A few weeks ago The Austin Stone Church hosted a Future Travelers www.missional.com gathering for us. It gave us the opportunity to experience their first class hospitality and hear their story first hand. I love the innovative approach they took to developing the facility that hosted the FT meetings. Here are my highlights:
1) They wanted to reach a low income/high crime area but, instead of parachuting in every so often to do ministry, they bought property in that area and a number of people from the church moved there.
2) They thought of incarnational ministry before they thought attractional worship. The church has about 7,000 weekend worship attendance and no permanent facility (their main campus is a high school they rent on the weekends). Instead of developing a large worship center to serve the people already part of the church, they bought a facility where they felt led to do ministry.
3) They redeemed a building that housed death and transformed it into a building that brings life. The building they bought was a “retirement center.” The reality is that it was a place they sent people to die – even younger people who were in their last days. Now it’s a place of hope and restoration.
4) They didn’t go with the “grand plan.” The campus pastor showed us the original design that he was given to use after being brought on staff. It was a beautiful plan that demolished the existing structures in favor of modern structures that any megachurch would be proud of. But it just didn’t feel right so, to the chagrin of the designer, they decided to renovate the existing facilities and add on. It save hundreds of thousands of dollars and, more importantly, was a better fit for the ministry they were called to do there.
5) They looked for collaboration instead of reinvention. Instead of developing new initiatives from scratch, they looked for the best community organizations with whom they could collaborate. Here are the groups they provided homes for in addition to some of their own staff: http://forthecity.org/center
So, here’s what I think we can learn from The Stone’s example:
1) Commit to doing ministry “among” as opposed to “with” from time to time.
2) Think outward focused first and follow up with resources in a way that reflects that commitment.
3) Look for buildings and/or properties that can be redeemed – it’s a powerful metaphor for the community.
4) Think about what’s best for the ministry when planning facilities. Ministry fit, not what you particularly like, is the most important consideration.
5) Always look for opportunities to collaborate or, at least, cooperate. True collaboration yields results greater than the sum of its parts.
Thank, again, to The Austin Stone for what you are doing for Austin and beyond. You are well on your way to realizing your vision:
To build a great city, renewed and redeemed by a gospel movement, by being a church for the city of Austin that labors to advance the gospel throughout the nations.
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