Sully Notes 12 | Launching Missional Communities: A Field Guide Part 2 of 3

Sully Notes 12: Books in 25 minutes or less

Sully Notes are meant to provide you with direct quotes from some books I've read in the last year, so you can get a taste of the overall theme of the book and then begin to chew on what your life might look like if you applied what you read. 

3DM Missional Community Trilogy Sully Notes

• Sully Notes 10 | Family on Mission Part 1 of 3
• Sully Notes 11 | Leading Missional Communities Part 1 of 3

And here are the previous Notes for the current series to complete the 3DM Missional Community Trilogy: 

• Sully Notes 12 | Launching Missional Communities Part 1 of 3

Launching Missional Communities | Sully Notes 12: Part 2 of 3

Launch Guide: If you want to start MCs, this section will give you the practical steps.

Step 1 | Before You Begin

"Good leadership is about leading others through change in a way that fairly pre-empts and addresses fears and concerns, without being held hostage by them. ... you are tasked with guiding and directing the church into a better future, as far as you can foresee it. Being human, you won't handle everything perfectly, but you can go a long way towards gaining the trust and support of the vast majority of people if they see an open, reasonable and appropriate process in place." – pgs. 78-79

"Your potential MC leaders may have been used to running programs where the teaching curriculum is laid out for them to deliver. They may have only led under the spiritual covering of senior leaders within the life and confines of the church building. If this is the case then they are usually inexperienced and ill-equipped for the spiritual battle and engagement on the front lines that Missional Communities often involve. Their initial feelings of excitement and enthusiasm might quickly give way to feelings of inadequacy, incompetence and despondency. If you try and launch MCs without the foundation of a true discipling culture and a clear structure of high invitation and high challenge, it will be much harder for your MC leaders. If they fail, inevitably it will be much harder a second time round, as you will have to backfill support and direction for leaders who are already discouraged. In addition, you will miss the vital component of advocacy from the initial MC pioneers. Success stories from the participants in the first MCs will provide concrete evidence and testimony for those still undecided on the merits of MCs." – pg. 80

Consider: How will people respond emotionally to what this shift to Missional Communities represents?

Ponder: Who do you know has the most to gain – and the most to lose?

List: What are the advantages and disadvantages that will result from introducing Missional Communities in your neighborhood, town, city, etc. (i.e. context)?

Comprehend: What will be the mental, emotional, and spiritual impact, both positive and negative? Answer both from your own perspective, as well as that who would join. What will be the major sources of stress and insecurity? – pg. 80 

Step 2 | Preparation

"A few books and articles that we have found helpful:

Being Missional: The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch, The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark

Culture and Communication: Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath

Organizations and Leadership: Good to Great by Jim Collins, The Spider and the Starfish by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom

Building a Discipling Culture: Building a Discipling Culture by Mike Breen and Steve Cockram

What you should be experiencing:

• Identify other leaders you can learn from: Who are the leaders who have already gone ahead and implemented MCs in their churches? Learn from them, whether through their teaching, blogs, or other materials. If you can visit their churches, even better.

• Visit local mission situations: Scout out the people who are already finding ways to incarnate the Gospel into different contexts in your area. ... Also try to experience a variety of contexts, whether with the urban poor, immigrants, social action, college students, teens, children, families, the suburbs, the rich, businesses, hospitals ... Look at a variety of approaches, such as bold witnessing, servant evangelism, incarnational presence ministries, reaching the political and cultural leaders, ...  etc. What you are looking for are some of the lessons that people have already learned in your city: ... allow them to coach you in what seems to work and what doesn't in your cultural context. They might also be aware of other agencies where there are People of Peace which will be valuable information as you move forward.

• Experience places of authentic community in your context: Where are the places that people belong and experience authentic community? What does it look like to really belong? Consider your local coffee shops, gyms, clubs and societies, sports, nightlife, etc. Where do young moms belong? How about business people, high-school kids, twenty-somethings, police officers, the homeless? Try walking through your city center at different points during the day and observe the different happenings. ... To help in this learning, ask some people you know – whether in or outside the church – who are well connected with different strata of society. Find out where people belong and experience community." – pgs. 83-84     

