Three Missional What-Ifs
Can I borrow a moment of your time and a bit of the bully-pulpit to cast some vision (or just my crazy imagination) for what an Outpost of The Commons, or even a future church plant could be? The missional community/microchurch space traditionally finds its home in, well…our homes, around the dinner table or in the living room; but what other possibilities are out there? What could we dream up that’s a little bit different, that maybe feels a little less like what we’re used to, but might have a profound effect on our community and bring the church where people are rather than asking people to come to us? How do we turn the ordinary into something holy — or the secular into something sacred? These are going to be ordered from most plausible to most “Robb needs his brain checked,” so bear with me:
College Outpost
I go to work everyday just steps outside of the UNH campus. My State Farm office is literally on the ground floor of student housing right in downtown Durham. Naturally I see students walking around every single day and I often catch myself day dreaming about how we reach college students with the Gospel. The other day I decided to do some digging. Did you know that UNH has an assembly of chaplains? These are volunteer pastors, priests, and faith leaders from the surrounding community who tend to the spiritual needs of the students and help them get connected to on and off-campus worship services, events, and organizations. The thought occurred to me that we have several very faithful men and women in this body who could someday step into licensing and serve on campus as a chaplain representative of The Commons; but beyond that — why couldn’t we start an Outpost right on campus?
Our microchurch ethos provides a unique opportunity to serve college students without requiring them to travel off campus to a service and offers a form of spiritual discipleship and intimacy that could be something fresh and entirely different than they’re used to. Spiritual warfare is in full swing on college campuses everywhere; and if you’re a Christ-following student or someone who has questions about Jesus, a church that is deeply orthodox and yet culturally relevant that thinks small is a big deal provides a context for deep transformation, even when school is only your temporary home. If someone were called to plant an Outpost on the UNH campus, what would they need? Is there someone from our body already being called to do so? My gut tells me that I’m not the first one to think about this, and maybe this word just gave you the green light to think about it seriously. I hope it has. I’m happy to workshop it, pray about it, and discern through it, as I’m sure others would too.
The Transformative “Third” Space
This one, admittedly, requires a bit more of an investment, and to some extent has already been pondered by some in our body. I want to throw it back out there to see if anything sticks or if I can cast some new light onto unseen possibilities. This is the entrepreneurial model of a missional church. The idea: create a space that is owned by the church but is used by for-profit businesses during the week. Think: coffee shops, brewpubs, cowork spaces, restaurants, etc. A space where the community frequents in and out on a daily basis, and where, in large part, as a church we can bless local businesses (who may or may not be owned and operated by non-Christian neighbors) with lower-than average rents, who in turn can bless their employees; or we form a missionally focused business to provide a good or service in Rochester run by members of The Commons. Meanwhile, the cost of the building and utilities is largely off the shoulders of the church, leaving our operating costs low and freeing the church financially for ministry and blessing our city.
This is what’s called a “third” space; meaning while we have “Gathering” space and the Outpost, or “Table” space, this space would be primarily mission all the time. Discipleship in a third space looks like being good employers, employees, and patrons — showing the love of Jesus is how we operate counter culturally behind the lunch counter, and meeting the felt needs of our neighbors in a tangible way. This space can then be transformed into our “Gathering” space and Center Outpost on the weekends, allowing people to meet us where they’ve already been.
Again — this is an investment and not a “today” or maybe, necessarily “tomorrow” thing; but could it be that this is already on someone’s heart? Maybe you’ve dreamt about how you could engage in a “third space,” or perhaps you’ve wondered if there’s a way to be a missional entrepreneur. If this rings any sort of bells for you, if it resonates with your spirit, could it be that God might be equipping you to advance His Kingdom in a space like this?
Laundromat Church
Alright — this one’s a bit wild, but hang in there. Most of us have been to the laundromat. We all know it’s a dreadfully boring space. Why not bring your Outpost? Okay, hear me out before you click the “x.” What if God wants to use the Coin-o-matic for His glory? What’s that look like?
If you drive by any Cleary’s Cleaners, you know it gets incredibly busy on the weekends. Of course it does; everyone and their mother is trying to fit five loads and two baskets in before the work week begins. How many of those people do you think are hurting and need to know Jesus loves them? How many of those people do you think have had really bad experiences with church and wouldn’t dare darken the door of another one, but they just might sit in on a Bible study and prayer session if five people went and brought the Spirit of God to the Suds and Duds? Maybe the Lord would bring people into that laundromat who are desperately in need of a fresh experience with Himself and with people who have been radically transformed by His grace. (I almost said “washed in His blood,” but you might kick me out for too many laundry puns.)
Perhaps God is calling you to combine what you might consider the mundane and ordinary part of your life with what you often think of as higher and more spiritual. Remember that the Lord doesn’t see a difference. It may be that your weekend trip to wash clothes has far more spiritual significance than you think. Could it be that God would plant an Outpost of The Commons in your neighborhood laundromat? Would He be calling on you to do it?
Conclusion
These are all just ideas. I don’t want to overwhelm you — I have a ton of them, but I simply wanted to isolate some thoughts that I feel might warrant or spark some conversation; or at the very least try to push the boundaries of our missional imagination to explore what new types of expressions of the church might be out there. We have a deeply gifted community filled with people that have many yet untapped gifts and potential and incredible influence in our city. How do we harness all that God has given us to the advantage of His Kingdom and letting His goodness be known throughout the world?
As we get closer to this month’s City Serve Sunday and continue to pursue our Forward the Mission campaign goals, think about ways we can continue to work toward the good of Rochester and surrounding cities. What are the ways the Spirit is moving in you, in us all, to find new ways to be His people and to call others into our midst?
Always in pursuit of what God is doing in us,
Your brother,
Robb
