Movements

When we started Church of the King in September 2001, planting one church was just the start of our dream.  Our vision from the beginning has been to launch a movement of church plants in Metro Detroit.  This past Easter we took an oversized step of faith and launched our first daughter church in downtown Royal Oak.  This fall we'll move again in the direction of our dream.  Plans are coming together to launch a one year, on-site church planting training school.  The school is called Movements. 

I'll write more in the next few weeks about how the dream for the school has come together.  In the meantime, if you have a leaning toward church planting and you're wondering what your next step should be, I'd love to hear from you.  Movements may be a unique approach for you to take in pursuing God's dream for your life. 

Here's the vision statement:

We are a visionary, risk-taking band of pioneers.  We don't mind starting empty-handed.  We're willing to invade hard territory with unlikely people.  We're convinced God can do anything He wants with anyone He chooses.  We depend on each other, love each other, and go to war for each other.  We don't subscribe to any one method, but we do have a few unique convictions.

The Acts of the Apostles is our textbook.  We believe that First Century church planting principles still work.  Culture changes but the principles of Jesus retain relevancy.  We trace our roots back to a core group of 120 in a Jerusalem attic who launched a movement of church plants that extended to the ends of the earth.

Strategic cities are our context.  We believe God's creation story starts in a garden and ends in a city.  God is behind world population explosion.  He is scooping up masses of people and placing them in cities around the world.  Meanwhile, He is positioning postmodern pioneers to rename those cities.  We belong to God's city-changing tribe.

Jesus is our message.  We talk about Him everyday.  We fill our prayers with His name.  We use His life and ministry as our model.  If Jesus was willing to take His Father at His word, so are we.  If Jesus was willing to send, so are we.  If Jesus was willing to die, so are we.  We identify with fishermen who quit their jobs to follow the Rabbi.  Hopefully this sounds real simple.  We just want to please Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is our means.  The Holy Spirit's job is to put Jesus in the spotlight.  Since we share that goal we covet His help.  He has determined to empower the available (1 Corinthians 12.11).  We've made His determination our desire (1 Corinthians 14.1).  We believe Jesus had postmoderns in mind when He first poured out His Spirit in Jerusalem.  None of the gifts have ceased.  We need the Holy Spirit today more than ever.

Sending is our strategy.  We're uncomfortable with stationary church ministry.  We're committed to multiplication.  We hold resources loosely because we believe they all belong to God.  He can reallocate people, money, equipment and materials as often as He chooses.  We believe scattering seed does more than storing it.  We value generosity.  We are motivated by the advancement of the Kingdom.  So we open our hands to release, bless, and send.

Do these words make your heart beat fast?  Do thoughts of creating and changing stir you?  Are you ready to add a decision to your dream?  Could you devote one year of your life to launching a movement?

Comments

[jeff leake]

i love it. are these the value statements for orgin or movements or both? what about naked gifts?

[Brad Leach]

Hey Jeff. I wrote these value statements specifically for the school but the majority of them transfer to Origin. As one ministry arm of Origin, Movements carries similar values. Naked gifts would be a more specific version of the Holy Spirit as our means, with more of a description of expressing the gifts in a relevant way. For everyone listening in on this, naked gifts has a spiritual meaning. I promise! It essentially stands for the need for the gifts of the Spirit to be expressed without the charismatic sub-culture wrapping we often put on them. It's the value of operating in spiritual gifts conversationally, relationally and without all the fanfare.

[jonathan]

hey i may be coming to your missions convention in march with my dad. that would be sweet. if i requested you for chapel at NCU somtime would u come and speak? that would be sweet