"Faith comes by hearing the Word, so you need to know that this is what the Lord himself has called you to. Jesus tells us that before a building project is started, the wise person estimates the cost to see if he can finish it. As we read in Luke 14:28-33, a king going into battle will consider whether he has enough troops to win a victory. In the same way, you should consider what the cost will be for you, your family and your team in this endeavor. Practically you will need to re-adjust your calendar and re-order your priorities. You will have to become very strategic in the allocation of your most precious resource – time – investing it in your key leaders as they seek to lead those in their Huddles. Emotionally, you will need to be prepared to deal with the inevitable consequences of change. Spiritually, you and your family will need extra prayerfulness and prayer support from others, since the enemy will try to derail this process. ... spiritual warfare is a common pattern in churches that make this journey, so you need to go into the fight with your eyes open and spiritual weapons fully deployed. Never forget that prayer is a powerful weapon that releases so much Kingdom life (as well as having the invigorating side-benefit of deeply annoying the enemy!). However in times of warfare we are tempted to pray less and rely upon ourselves more. Alongside that, the voice of the enemy will try to trick us into self-doubt and second-guessing, usually through the "What if" game:

• What if no one wants to move into Missional Communities?
• What if no one is reached?
• What if attendance goes down?
• Will people tithe well to the church if they are released all over the place?
• If we aren't keeping a close eye on everything, what will people start believing? 

The antidote, of course, is prayer – for you, your church, your city, those you lead, for the presence of the Holy Spirit and the advancement of the Kingdom of God. We strongly implore you to ensure that you have excellent prayer support, strong accountable relationships and the ability to invest deeply in your family life at this time." – pgs. 86-87

"The Price:

• The battle is not against flesh and blood. The enemy will attack us at the points of greatest weakness and he will not give up ground without a significant fight.

• Launching effective Missional Communities is impossible without creating a low control, high accountability culture. It means you will have to trust the team you have discipled and recognize that you will no longer know everything that is going on while they will need to be more teachable, ask more questions, and seek greater insight and understanding.

The Prize:
 

• You will be opening the door to unlimited Kingdom possibilities because it will be the Holy Spirit working through other leaders; the future will no longer be limited by your personal capacity and vision.

• More of your leaders will be engaged in front line mission and living a more fulfilling and fruitful Christian life.

And all those who have made the journey say the Kingdom prize is worth any cost." – pg. 87

"Use the Lord's Prayer to help you pray for Missional Communities in your church:

• The Father's Character ("Our Father ... May Your name be kept holy.") – He is the giving, generous, going, searching, community-building Father. What other names of God are relevant to reaching the city of Worcester?

• The Father's Kingdom ("Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.") – His will is for the Kingdom to forcefully advance in our city. Who are the specific people and where are the specific places that He has shown you that especially need His Kingdom come right now?

• The Father's Provision ("Give us today the food we need.") – He will provide all that is needed for Emmaus City, our elders, deacons, and MC leaders, our mission, and our city. What are the specific needs we expect Him to provide in the coming months?

• The Father's Forgiveness ("Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.") – He loves to help us change from old to new ways of thinking. What are the specific attitudes and actions each of the people in Emmaus City need to turn from and turn to Jesus instead?

• The Father's Guidance ("Lead us not into temptation.") – God is fulfilling His plan. Jesus is building His church. The Spirit is on the move seeking lost sheep. Where can we join Him in His work? How are we asking for more laborers? What are specific decisions we need help in making?

• The Father's Protection ("Deliver us from evil.") – He protects us from the enemy's plans. Is His Word our food and foundation; do we trust that God has supplied everything we need pertaining to living a godly life? Are we listening well and walking in step with His Spirit? Is obedience and humility in becoming more like Jesus part of how we reveal our faith in action? What are our areas of concern? Where do see possibility of attack?" – pg. 88    

Step 3 | Recruiting for Your Pilot MC

"Topics to cover include:

• A description of Missional Communities.

• Setting out the basics of a Pilot MC, including the three main elements: Leadership DNAs (i.e. Huddles) / DNAs, community gatherings and meals, and missional OUTs.

• A clear timeline.

• A clear explanation of what is required of them. What is the commitment that you are asking for during the life of the Pilot MC?

• A description of the end-process. Share about the hope for future MC leaders and future MCs to emerge from this Pilot MC.

• Share the practical benefits ranging from the high quality investment this will be in them, the invitation to be part of a key group of people who are helping shape the future direction of the church and the excellent food you will be serving! In addition they will have high access to you in this time, which for many serves as a very meaningful opportunity.

