Hi, my name is Christian, this is my wife Marilyn, and by now you've probably heard about what we're up to...Over the past three decades, I've spent 14 years in software (as a Java geek), then another 7 as a PCA church planter (go figure). Along the way, Marilyn and I have managed to raise 3 kids, start a business, plant a church (All Souls Missoula), and launch a non-profit. (Somehow we're still happily married!)
And now we're looking forward to what comes next: a bi-vocational ministry in the heart of Austin, Texas! Specifically, we think God is calling us to plant an urban, gospel centric church, by starting a neighborhood taproom & brewery. So how does a respectable pastor get to this point? Good question...
Cultural Changes
As you've probably noticed, our culture is undergoing massive changes in core spirituality. People are leaving the church in droves; budgets are strained; it is difficult to maintain existing ministries (left alone start new ones). The simple fact is that we are rapidly becoming a post-Christian society, where the Bible and Christian values no longer hold the privileged position they once enjoyed. For churches to prosper in this new environment, we need to re-think some of our assumptions about what it means to be the church.
The Gospel is not the problem. In 2006, we moved to Missoula, MT to plant a church for people who had given up on church – the un-churched, the de-churched, the post-churched. Some of our friends thought we were crazy. “You'll never plant a church there,” they said, “there aren't enough Christians.” (Isn't that kind of the point of church planting?)
We've discovered Jesus is bigger than all that. The Gospel still speaks to our post-modern, post-Christian culture. We saw 30+ conversions. 85% of the people who called All Souls home didn't come from another church in Missoula. On any given Sunday, 10% of the folks in worship weren't even Christian. Slowly but surely, we saw a real live church sprout and prosper in a place most people would consider to be very hard soil. How? Why?
Lessons Learned
First, we realized the people we wanted to reach probably wouldn't find us on their own. So we went to them. We hung out in coffee shops and pubs. We threw parties and built friendships. We asked lots of questions. We set out to love the city well. That was key.
We discovered many people had given up on Christianity (“I'm spiritual but not religious”) because churches felt superficial and self-absorbed. So we set out to be deeply authentic (about our failures as well as our faith), to be a place where you didn't have to share our convictions in order to be our friends. We wrestled with what it meant to follow Jesus together, and we worked for the shalom of the city (Jeremiah 29:7).
Gradually over time, people trusted us enough – and were intrigued enough – to enter into the life of the church and to explore the Gospel of Jesus more deeply. But that process was typically very slow: after 7 years with two full time pastors, we had grown to 120, but we still couldn't support more than one full time staff. And therein lies the rub.
Why Bi-Vocational Ministry?
Quite simply, if we are serious about planting gospel centric churches that reach culture and transform neighborhoods, then we must rethink our assumptions about pastoral ministry. We must figure out how to plant urban churches in increasingly secular post-Christian cities. And we either need to get much better at raising large amounts of money (because slow plants with full time pastors are very expensive), -OR- we need to find creative ways of doing it for less (like bi-vocational ministry). This is the path we think God has for us...
- We need to raise at least $100,000 by November 2014 – that's 2 years of personal support for life and ministry (a bargain for an urban church plant). We're almost 70% of the way there.
- This buys us time to start a business – we also need to raise money for the brewery. We've already put together a solid business plan, we've vetted it with a number of seasoned professionals, and we're currently forming the LLC. We hope to raise the necessary startup funds by the end of 2014. This will provide income down the road, not just for us, but for additional church planting. It's also a great way of embedding ourselves in the community.
- This lets us lay the groundwork for a church – God is already introducing us to all sorts of folks here in Austin, and we are inviting them into a life of friendship, discipleship, and shalom, where we all work to follow Jesus together in our vocations. We expect our first missional community to begin this Fall.
- Discipleship and Mission... then Worship – as groups grow organically around life together with a vision for planting a church, we expect them to replicate. When we have four groups of 15-20 people, then we will be ready for public worship.
So How Can You Help?
We believe God has gifted us to plant gospel-centric churches that reach our culture. The Gulf South Presbytery of the EPC has already extended a call. But we can't do it on our own.
- We need partners in ministry: individuals who can give $100/month for the next 2 years; partner churches that can make larger gifts ($5 - $50K). We need both by this year's end. [How to Give].
- We also need partners in business: people who are looking for a compelling investment in a great business with great kingdom potential. [Email me for details.]
- We also need introductions: to like minded people that are passionate about church planting, brewing, or investment opportunities.
- And mostly we need your prayers: because God delights in the earnest cries of his children!
Sincerely in Christ,
Christian & Marilyn
