Jim Memory 23 rd February 2013

1.Getting “Out of the Box” Two common meanings in English i. Pre-packaged, standardized ii. Freed to think creatively

1.Getting “Out of the Box"

2. Three challenges of doing church ”out of the box” 2.1 The Cultural Challenge 2.2 The Kingdom Challenge 2.3 The Methodological Challenge

2.1 The Cultural Challenge Doing church “out of the box” will require us to become more aware of the culture in which we live

2.1 The Cultural Challenge What is “culture”? Civilization Patterns of thinking, feeling and doing “just the way we do things round here” Subconscious beliefs and values Worldview The lenses through which we perceive the world around us

2.1 The Cultural Challenge Symbols (branches) Heroes & rituals (twigs) History (roots) Practices (leaves) Values (trunk)

2.1 The Cultural Challenge Church also described by culture Portuguese culture is changing Doing church “out of the box” will mean being prepared to change our church “culture” to reach those who otherwise will never be reached by existing churches

2.2 The Kingdom Challenge Most church planting does not take place in an ecclesiological vacuum We must keep in mind the two realities of the Mission of God and the Kingdom of God

2.2 The Kingdom Challenge Covenant for the Evangelization of Cordoba Commitment to a Kingdom Vision of the challenge of reaching all the towns and villages of the province and signed by the pastors and missionaries of the city and province of Cordoba November 2011

2.3 The Methodological Challenge Doing church “out of the box” will mean abandoning preconceived ideas of church planting methodology. We must reject the strategic fallacy: that if only we use the right methodology our church plant will be successful. God is building his church in a multitude of different ways around the world as is shown by the following Taxonomy of Church Planting

Traditional Church Planting Models Emerging Church Planting Models

However the cultures of Europe are not monochrome nor monocultural Rather, the culture of every single one of our European local contexts today is a swirling multi-coloured mixture of cultures and sub-cultures in which the models of church plant we employ may connect with only a fraction of the people in our communities

Models which are seeking to engage with contemporary culture in diverse ways

Engagement with contemporary (secular postmodern) culture strong critique of Christendom models Search for community & authenticity Focussed on social justice in local context missional

Engagement with contemporary (secular postmodern) culture moderate critique of Christendom models Understand themselves as “a church for others” missional

Self-consciously multi-cultural and cross-cultural missional

Small community living together Common rule of life missional

3. How to get ”out of the box” 3.1 Research the Culture 3.2 Demonstrate the Kingdom 3.3 Experiment with Methodology

Europe needs churches of many different kinds to reach “all the peoples of Europe” Traditional models of church still have their place However, they will prove less and less effective with younger Europeans Only by understanding our local culture, demonstrating a Kingdom vision for the church, and being creative with our methodologies will we be able to reach this generation of Europeans.

Jim Memory Redcliffe College European Christian Mission