Christmas Parties, Block Parties, just get together & celebrate!

Someone will need to convene the party.

Maybe it's you?!

Wherever Jesus was a good party seemed to follow.

John 2
Three days later there was a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there. Jesus and his disciples were guests also. When they started running low on wine at the wedding banquet, Jesus' mother told him, "They're just about out of wine."

Jesus said, "Is that any of our business, Mother—yours or mine? This isn't my time. Don't push me."

She went ahead anyway, telling the servants, "Whatever he tells you, do it."

Six stoneware water pots were there, used by the Jews for ritual washings. Each held twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus ordered the servants, "Fill the pots with water." And they filled them to the brim.

"Now fill your pitchers and take them to the host," Jesus said, and they did.

When the host tasted the water that had become wine (he didn't know what had just happened but the servants, of course, knew), he called out to the bridegroom, "Everybody I know begins with their finest wines and after the guests have had their fill brings in the cheap stuff. But you've saved the best till now!"

This act in Cana of Galilee was the first sign Jesus gave, the first glimpse of his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Matthew 9
Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, "Come along with me." Matthew stood up and followed him.

Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus' followers. "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?"

Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."

Create A Neighbourhood Map

Jared Loughner has been charged with the Arizona shooting rampage that killed 6 & injured 13 others earlier this month.

In a tragic example of deneighbouring, Wayne Smith lived across the street from the Loughner family for 38 years, but never even knew their last name!

Others who lived next to the Loughner family for years didn't even know the family either. How utterly sad.

A lot of people live in neighborhoods where they don’t know the names of the people beside them or two doors down. Or in the apartment or condo right next to where they reside.

The biggest indictment is that we often don't even really care about not knowing our neighbours.

"Get out of my way neighbour, I've got more important things to do, like drive 15 minutes to my church to do some ministry & learn how to share my faith."

Let's change that. Together we can make a difference in our neighbourhood...

Rediscovering the Art of Neighbouring - Part 3

Jesus asks us to love the people He has placed around us. It’s not always going to be pretty - in fact it can be quite messy, but it is always going to be significant.

When was the last time you were accused of being friends with the wrong people?

Jesus hung out with 'sinners' so often that others accused him of being one of them.

Luke 5:27-32
After this he went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, "Come along with me." And he did—walked away from everything and went with him.

Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. "What is he doing eating and drinking with crooks and 'sinners'?"

Jesus heard about it and spoke up, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I'm here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out."

Rediscovering the Art of Neighbouring - Part 2

How can we love our next door neighbour if we don’t even know them?

Do we live at a pace that allows us to be available to those who live around us?

When we say; “I don’t have time to get to know my neighbor,” what we are really saying is,

“I don’t consider getting to know my neighbor as important as everything else that I do.”

Let's rediscover our neighbourhood not as an object of outreach programs or social service good deeds but as the real, flesh and bone place were God takes up residence and meets us all.

Neighbouring is a marathon not a sprint.

We move from living as strangers, to having neighbourhood acquaintances to then to enjoying real relationships with those we live next to.

Love is spelled, 'time.'

Matthew 22;36-39
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’"

Rediscovering the Art of Neighbouring - Part 1

Dave Runyon of Foothills Community Church in Arvada, Colorado, initiated a city transformation movement in the northwest quadrant of Denver in 2010. Dave began by individually meeting the key pastors in the northwest quadrant of Denver. The individual appointments with these key leaders led to a group meeting of around twenty pastors where they began meeting for prayer and planning,

“what it would look like for the churches in our area to come together to serve our community.”

To discover the needs of the city the group of pastors invited Arvada Mayor Bob Frie to address the pastors regarding his dream for the city, along with the issues that were hindering that dream from becoming a reality.

Bob came with a grocery list of pervasive issues that we wanted to address, among which at-risk kids, elderly shut-ins, were dilapidated housing, and hunger. But before addressing these issues he said to the gathered pastors:

“After thinking about all of these things, it occurred to me that what our city really needs are good neighbors….The majority of the issues our community is facing would be eliminated or drastically reduced if we could just become a community of people who are great neighbors.”

To this statement one pastor responded:

“Here we are asking the mayor what areas of the city are most in need, and he basically tells us that it would be great if we could just get our people to obey the second half of the Great Commandment.”

The twenty churches decided to, “come together and with one voice challenge the people in their congregations to ‘Rediscover the Art of Neighboring'.”

Each church took the three weeks following Easter to teach through a common series of messages called, “Building Blocks—Rediscovering the Art of Neighboring.”

“In our quest to be good neighbors we ask ourselves, ‘If our family was to move out of the neighborhood, would our neighbors notice…would our neighbors care?’ We want to be a city full of neighbors that the community would miss.” (Dave Runyon via Leadnet)

4-steps along the way (recap)...

