http://jonreid.blogs.com/oneanother/2008/04/zack-newsome.html
I had the privilege of sharing dinner with Zack Newsome tonight. (Darn it, I did not think of taking any photos!) I admire the leap he is making in downtown Phoenix and want to learn from it.
Quote of the evening:
We started a community, but after a while it became clear that it was just another emerging church, which is not what I wanted. It was still consumeristic, in that people were there because they were unhappy with their previous churches and felt this was a group that could satisfy them. But they weren't interested in the mission. So we killed it.
???And refocused themselves around the mission of sharing kingdom life with those beyond the reach of the existing church -- people for whom "church" is not an option (but I don't see that limiting God's ongoing work in any way). Zack, you're my hero.
Technorati Tags: missional
Comments
Thanks Jon. Adapt or die is a core life-lesson isn't it. In my network in OZ and the UK - Jesus Generation - we are just venturing into our first "Amnesty and Regrouping" for similar reasons to your friend Zack. In a big church it's hard to shut down things or even change things a little that aren't working. In a small church it's potentially easier to press the reset button although it still takes a lot of guts.
I was talking with Aaron Snow today about how church-planters are often tempted into a pattern of work that revolves around creating monuments to ones own success. So even in the context of a small new expression of church it takes some nerve to disband and re-group. I take my hat off to your friend Zack and to a couple of guys in my own network who have taken that difficult step.
I guess the sixth chapter of John's Gospel represents a similar moment for Jesus, where the central thing needed asserting more clearly than ever - even if it cost size and kudos. Jesus openly says to his Twelve, "Now that I've made myself a bit clearer, would you like to leave too?"
Another Biblical parallel would be the moment when Gideon invites a portion of his fighting force to go home if they don't want to fight, and then gets some divine guidance about how to identify the battle-savvy. Sorry to continue in a military vane but in the Spanish Armada and the Battle of Britain the defining issue turned out not to be naked numbers, but what the numbers could do.
Your friend Zack may have shown himself both savvy and humble in taking such a drastic step. Blessings on him.
Paul Wallis - the imperfect keyboardist and guitarist