• Keep the Pilot enjoyable for everyone – it's a big process of change that could become bogged down in its own self-importance, so keep adding fun and lightness to keep the 'cake' rising." – pg. 90

Step 5 | Running Your Pilot MC

"The life of an MC is very much like different puzzle pieces coming together to form something. The community that people experience and the vibrancy that it brings aren't stuffed full into one gathering time, rather, they are dispersed throughout the month. In doing this, it allows all the beautiful, organic things to happen in between that are truly the lifeblood of the community. It is the consistency of coming together regularly with an expressed mission over a longer period of time that makes an MC work. ... Is it simple? Yes. Is there tons going on each week? Not really. But know that it is the relationships that start to form in these organized times that lead to unbelievable mission, friendship and spiritual growth outside these organized times." – pg. 93

"One of our continuing expectations of MC Leaders that is a non-negotiable: Every MC Leader is in a Leadership DNA (i.e. Huddle). This ensures that they are receiving the investment and discipling that every Christian needs, but it also ensures that they are being held accountable for the groups of people they are leading. ...  they are constantly seeing spiritual breakthrough in their own lives, which is then seen in the people they are leading. ... Leading a Huddle is a skill that is developed over time. As we mentioned before, the elements of a discipling culture are High Invitation and High Challenge. Encouragement and Accountability. Relationship and Responsibility. ... We have found that the best MC Leaders tend to be the best Huddle leaders." – pgs. 94-95

"Mission occurs in two main ways – through witness and service. Through both, we need to learn how to identify and pursue People of Peace, following the strategy that Jesus gave us for evangelism. To make it effective, we suggest focusing on a mission day, when people in the MC can devote at least half a day, if not more, to a great project. Tied in with prayer (including a prayer walk) in advance, equipping on the theology of the Person of Peace and DNA groups afterwards to learn from the experiences, this should be an effective strategy for building confidence and faith in your leaders. They in turn will speak with more courage and confidence to those they end up leading in their MCs, sounding like seasoned old pros at doing mission in community. Be aware that this is the element of the MC journey that people will be most likely to try and skip! To overcome this, your role is crucial. Make sure that you:

• Cast a compelling vision for what people are going to learn and experience.

• Do proper planning for the mission prayer walk and action day.

• Organize things really thoroughly, so that people feel secure and that their time is being well spent.

• Be an enthusiast for the specific mission activities you have planned.

• Make very clear that this is not an optional part of the process – people are expected to be there unless they have an amazing excuse.

• For people with children, try to have some OUT options that are family friendly. We have taken our children from a very young age into all sorts of mission situations. They tend to not mind dirt or poverty to the same degree that adults do, so long as they feel safe and included. Just put them in old clothes and let them loose!

• Make sure you debrief, celebrate well afterwards and tell the stories of what the Lord has done. You can use upcoming DNAs to talk through observations and reflections more deeply." – pg. 96

"We suggest that well in advance the PILOT leadership team brainstorm a number of specific OUT ideas, which have a mixture of witness and service. Look for situations where your church already has an influence that a burst of people on a particular day could enhance. If nothing is obvious, can you partner with an existing ministry, like a soup kitchen or children's home? How about talking with a key part of your geographic community? Examples of this are a local school where you can clean up or redevelop a playground, or a nursing home that would welcome some investment or labor and conversation, or taking part in a one-off community event.

• What neighborhood or network of relationships does your church already influence? Are there local community projects with which you could meaningfully partner? Is there someone in your church who is already leading out in these things and could use some additional resources?

• Are you comfortable in identifying and building relationships with the People of Peace in your own life? Ask the Lord to show you who your People of Peace are at this time." – pgs. 96-97

Step 6 | Effective Communication in Preparation

• Be Concrete: Seventy percent of the population prefer to gather and processes information using their five senses. The more they can touch, taste, see, hear and even smell the vision of your MC, the more real it will become for them and the easier for them to commit to it. (The other 30% prefer to see the big picture first and work their way back to the details.) When you describe your MC, use the five senses to help craft your communication. 

• Be Realistic: Don't set the bar for initial entry too high. Invitation to relationship should always precede the Challenge to do something! High-octane Pioneers (Base Ministry apostles, prophets and evangelists) who want to change the world can always gather a few fellow revolutionaries who are happy to be all in no matter the cost. However, the long-term success of their MC will depend on whether they can recruit and empower the Developers (Base Ministry teachers and pastors) to build on the new frontiers.