We encourage you to work on this with all those in your household.

1. Identify your Neighbourhood…and dwell there.

How would you define your neighbourhood?

Do you have an actual map of it?

How might a 12-year-old describe the boundaries of your neighbourhood?

What percentage of your after work hours do you spend in the neighbourhood?

How many evenings and weekend days per week do you stay in the neighbourhood?

Are your children active in your neighbourhood? Do they go to school there?

Do you have a dog?

Describe how you are attentive to your neighbourhood:

Describe how you pray for your neighbourhood:

2. Identify the people of peace….eat with them.

Do you experience community in your neighbourhood? With who?

Have you ever participated in a block party in your neighbourhood?

Starting with your block using a map, list those households you already know, ages, gender, vocations, special interests, religious heritage, spiritual conversations, and needs.

Moving out from your block locate & name other households you know.

Can you identify anyone as a “person of peace” (Luke 10) in your neighbourhood?

Do you enjoy having neighbours into your home for meals?

Do you experience Christian community with your neighbours? With who?

Rate your relationship with Christian brothers and sisters in your neighbourhood on a continuum: 1 – 10; “don’t know” – “love as family”.

Is their religious heritage an asset or stumbling block in your relationship?

Do you know neighbours who are or might be interested in “seeking God’s kingdom” with you?

Do you enjoy having “kingdom seekers” in your home for meals?

Can you imagine a community of faith forming in your neighbourhood?

3. Discern what God is up to in your neighbourhood…participate in it.

What is the texture, ethos or spirit of your neighbourhood?

What is going on with:

People: Marriages, Friendships, Families, Groups, Children?

Business types, Public transportation, Gathering spaces/places, Housing , Community league,

Community groups or clubs, Social service agencies, Schools, Religious groups that meet in your neighbourhood, Parks or other common spaces?

Name 2 strengths of your neighbourhood:

Identify 2 issues or needs present in your neighbourhood:

Name “celebration” initiatives taking place in your neighbourhood (e.g. block parties, festivals, barbeques, holy days).

Name “service” initiatives taking place in your neighbourhood (e.g. clean ups, kids or youth programs, International initiatives, senior care, block watch or parents).

Is there a story you can share that describes yourself or other neighbours participating in God’s dream for your neighbourhood?

In the next year, what do you think it would look like if God’s dream for you neighbourhood was advanced, what would change?

4. Support and be supported…be together.

How are you connected to the “Body of Christ”?

Do you have other people who support you as you are sent to your neighbourhood?

What influences have led you to embark on loving your neighbour/hood?

Do you think it matters to God how we live with others in our neighbourhood?

Jesus was clear that anyone we come in contact with is our neighbor. We must be looking for ways to love and serve the people around us. So while “neighbor” is a broad term, the best place to begin is with your literal neighbors: the people who live in your neighborhood. This is the most effective place to love your neighbor as yourself—including both the believers and unbelievers who live near you.

Within their neighborhoods, believers ought to gather to encourage one another to remain focused on the goal and mission of God. They are there to call one another to a life in which the gospel can be accurately displayed through both word and deed. They are to serve one another in such a way that unbelievers in that neighborhood will see and hear them reflecting God.

By practically living as a gospel community in our neighborhoods, we allow the unbelievers around us to understand the truth and impact of the gospel and to respond in love and worship to God. It is in our neighborhoods that our love for God and for His purposes ought to become evident and increase as we live out the life-changing truths of the gospel.

We have come to understand that God didn’t primarily leave us on this planet to improve our understanding of God, huddle people into groups, create more effective worship services, etc. Those are merely means God uses towards a much greater end. God left His precious church in this world so that followers of Christ might be made through the vehicle and power of the gospel for the purpose of drawing near to and worshipping the one who matters most: God (Matt. 22:36; 28:18-20; Heb. 10:19ff).

Out of this nearness to and love for God will come a group of people who have developed a heart for what He loves most. God’s heart is set on pursuing His glory, empowering His people, and reaching out to the broken and lost in this world. As the people of God, the church must be about reflecting God’s love in reaching out to the hurting world around us, calling them to become followers of Jesus (1 Pet. 2:4ff). The day you decided to follow Jesus—whether you understood it completely or not—you committed yourself to His mission. (Francis Chan)

To say it another way, you became a missionary.

God has saved you in order to make you a missionary to your neighbors, whom you are called to love as yourself. (Matthew 22)

How one church moved into the neighbourhood...

One area that we sense God is calling us to undertake is to adopt-a-block in our respective communities.

