Far too many churches suffer from an addiction to outside-in thinking. They look at what other churches have found successful and they try to mirror those same practices in their own context. Often, when the practices fail, they are left scratching their heads, asking, “Why did it work for them, but not for us?”
Photo Courtesy of Josh Fitzpatrick
Urban Mission Field
An upscale apartment complex in Plano, Tex., is the house of The Savannah House, an experiment in urban mission.
Outside-in thinking leads to burnout. Rarely will your church live up to the success that another church had with its own program.
Inside-out thinking, however, asks, “How is God calling us to uniquely live out the gospel in our particular context?” Like missionaries in foreign cultures, each ministry approach is most effective when it is organically shaped by the context in which it exists.
Our grand experiment at Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, TX is asking the question, “What does it mean to live missionally in our backyard?” How might we take our particular context seriously? In a day when fewer and fewer people are choosing to make church attendance a regular part of their lives, how might we reach our neighbors on their turf (instead of waiting for them to come onto ours)?
The Savannah House has emerged as a result of these questions.
Photo Courtesy of Josh Fitzpatrick
Moving Break
Movers take a break from setting up The Savannah House, a missional experiment sponsored by Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, Tex., a city north of Dallas.
With a grant from the Young Clergy Initiative of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church, we are moving three residents into an upscale, 3-bedroom apartment here in Plano. We recognize that, as Christians, we are called to address issues of brokenness and injustice in the world. Sometimes that brokenness and injustice gets overlooked in upscale settings because we are quick to assume that “they’ve got it all together.”
The Savannah House residents have three goals:
1) To live in covenant community with one another, following a Rule of Life together, as they encourage each other in their ministry discernment processes.
2)To seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as they engage in creative opportunities to live hospitably as “urban missionaries” in the context of their apartment community.
3) To gain local church experience by interning in a variety of capacities at Christ United Methodist Church (determined by their passions and interests).
Photo Courtesy of Josh Fitzpatrick
Flowers and Cutlery
Flowers, cutlery and a food basket mark the kitchen organizing at The Savannah House, a missional experience of Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, Tex., a city north of Dallas.
The Savannah House gains its name from the “failed” missionary exploits of John Wesley to Savannah, Georgia. Two observations that Wesley noted in his journal as he left Savannah helped shape the vision of the Savannah House: 1) He admitted that his preconceived evangelistic strategies were deemed ineffective by such a radical change in context (outside-in versus inside-out thinking) and 2) As Wesley reflected on his time in Georgia he wrote: “I, who went to America to convert others, was never myself converted.” As a part of the Young Clergy Initiative, one of the goals for the residents is to experience the life-transforming power of God as they discern where God is leading them.
Christ UMC has partnered with the Epworth Project of the Missional Wisdom Foundation in an effort to glean as much wisdom as possible from their vast experience of intentional living communities. The Missional Wisdom Foundation also has an excellent, established system of spiritual guidance that includes a community Abbot, Prior, Spiritual Directors and Coaches, and a host of team members to assist the residents of the Savannah House as they grow deeper in their faith.
Do we know exactly what this will look like one-year from now? No.
Do we have specific ministry strategies in place? No.
Do we know that this will even work? No.
But as we move our residents into the Savannah House, we’re choosing to trust that it is God who has stirred this vision within us.
And God usually has pretty good ideas.
The Rev. Josh Fitzpatrick serves as an associate pastor leading the modern worship community known as Table of Grace at Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, TX (http://tableofgrace.org). He blogs at LIVING INtensionALLY.