Creative Scribble

Over the next two weeks our launch team will be visiting other churches. Since we won’t be meeting together formally, I am going to take these two weeks to blog about our systems and structures. Then at our next meeting together we will “debrief” about our church visits and these blogs.

The first and most important system for OneLife Church is simplicity. Our mission is simple: to see people discover God and how their one life can make a difference. The strategy to accomplish this is also simple. We will embrace our culture in a way that engages people who are far from God with his unchanging message of salvation. Specifically, we will be laser-focused early on in how we do that.

That’s where it can get interesting.

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As we get started, we will be all about Sunday mornings. Period. Children’s and adult worship will be all about pointing people to Jesus in a way that engages and communicates to them. But even these environments will be simple. We are too fragile as a new church to attempt to spread ourselves thin and offer “something for everyone.” Our “small groups” will also happen on Sundays through ministry teams rather than a classroom. If people are going to make a difference with their lives, they must be doing more than just receiving but also giving. Ministry teams are where accountability, fellowship, care, and true discipleship can begin taking place.

The results of this are sure to be two things. First of all, I believe we will begin to see people who are far from God discover him and how their life can make a difference. That’s what excites me and makes me wake up each morning. The second thing is “church people” will struggle. They will want all the bells and whistles. They’ll want us to take on more than we can handle. They will want us to meet their needs rather than focusing on meeting the spiritual needs of unchurched people.

That’s why I love our launch team. They are a group of people who get it and have decided it’s not about the four Ps. In our interest meeting they heard me say that we needed people who did not come because of:

Personality – if people come because they like me better than their old pastor, they will get let down!
Program – if people come because they want a certain program that their church doesn’t have, they will be disappointed because of our laser-focused simplicity.
Position – if people come because they want to fill a certain role or position, they will be discontent when we need them to fill a different role. We need team players, not role players.
Preference – if people come because they personally prefer certain things and want that at a new church, they will grow frustrated when things aren’t done “their” way (which is honestly the biggest thing even I have had to die to!)

Having a team of people that understands how important these things are makes my job so much easier. So over the next two weeks I’ll build on this foundation and blog about the systems and structures I feel God leading OneLife Church to use so that we can see people who are far from God discover Him and how their one life can make a difference.

I can’t wait to see it start happening!