Imagine your family/roommates adopting the block you live in and regularly walking around that block and praying for the individuals in each of those homes and giving focused attention to developing a relationship with them.

We envision some of you hosting a neighbourhood barbeque as a way of reaching out and getting to know your neighbours.

In time, as relationships are formed, you can offer to pray for their needs, and help them in any practical way possible, help them to paint a fence, or to do some renovations, babysit their children for an evening, shovel their walk, take food over when sickness strikes their family, and/or have them over from time to time for fun and fellowship.

As your family/friends consistently prays and serves and just has fun with these new friends, it will only be a matter of time before they will begin to inquire about your faith and come to the Lord.

As you mentor them in their new faith, you can invite them to join you in praying and reaching out to the rest of the people on your block and to become part of your small group.

It's not you doing the work, God is already there to begin with!

Building Neighbourhoods From The Inside Out.

If we know that it takes a village to raise a child, what happened to the village?

When we ask most people about how the saying applies in their neighborhood, the responses follow a pattern:

"Do you believe that it takes a village to raise a child?"

"Absolutely!"

"If your neighborhood is like a village, what does it do to raise its children?

And by that, we don't mean how do individual families raise their children, or how does the school teach them?

We're asking how do you and your neighbors, working together like a village, help raise the local young people?"

Usually there is a long, thoughtful silence at this point and a response something like,

"Well, I know my neighbors, we watch out for each other in some ways, but as neighbors, we really don't raise our children together."

"Well, then, let's imagine that you and your neighbors did decide to work together to raise your children, what would you do?"

Usually there is another long silence. Very few ideas.

We all have opinions about what families should do; we all have opinions about what schools should do. We have lost the imagination of what a neighborhood could do to raise a child. This means there is a great opportunity to organize neighbors to raise the local children - to become a village that raises the children.

We have two questions:

First, in your neighborhood, have you done anything together to help raise local children?

Or, do you know of a neighborhood that does something to help raise their children?

Second, what do you think you and your neighbors could do together to help raise the neighborhood youth?

We need to have answers to these questions and more. For example,

Do people know the names of the children in the neighborhood?

Are there people home in the afternoon that could look out for a child?

Are there tasks in the neighborhood that children can do?

...We do know from the real-life experiences of citizens from neighborhoods around the world that we have worked with is that families and neighbors have the capacity to create a "village" and a life that our schools and governments can never provide. (Peter Block, writing in response to the Phoenix shootings)

Become attentive. Move back emotionlly into your own neighbourhood...

Howard Lawrence from Roxburgh Missional Network on Vimeo.

Start a S.E.R.V.I.C.E. in your own neighbourhood.

Why not form a community that is a visible expression of the reign of God in your neighbourhood?!

Everyone is welcome! Invite neighbours to join together in learning what it is to enter or receive the kingdom of God both in our neighbourhood and the world. We are responsible for the formation of the “people of God” in the neighbourhood which includes each other’s (including our children’s) spiritual formation.

The S.E.R.V.I.C.E. acronym represents the group’s “Practices” which are reflected in the scripture as the basics of what it means to say that Jesus is Lord.

S.E.R.V.I.C.E. can be incorporated into our daily lives together. This necessarily demands that we create space in our lives to interact with one another throughout our weekly rhythm. This will no doubt, involve making shifts in how we organize our lives.

Everyone is in a different place in their spiritual journey. That is why our door is always open. That being said, we do believe that commitment to the “Practices” will eventually be requested so that one can become part of the planning, building, and deepening of relationships within the group.

God has created a people for your neighborhood and each of those with unique personalities, life experiences, passions, and talents make up that people. Help each other unleash those beautiful gifts for the building up of his church. Hold each other lovingly accountable and be real and find your place in the body.

God has always had a dream for humanity to know Him and the beauty of His reign. Desire to live into God’s mission. Believe that our faith is rooted in the formation of biblical communities who seek to love God and neighbour in a specific context – namely our neighbourhood.

"If you look carefully into the scripture, we discover that the basis of division among the church is a single one - that of locality alone. If the New Testament is to be our guide, the only ground of division contemplated is geographical.

There is in the word of God no room for the grouping of Christians together in two things called “churches” on such grounds, for example, as history or doctrine, mission -connection or personal allegiance, or even a special message or ministry.

The names given to churches in Scripture are invariably those of cities, that is, of local centers of community life. We read of ‘the church of God which is in Corinth’, ‘the church of the Thessalonians’, ‘the seven churches that are in Asia’, (each of course, named after a single city), and so forth. It is such expressions alone that designate the Church of God distributed on earth, and Scripture knows no exceptions." Watchman Nee

Ephesians 4
God wants us to grow up as individuals and as a group, to know and live the whole truth and to show and tell it in love – like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love….Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it!

