because they have found authentic relationships in the church.
One family who attend each week are unbelievers but have continued to attend month in and month out because they claim they, "have found more friendship at Riverside in one month than they have found in their past 5 years of living in Portugal." Indeed contemporary relevant ministry combined with an authentic loving community is a mix that will go places for God.

Achieving a consistent "product"

We desire that Riverside be a church where the regular attendees feel comfortable and motivated to invite their unchurched friends to services. It’s thus important that they feel secure with the "product." Initially when the group size is small and resources are limited, the quality of the services may vary widely. We have experienced this at Riverside, perhaps leaving people hesitant to invite unchurched friends. An alternative option may be initially running monthly "guest" services and working hard to ensure that a high standard of excellence is regularly achieved at these, then upping their frequency as the church grows and more resources become available.

An early start to home groups

One of our commitments at Riverside is to be a two-winged church consisting of both large group celebration service’s - for corporate worship and teaching, and small groups - as the place for the individual to receive personalized pastoral care and support. I have found that running the Alpha course has not only served the purposes of outreach and discipleship but it appears a safe way to introduce people to the joys of a small group. The meal together beforehand has been of particular importance in developing home group intimacy. Everyone on the Alpha course, completed in February this year, wanted to remain together as a group. We intend to develop the home group generating potential of Alpha. It is critical that if home groups are an important value of the church they be begun at the earliest possible stage, particularly if like Riverside you intend to be a church of home groups rather than a church with home groups. The difference is greater than the word play may suggest.

Breaking down barriers

Minister in Europe and you will quickly realize that a majority of Europeans are not only incredibly skeptical of the church they usually see it in a bad light. "Boring," "irrelevant," "hypocritical," "sad," and "unwelcoming" are just some of the responses I have had to the word "church." An unbelieving friend of mine shared with me last week that she gets frightened every time she attends church. Let’s face it, unchurched people in Europe are not queuing to join the church.

In response to this fact, at Riverside we have been running social events called Special Events about 4 times a year. They are simply non threatening opportunities for the churched and unchurched to get together, have some fun and hopefully break down the odd stereotype or two. These have included, boat cruises on the River Tagus, a Wild Western night, an African night, a jazz cafe and a bus trip to a mountainous region of Portugal. And they work too! We had one church skeptical man attend a Riverside cruise. To his surprise he found that Christians were actually normal and decided to give the church a try. He has been attending ever since!

The concept of barrier breaking can be personalized. An idea that my wife and I tried, was when unchurched friends of ours had just had a baby we arranged for people from the church to take them meals for a week. Strangers bringing food and gifts cut deep into their skepticism. Their attitude to Christianity changed noticeably and a year later they are in the process of considering attending church as they want their baby to get baptized and have a Christian education. OK they aren’t there yet! But at least they are further towards believing than they might otherwise have been.

Conclusion

To reintroduce Europe to the Gospel is perhaps one of the greatest challenges that Christendom faces at the beginning of the new millennium. Our efforts and those of Christian Associates International are just the tiniest drop in the bucket of what needs to be done. Many new churches must be raised up in Europe. Churches filled with believers who have a radical love for God, for each other and the lost. Churches that will be spiritually sharp enough and hot enough to cut through the indifference to the Gospel that hangs over Europe like a cloud. Although every church throughout Europe must be unique several common factors will need to be found if the church is to prevail.

1. The church must be culturally relevant, able to translate the unchanging message into a language that the audience can understand and relate to. This after all is the true spirit of the missionary endeavor.
2. The church must be a place of incredible authentic community. People are looking for love like they have never looked before.
3. The church must passionately pursue the lost. Europe has voted with its feet, the audience is gone. We must get to our feet and foray deep into the spiritual night, demonstrating the love and power of God like it hasn’t been demonstrated in Europe for a long time.