Goals & Roadmap (Where to From Here)

One of the great things about a sabbatical is that it gives you time to reflect. Here we are in our mid to late 40's, looking ahead at the next 20 years. In all likelihood, whatever comes next will probably be the last big thing we do before we retire. The end is in sight.

The Next 20 Years (Goals) 
So how do we want to spend ourselves in the home stretch? What do we want to accomplish with our lives? After some initial musings here, I think it's starting to become clear. Fundamentally, we'd really like to...

1. Embed ourselves in a world class city – We want to be neck deep in lost culture, surrounding ourselves with un-churched and de-churched on a daily basis, in a way that allows us to build friendships and enter their plight by finding common ground (like love for art, music, coffee, beer, and community). We believe the Gospel still speaks to lost people, but the process is very slow (it often takes years) and it must be incarnational. 
2. Support ourselves financially – Like Paul, we want to offer the Gospel free of charge, without strings (1 Cor 9:18). However, as our culture tilts in a post-Christian direction, old Christendom models of funding mission become increasingly difficult to sustain. This is (partly) why we are struggling to plant new churches in secular, urban cores: the old economics simply don't work very well anymore. Consequently, we think God is calling us to explore new approaches, like a return to tentmaking (Acts 18:3). 
3. Start a kingdom minded business – What if we could create something that doesn't look like church (to our culture), but still has deep historical connections with the church (legacy), while sharing key common values with our culture (relevance)? What if that business could be a tool, not just to make money, but to bring people together? What if it could allow us to do things in our cities that would actually be appreciated by unbelievers, because it's such a blessing to them (Jer 29:7)? And what if that business could also help church plants, by acting as a spiritual incubator? This is why we want to start a small, “old school” neighborhood brewery. 
4. Plant another church – What goes into starting a brewery? Well, it takes several years of intense effort, during which you're getting to know your city intimately, meeting with all sorts of people whose help you need to get your business going: lawyers, realtors, city officials, contractors, builders, neighbors. In short, starting a brewery provides a natural way to network and build friendships. Our hope and prayer is that God will use this process as a natural launchpad for our next church plant. 
5. Mentor other church planters – One of the biggest ways to develop new talent is to provide “field stations” where aspiring church planters can develop their gifts and test their calling, by apprenticing under seasoned evangelists in real-world conditions. This is an area where I'd like to give back to the greater church, by investing in young men and women who want to learn how to plant gospel centric urban churches. 
6. Create a financial engine – I think we have the opportunity to create a business that pumps 30% of its net profit back into mercy and church planting – that's $250K/year. I'd like to use that revenue stream to create a church planting foundation that funds urban church plants in major cities throughout the west. Over the next 20 years, I believe this is one of the biggest ways I can have a lasting impact for the kingdom.

The Next 3 Years (Roadmap) 
So what do the next several years look like? What needs to happen first, in order for us to actually have a chance at achieving these larger goals? What will it take to get there from here?

1. We need a home base – because we will be taking a very slow start (it could be several years before we're ready to launch worship), it's important to find a church where we can worship in the meantime. We think Providence Church (Acts 29) located in downtown Austin just might be that place. [Present] 
2. We need a call – we need someone to authorize us to pursue the vision laid out above, realizing that it's an outside-the-box approach to a particularly thorny problem (eg. How to plant more urban churches in an increasingly post-Christian age?). We're currently in conversations with several denominations. [April 2014] 
3. We need to raise support – we need to raise $160K over two years for living expenses, hospitality, and outreach. By Year 3, the brewery should be able to support us financially; and if a core group emerges, they should be able to cover the costs of beginning to worship. That's pretty cheap for a church plant. But right now, we're still only 10% of the way there. We need to raise the rest by this Fall. That's where we're going to need help from other churches. [October 2014] 
4. We need to fund the brewery – we're seeking $1-1.2 million of investment capital to launch the brewery. Once funded, it will take 9-12 months to open the doors, and then another 1-3 years for the brewery to be profitable. If we can't secure funding, then we will obviously need to re-evaluate the call / funding. But based on how things are going, we are increasingly optimistic. [July – December 2014] 
5. We need to begin gathering – in some ways, this church plant will be much different than our first one. Starting a business will undoubtedly be a full time job, but one that is very relational. We think God will use this as a means to connect us with spiritual seekers and Christians who resonate with our mission. We expect to get together over coffee, lunch, and dinners. And we plan on starting a missional community early this Fall. In many ways, our focus will be on casting vision and making disciples as we live missional lives together – if God brings people, the church will follow. [Year 0] 
6. We need to begin to worship – our vision is for a missional Gospel community of about 20 people that grows, matures, replicates, and repeats... when we have 3-4 such groups, we would be ready to begin worship. Our hope is to create a brewery space that is capable of hosting public worship on Sunday mornings. [Year 1-2] 
7. We need to hire another pastor – while we believe God has gifted us for vision, evangelism, gathering, launching, and developing leaders, I think we will need help with shepherding, counseling, and discipleship as the church grows. By funding my position through the business, I hope to free the church up to hire a second pastor (sooner rather than later). [Year 3-4] 

Obviously, this is all fairly tentative (but so is any kind of church planting).

Our goal is to cast a wide net and then listen to what God is saying and to follow as best we can. While we don't know exactly HOW everything will unfold, we believe this is a solid plan for how God COULD use a brewery as a vehicle to plant a church in the heart of Austin, TX. We'd love to hear what you think, and look forward to discussing it with you in person.