Spiritual Formation – We commit to spiritual formation as individuals & as a group.
Extending Hospitality – We commit to the practice of keeping sacrifice local & immediate by sharing meals with our neighbours especially “the least of these.”
Recreating/Living Life Together – We commit to making room in our lives to nurture relationship with each other & our neighbours.
Vocation – We commit to participating with each other in our 9-5 lives.
International Mission – We commit to caring for our earth & participating in global peace & justice.
Caring – We commit to loving one another.
Extending Compassion – We commit to caring for the marginalized of our neighborhood.

What this can look like at a regional level:

“The church’s mission is to show the world what it looks like when a community of people lives under the reign of God. The true gospel is portrayed best by the community that believes it, embodies it, and testifies to it in the midst of any given culture in all places and at all times.” Robert Webber

Networks of servant-leaders, from given areas of the city (including 'formal' or paid pastors & those who have other vocations) and across denominational affiliations explore together ways to enable Christian people to develop together with others in the neighbourhoods in which they live. These leaders meet regularly to engage in a variety of activities such as prayer, equipping events, professional development and for the forming of cooperative strategies.

Why not join a network the Christ followers, churches and denominations active in neighbourhood mission?

Map the geography of the church in every neighbourhood. Reformatting multiple “church” directories onto maps in order that a picture is created of where the people of God dwell. Working with these maps will facilitate Christ followers finding one another in their particular neighbourhoods.

Consider hosting interdenominational gatherings of those engaged in the “missional conversation” and or experimenting with neighbourhood mission. There is a broad interest across denominations in reviewing what the nature of the church is and then to explore the implications that this review may have for what the church is to do.

Consider periodic gatherings of those interested and involved in neighbourhood mission for encouragement and networking: These gatherings can be held in such a way that they do not conflict with Sunday morning worship gatherings and focus specifically on loving our neighbourhood.

Walk with those who are engaging in the formation of Christian community within their neighbourhood.

Walk with “church” leaders who are sending congregations into their own neighbourhoods to gather Christians into community.

Cooperate with denominational organizations regarding “the missional conversation” and its expression in neighbourhood mission.

“God’s intent was to have a people who lived in reconciled relationship to God and neighbor and who demonstrated the fuller reality of this to a watching world so all the nations might come and worship and serve the living and true God (Josh. 2:8-14). The practices designed to express this always had the larger world as their primary horizon (Gen. 12:1-3). But these practices also anticipate the eschatological future as part of their ultimate purpose (2 Sam. 7:15-17).

They looked toward the type of community that would be created by the Spirit through the coming Messiah, as clearly foretold in the messianic passages (e.g., Isaiah 11, 42, 61). Extending mercy, exercising justice, and opening up access to the full knowledge of God to all the nations are part of what it means to be a Spirit-led community of God’s people.” Craig VanGelder

“Community is the great assumption of the New Testament. From the calling of the disciples to the inauguration of the church at Pentecost, the gospel of the kingdom drives the believers to community. The new order becomes real in the context of a shared life. Throughout the book of Acts and in the epistles, the church is presented as a community.

The community life of the first Christians attracted many to their fellowship. The community of faith incarnates a whole new order, offers a visible and concrete alternative, and issues a basic challenge to the world as it is. The church must be called to be the church, to rebuild the kind of community that gives substance to the claims of faith.” Jim Wallis

What does this look like at a neighbourhood level?

“We need a movement of Gods people into neighbourhoods, to live out and be the new future of Christ. It must be a movement that demonstrates how the people of God have a vision and the power to transform our world. This is not the same as current attempts to grow bigger and bigger churches that act like vacuum cleaners, sucking people out of their neighbourhoods into a sort of Christian supermarket.

Our culture does not need more churches run like corporations; it needs local communities empowered by the gospel vision of a transforming Christ who addresses the needs of the context and changes the polis into a place of hope and wholeness. The corporation churches we are cloning across the land cannot birth this transformational vision, because they have no investment in context or place; they are centers of expressive individualism with a truncated gospel of personal salvation and little else.

Our penchant for bigness and numerical success as the sign of God’s blessing only discourages and deflects attempts to root communities of God’s people deeply into neighbourhoods. And until we build transformed communities there is no hope for a broken earth.” Alan Roxburgh

It is possible to become a community within a neighbourhood of those called out of the dominant culture to be the people of Jesus.

Each community seeks to demonstrate to their neighbourhood what it looks like when a people live together under the reign of God.

These followers of Christ may be a part of a “church” and some may not. Attention is paid not to structure any of the communities’ gatherings or initiatives during Sunday mornings in order to avoid conflicts with worship services.