• Be Accessible: People follow a leader before they follow their vision. The vast majority of the people who join your MC will do so because you personally invite them! The first disciples on the beach did not have a clue what 'I will make you fishers of men!' meant, they simply accepted an invitation to walk with Jesus. You are not hold yourself up as the perfect example, but you are inviting people to join you as you follow the vision the Lord has given you. It is usually the combination of passion for the Mission Vision and personal vulnerability that creates the context for others to trust and follow you." – pg. 99

Examples of How Some Churches Define Their Approach to MCs

• Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd | Torrance, CA: "Missional Communities are known as Clusters. 'A house-full of friends on a mission!' ... groups of 15-40 people who gather regularly in homes to do life together and carry out a common purpose beyond themselves. They have fun, share meals, pray, have fun, read the Bible, have fun, welcome new people, serve those in need, and – you guessed it – have fun!

• Love Canton | Canton, OH: Missional Communities are known as Villages. Villages are the main way that we live out relationships UP, IN and OUT. They are the environments where we can become disciples of Jesus together if we are intentional about it. Each Village is centered around a common mission to reach out to a specific neighborhood, sector or demographic in Canton in Jesus' name. So proximity is a big deal. Villages are relational environments of around 15-40 people that feel kind of like a family reunion. Villages are small enough to have a common mission together but large enough to do something about it. They are communities where we'll be missed if we are gone and where we all can be a part. Villages are made up of smaller accountability groups where we are able to really be known and encouraged to keep running after Jesus – kind of like immediate family. Villages are always led by at least two people who are accountable to being a part of a Leadership DNA (i.e. Huddle). The vision and direction of the Village primarily come from the leaders with the input of the rest of the community. Each Village will have a unique identity and rhythm for doing things, and will be a part of the large Love Canton community when we all come together for Celebration.

• Trinity Grace Church | New York City: Missional Communities are groups of 15-40 people that work together for three things: first, to grow in our relationship with God and understand our identity in him; second, to grow closer together in fellowship and relationships; and third, to serve our city in mercy and justice projects. Each Missional Community consists of a number of smaller groups known as Lifegroups for accountability, discipleship, prayer and communion." – pgs. 100-101  

Preaching

"In many churches, the primary way of steering the whole church will be through sermons. In this build-up period, some of these topics would be great to cover:

• Community
• Mission
• People of Peace
• Balancing the relationships of life between UP-IN-OUT
• How the New Testament presents church life (oikos, etc.)
• Romans 16 (on oikos in the New Testament – see earlier in this book for details on that)
• God's heart for the city
• What the Bible says about the lost, the last and the least
• The principles of MCs, including how they fit into the vision of your church
• Preaching through one of the synoptic Gospels (ex. Mark)

The Challenge:

• The priority of being witnesses.
• We all want to do OUT, but struggle so much with it.
• To understand how our society has changed (e.g., globalization, post-modernity, less religious and yet more spiritual, fragmentation of families and community, etc.).
• People are far more relationally based in how they do life, so they want to know that they are valued and accepted for who they are before they consider whether the claims of Christ are true and valid.
• Sunday services will only reach some of the lost (as a huge generalization, those who are middle-class or aspirational middle-class, more culturally conservative, de-churched as opposed to unchurched). However, we need to do something more if we are to reach all of our city/community.

Our response:

• Going as a group to where the lost are.
• Studying the early church.
• Explain the core elements of MCs.
• Being different from small groups.
• Being lightweight/low maintenance and flexible.
• Have Sunday services that serve the Missional Community, not everything serving the service.
• The measure of success is not whether everyone reached will come to a Sunday church service, but whether the lost are being saved and appropriate expressions of church are being formed.
• Talk about the values of the three different sizes of gathering (celebration, MC, DNA). Explain how these will be your yardsticks for decision making." – pgs. 104-105