The first initiative that the community engages in is to love affectionately and tangibly the brothers and sisters in Christ who live in the neighbourhood. This means that they eat regularly together, listen to and pray for one another.

Next, they engage their neighbours, listening, caring and discerning what Jesus would have them do together with and for their neighbours. They seek to love their neighbours affectionately and practically often with a kind of hospitality which reaches first to the “people of peace” and then to those of the neighbourhood who are on the margins.

Within each neighbourhood servant-leaders emerge who in cooperation with others in the body of Christ encourage Christian practices among the community such as biblical reflection, fasting and prayer, generosity to the poor, welcoming the stranger and the proclamation of the good news that the “kingdom of God is near”.

"Rather, they (new communities of faith) are based on a missional understanding of church that emphasizes an incarnational, servant approach and sees church not as a once-a-week gathering but as a community to which one belongs that relates to the whole life. It is a community in which each person makes an active contribution, during gathered worship as well as dispersed service.

These churches emphasize hospitality and are therefore small. They are small not because of their limited appeal but because they are committed to maintaining their values of community, accountability, and service, and to being reproducible on an exponential scale. This is indeed an inspiring vision.” Eddie Gibbs

Neighbourhood Life (HL)

There is a discussion that has been taking place since the first part of the 21st century that has come to be known as the “missional church conversation". This conversation proposes a renewed theological vision of the church. The renewal centers on the theological tenet that the God of Abraham is a sending God and that we see this in the sending of his Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and finally in the sending of his people into the world. The “missional conversation” for this reason can be understood to be a reexamination of the nature of the church. The dominant questions that have come to frame this conversation are;

What is the church?

What does the church do?

How ought the church organize what it does?

Much has been discussed and many books have been written concerning the first and second statements. Some of us have been actively involved in these conversations and have formed close associations with many of the prominent scholars and authors within the world of the “missional church”. We have had the benefit of their counsel, criticism and friendship. It is from this position that we as practitioners have been engaged in prayerful observation, reflection and practice in order that we would gain some clarity on how the church “ought to organize what it does” having embraced this renewed theological vision of the church.

It is been a joy to listen and seek to understand how what is being said in this important conversation might apply among the body of Christ today. The extension of this task has been to attempt to observe the church in its many contexts through the lens of the missional church conversation so that we might see within the church those practices which are in harmony with this conversation. It has been out of this rhythm of research, reflection and observation that we are able to assert three general activities in answer to the question,

“What does the church actually do?”

In this same process it is possible to commend an alternative structure were by these practices are can be “organized” in order for the church to grow in faithfulness as understood by the "missional church conversation".

Throughout the research of the literature and in our observations of living churches, there are three basic “doings”, or activities, that reoccur and these are always held in tension. These activities are given many names and are nuanced in many ways but are essentially the same throughout the "missional church" literature. Reference is made to them in the text book “missional church” on page 102 were it says: “the church is to represent God’s reign as its community, its servant and its messenger.”

Another way in which we have heard this triad articulated is; that the church is sent into mission as the Kerygma (word), the Diakonia (servant) and the Koinonia (community) of God. It is in the organizing of these three activities or “movements” into a way of being where each is held in tension and in proportion to the other that the structure of the church undergoes effective transformation.

One missional church commentator who calls these activities “commitments” and labels them as “Communion, Commission and Community”, saying that each of the three ought to form the sides of an equilateral triangle. Staying with this illustration he then says that, 'all three sides must hold together in relationship to the other and that none of the sides should lose proportion to the other.'

For many it is difficult to imagine a church which can organize these activities in proportion to one another. In many cases the magnitude of these commitments are out of balance with one another and rarely are they held in relationship with one another. Several questions arise out of the difficulty of holding these commitments and holding them in balance.

Questions such as -

What is the quality of our community life?

How can we as a community regularly and together serve the needs of our community?

By which neighbourhood or place are we seen as “a light on a hill”?

It is because of this challenging tension that the missional church conversation exhorts the church by saying that “Before the church is called to do or say anything it is called and sent to be the unique community of those who live under the reign or God.” (Page 103)

This is a call for a radical organizational response by the people of God, to first establish themselves as robust communities of faith (Koinonia) and then to proceed out together as communities into the world to demonstrate the kingdom of God through compassionate service (Diakonia) and then to make a verbal proclamation of the Good News (Kerygma), in order that the church might be faithful to its nature as a sent people..

It is out of these reflections on the fundamentals of the missional church conversation and its faithful application that comes a serious reevaluation,

Of the unity of Christians in neighbourhoods,

Of the role of proximity in forming community and,

The importance of appointing lay leaders or elders in neighbourhoods.

We are not advocating one model of the church but we are advocating for churches that will always be conscious of what they are, what they ought to do and how with this in mind will organize themselves.

It is our contention that the fundamental commitment of the follower of Christ is both to

Love God and to love our actual neighbour.

As a natural extension of this, the fundamental unit of the church is the community of those who love their neighbours and who thereby become a living example of the in breaking kingdom of God, a kingdom of which they are a demonstration and to which they proclaim.

Who: Capable followers of Christ

Followers of Jesus grow in their competence to a point where they can initiate the forming, or participate in the expression of, a faithful 'church' within the neighbourhood in which they live.

Followers of Christ have a latent and God given desire to reproduce the community of faith within their context.

A community of faith within the neighbourhood is the best context for being formed into a capable follower of Christ.

Where: In the neighbourhoods in which you live.

"Place” matters to God and that it is at the scale of neighbourhood that we are first responsible.

"Loving our neighbour” begins in the neighbourhood.

The people of God are best observed as a “Light on a Hill” within their neighbourhood environment.

The scale and quality of the neighbourhood environment enables the follower of Christ to flourish.

Attention to the neighbourhoods in which we live will enable the church to move from a service provision model of ministry to that of a stakeholder or incarnational model of ministry.

It is in the neighbourhood that we will be able to realize Jesus' prayer for the unity of his church.

It is through the avenue of the neighbourhood that we will be able to re-engage those followers of Christ who no longer participate in the current institutions of the church.

When: Before or after an average working day, during weekends or recreational times.

While any time can be used redemptively in the neighbourhood, one of the best opportunities is after the working day is over.

This is the time in which all members of a household can participate together in ministry.

It is often the time which followers of Christ often surrendered to “worries, leisure and riches" (Luke 8:14) and so an optimal time to live into Christ’s lordship.

It is this time which most neighbours are prone to struggle with life.

What: A faithful community of faith in a neighbourhood.

The church is the people of God “called out” for both religious and political ends in a particular neighbourhood.

The people of God are to be a community centered in Christ, giving their lives as a living sacrifice on behalf of others as a “witness” to the presence of the kingdom of God.

The followers of Christ in a particular neighbourhood should together agree to practices that reflect their commitment to Christ’s lordship.

How: Mature followers of Christ are “sent” into their neighbourhoods to seek the kingdom of God.

1. Identify your neighbourhood and attend to it.
2. Discover the people of peace and eat together with them.
3. Discern what God is doing and together participate together in it.
4. Collaborate with others who are sent into your neighbourhood.

Why not do it?

What is a neighbourhood?

A neighbourhood may be defined as having several thousand residents covering an area that people can walk across. The scale of a neighbourhood typically focuses on a primary school catchment area (Power and Wilson, 2000; Novick, 1979). Scale is important when considering what a neighbourhood is, but it is not the only consideration. From a review of the literature, we can find four over-lapping approaches to defining neighbourhood.

1. By its functions – Neighbourhood is seen as a site for the routines of everyday life (e.g. shopping); the provision of community support services and institutional resources (e.g. schools, libraries, parent drop-ins); informal surveillance (‘the eyes of the street’, such as block parents); and social control (e.g. over the neighbourhood children and youth to make sure they do not misbehave, but this could include the support of other people’s children).

2. By fixed boundaries – Defining neighbourhood via fixed boundaries, such as postal codes or census tracts, is a proxy most often used for research purposes to draw a line around neighbourhoods. The City of Toronto defines ‘neighbourhoood’ for administrative and funding purposes as consisting of several census tracts, between 7,000 and 10,000 people. One of the limitations of the fixed boundaries approach is that it may not capture ‘natural neighbourhoods’, nor people’s perceived neighbourhoods.

3. The degree of homogeneity – Homogeneity can result by choice (people choosing to live with others who share important values, cultural backgrounds, language, etc.) or necessity (e.g. where affordable housing can be found). People with similar values and lifestyles often aggregate to the same geographical locales.

4. People’s lived experiences – Neighbourhoods do not necessarily have objective features that are experienced or defined the same way by all residents. Neighbourhoods have social and symbolic, as well as physical boundaries. They can, therefore, be defined subjectively from within by the people who live there. For many people, neighbourhoods are a source of their identities and sense of pride. American research shows that more educated residents are likely to say that their neighbourhood is larger than other residents. Conversely, neighbourhoods are perceived as smaller if they have a higher proportion of low income residents and ‘minority language’ speakers.