Addendum | Church Planting with MCs

"As our good friend Mick Woodhead says, 'It's not hard to grow a church. It's just really hard to make disciples.' If you can make missional disciples, your church will grow. The real battle is in discipleship. If you are going to play the odds, if you are going to play the numbers, play the ones with the highest rate of success: missional disciples = success. ... The numbers aren't going to be that impressive after one year. But we'd say almost every time we overestimate what we can accomplish in our strength in on year and vastly underestimate what God can do in his strength in five years. What you are aiming for is exponential growth, not growth by addition. To get exponential growth it takes time for things to build until you hit a tipping point. So grab people you feel God is calling you to invest in and disciple. Make sure they know this is high commitment and that your ultimate goal isn't to form the trendiest church they've ever seen. But this will unlock the life they've only dreamed of. Do life with them: Create the mid-sized, extended family experience. ... So you'll want to hang out a lot. What you will quickly notice is that the language of discipleship you learn makes its way very naturally into other conversations. So while there will be formalized discipleship time, every time you hang out with people there is an ever-growing spiritual depth to the conversations. One church planter we know opens up their house every other Friday night to their people. They provide drinks and snacks, while everyone brings their own meat for the grill. You'll naturally do dinner, breakfast, and coffee with these people a lot. Why? Because they are people you are intentionally investing in. Eventually, the other people learn to do this with each other outside of just you, and slowly you start to see a spiderweb network of relationships developing. People are starting to act like extended family." – pgs. 117-118

"Here is a suggestion for a monthly rhythm to begin with (and then obviously all of the organic stuff is happening in between).

• Week 1 – UP gathering
• Week 2 – IN gathering with spouses and kids. Everyone brings something to eat. They only set 'spiritual' time is for people to share what they are thankful for and take time to pray for: (1) Is anyone sick? (2) Is anyone worried/anxious? (3) Pray for People of Peace. (4) Pray for your community.
• Week 3 – UP gathering
• Week 4 – OUT mission that can be as simple as doing a big party with everyone and inviting People of Peace who don't know Jesus, exposing them to the supernatural quality of the community that is almost tangible. Or it can be serving the homeless and inviting friends who don't know Jesus. The point is that you are developing a community that is balanced, with an eye towards personal discipleship, family and growing the family.

Teach your people to sow seeds of mission into everyday life. To show them how, have people bring their calendars for the next week and then draw the Triangle on a whiteboard. UP. IN. OUT. Then have them look at their schedule. How is it weighted? What you will quickly see is people are quite selfish with their time. ... What most people see is they are reasonably strong at IN, maybe decent at the UP, but are woeful at the OUT. So, we simply teach people how to fold OUT into their natural, normal lives. Many Christians claim they don't have non-Christian friends. OK, well, change that. Teach people how to do mission and hold them accountable to doing it. By doing this for a few months together and talking about it regularly, people start to see more and more People of Peace who are open to them. This is sowing the seed for a harvest in the future." – pgs. 118-119

"Spend six to nine months in this rhythm. Don't try to grow the group. Just sow seeds. As many seeds as possible. Become healthy. Teach them how to do the basics of what Jesus said disciples should do. Experience mid-sized MC life so you know what it feels like, what it's like to live in a community that isn't tied t the identity of worship service or building. Yes, there are times that you intentionally meet, but the best stuff is usually coming out of the organic that has developed from the intentionality of the organized. Start talking about creating more Missional Communities, communities that grow to be 20-50 people, which are targeted at a certain group of people or geographical place (network or neighborhood). This is probably six to eight months into this. Ask people into group to pray for vision, that God would put something specific on their heart." – pg. 119

"For all of this – which, by the way, is simply the beginning of the amazing growth you'll see – you're looking at probably a minimum of a two-year process. Like we said at the beginning, this isn't a quick thing. Investing in people and discipling them never is. But from the beginning you create something that's worth imitating and worth multiplying. There is nothing worse than being three to four years into a church plant and realizing the DNA is wrong. What you are doing is creating something that has the potential to see exponential growth, but something that remains incredibly substantive. Rather than saying 'church growth' and 'deep, substantive church' are mutually exclusive, it says they are integrally connected. After four years you could have four to five MCs, after six years, twenty MCs, after eight years, sixty MCs, each representing a bucket of about 15-40 people. Every person being discipled. Every person feeling like they have a family fighting for them, to whom they belong. You start doing it from the beginning, and it never really changes. It just contracts (multiplies) and expands (grows). Contract and expand. You don't need a ton of people to start it, in fact, you don't want a ton of people. Like Jesus, you start with a handful." – pg. 121

Next post: Launching Missional Communities: A Field Guide Part 3 of 3 

– Sully
 

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