Residents who interact more with their neighbours also have a different view of their neighbourhood than those who are more isolated. (Interestingly, this study also found that “a surprising number of 36 routine activities take place close to home”, with the workplace being the furthest from home” (Sastry et al, 2002). Initiatives funded under Britain’s local neighbourhood renewal strategies use various definitions of neighbourhood, depending on what makes sense to local conditions. Local perceptions of neighbourhoods “may be defined by natural dividing lines such as roads or rivers, changes in housing design or nature or the sense of community generated around centres such as schools” (NRU, 2001:13). “Bespoke neighbourhoods” is the term used to describe the definition of neighbourhood that emerges when people are asked to draw a line around what they consider to be their neighbourhood. This may or may not overlap with geographical boundaries. It is obvious that there is no single definition of neighbourhood, that a neighbourhood is fluid and may be different at different times depending on the situation, the people asked, and the policy or research rationale.

A neighbourhood is like an onion.

“Neighbourhoods often have sharp boundaries, either physical or atmospheric, but the layers of neighbourhood life are like an onion with a tight core and a loose outer skin”. (Power and Wilson, 2000:1)

To capture the complexity and inter-relationships between different aspects of “neighbourhood”, some writers compare a neighbourhood to an onion as a way of understanding the roles neighbourhood plays in people’s lives. Power and Wilson (2000) and Lupton (2003) use the onion analogy to describe the levels at which ‘neighbourhood’ exists. When their different levels are combined, one ends up with four somewhat distinct layers of neighbourhood:

1. The home area for social interaction and making connections with others. This includes the home and immediate surroundings. This can also be the level for “demonstrating and reflecting one’s values” (Lupton, 2003).

2. The locality for schools, shops and parks. This level denotes status (Lupton) and reflects the social composition of the neighbourhood (Power and Wilson, 2000).

3. The neighbourhood environment. A neighbourhood’s reputation, its physical appearance and ‘feel’, the social norms that exist are all part of the neighbourhood environment which Power and Wilson define as giving “an intangible but powerful signal of who we are and how we should behave, and … offer[ing] a sense of familiarity and security to the people who live there” (Power and Wilson, 2000:1). 37

4. The wider urban district or region. This is the level of neighbourhood that exists for job opportunities, “the wider landscape of social and economic opportunities” (Lupton, 2003:5).

Power and Wilson maintain that neighbourhoods give people a sense of familiarity and security which break down when all the three layers – home, services, environment – are significantly “disrupted” (Power and Wilson, 2001:2). What Lupton draws from the analogy is that different boundaries make sense to meet different needs. When people are asked what their neighbourhood is, they may refer to any or all of the aspects or levels above: their local school, the atmosphere of the city centre, the feel of the neighbourhood environment, or the job opportunities that exist close by. (from Christa Freiler)

So, what exactly constitutes your local neighbourhood?

What is the neighbourhood of your church?

What Kind of Person/People?

Titus 1:5
“…appoint elders in every polis (neighbourhood).”

The key questions for the formation of the servant-leader(s) of an incarnational Christian community:

1. What kind of people can discover their neighborhood and attend to it?

Anyone who has a genuine interest in their neighbour/hood.
One who believes that God is present and active in the neighbourhood.
One who is confident and engaging.
One who is free from life’s “worries, riches and pleasures” (Luke 8:14).
One who is perceptive.

2. What skills are needed to discover their neighbourhood and attend to it?

Ability to consolidate their families’ activities to the neighbourhood.
Ability to create relational boundaries.
Ability to participate in the organizations within the neighbourhood.
Ability to slow down, listen and watch.
Ability to engage deeply in relationships with all kinds of people.

3. What kind of person can convene the kingdom seekers in their neighbourhood and eat with them?

One who is winsome, trusted, and visionary.
One who is comfortable with all kinds of people in their home.
One who is gracious with those of other beliefs and lifestyles.
One who belongs to a healthy household.
One who is hospitable.

4. What skills are needed to convene the kingdom seekers in the neighbourhood?

Ability to determine who a kingdom seeker is.
Ability to earn the trust of a kingdom seeker.
Ability to invite and inspire kingdom seekers.
Ability to host.
Ability to lead in engaging and redemptive conversations.

5. What kind of people can discern what God is doing in their neighbourhood and participate in it?

One who loves God and their neighbour as themselves (as their own family).
One who seeks and finds the Kingdom of God.
One who is sensitive to the needs of others.
One who has submitted time and money to God.

6. What skills are needed to discern what God is doing in their neighbourhood and to participate in it?

Knowledge of how God has worked in the past through both tradition and scripture.
Ability to listen for the voice of God in “the other”.
Ability to participate in community organized activities.
Ability to organize people.
Ability to lead others in inconvenient and costly activities.

7. What kind of person leads from a posture of interdependence within the body of Christ?

One who is humble.
One who is forgiving.
One who is teachable.
One who is collaborative.
One who is submissive.

8. What skills are needed to lead from a posture of interdependence within the body of Christ?

Ability to embrace the positive dimensions in all expressions of Christ's Church.
Ability to learn in spite of challenging circumstances.
Ability to set a teaching agenda based on the composition of those assembled.
Ability to communicate with servant-leaders from multiple Christian traditions.

Why is Neighbourhood Important? What Can I Do In My Neighbourhood?

In The Solace of Fierce Landscapes Belden Lane describes habitus. Habitus describes the intimate connection between spirit and place. Belden writes that this connection,

"..is hard to grasp for those of us living in a post-Enlightenment technological society. Landscape and spirituality are not, for us, inevitably interwoven. We experience no inescapable link between our "place" and our way of conceiving the holy, between habitat and habitus, where one lives and how one practices a habit of being. Our concern is simply to move quickly (and freely) as possible from one place to another. We are bereft of rituals of entry that allow us to participate fully in the places we inhabit.

"We have lost the ability even to heed the natural environment, much less to perceive it through the lens of a particular tradition. Modern western culture is largely shorn of attentiveness to both habitat and habitus. Where we live - in what we are rooted - no longer defines who we are. We have learned to distrust all disciplines of formative spiritual traditions, with their communal ways of perceiving the world. We have realized, in the end, the "free individual" at the expense of a network of related meanings.

"Without a habitus - particularly one that is drawn, at least in part, from the rhythm of the land around us - our habitat ceases to be a living partner in the pursuit of common wholeness. We become alienated from an environment that seems indifferent, even hostile. Habitat turns into scenery, inconsequential background. /Habitus/ is reduced to a nonsacramental, individualistic quest for transcendent experience. We lose any sense of being formed in community, particularly in a tradition that allows us to act unconsciously, with ease and delight, out of a deep sense of what is natural to us and to our "milieu." We are, in short, a people without "habit," with no common custom, place, or dress to lend us shared meaning." (via Len Hjalmarson)

Being a follower of Christ does not mean going to church on Sunday. It’s an expression of how you live your day to day life. Find out how.

There is a very, very serious conversation going on in our culture... about God. And the church is not a part of it. We're not invited to the conversation most of the time... and we are not aware. Barry Taylor

Embed in your neighbourhood & discover the richness of what God is already up to!

“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Jesus

Neighbourhood flash mob

Where might one happen in your own neighbourhood?

One of the best 'neighbourhood flash mobs' is a block party. Yes, it can be done in the winter. If needed modify it to a skating party. Or a sledding party.

Do you think you could help get one rolling?

Why not get a snow-shoveling party going? Go do some seniors on your street.

The opportunities abound...

Luke 17:21
"The kingdom of God doesn't come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, 'Look here!' or, 'There it is!' And why? Because God's kingdom is already among you."

Support and be supported…be together!

Titus 1:5
The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every polis (neighbourhood), as I directed you.

What might it mean for an Elder to be “appointed” in your neighbourhood?

How are you connected to the “Body of Christ” beyond your neighbourhood?

Do you have other people who support you as you are sent to your neighbourhood?

What influences have led you to embark on engaging your neighbour/hood?

What would help you attend to the 'unfinished business' in your neighbourhood?

An Exegetical Walk:

The purpose of this exercise is to see your neighbourhood in its detail and to respond to what you see both sensitively and critically. It’s not one you can rush. Before you go, take some time to think about how you define your neighborhood and how it’s physically laid out. Draw yourself a map, including your own home, the basic street patterns, and any landmarks, shops, commercial or community buildings, schools or parks.

Be sure to include those boundary markers or natural borders that give your neighbourhood definition. For some, the neighbourhood will be larger than for others. It’s a very personal thing; no one else can define it for you. The only criteria are that it includes where you live and is walkable. Once you’ve got a rough idea in mind of what area to include, set aside two hours of uninterrupted time, grab a notebook and pen and head out.

For those who are naturally extraverted, take a friend so you can talk about what you see—so long as you stay focused on the purpose of the walk. For introverts, feel free to go it alone. Be sure to include time along the way to stop, buy a drink somewhere, sit in a park or at a bus stop, linger outside public buildings or places of interest.

There’s no hurry. (Simon Carey Holt)

Here’s a list of questions to help you as you go:

1. As you stand just outside your house or apartment—by the driveway or on the sidewalk—what do you see as you look in each direction?
What do you hear or sense?
What activity do you notice?

2. As you walk the neighbourhood, what do you notice about the architecture of the houses or apartments?
On average, how old do you think the homes are in this area?
How much renovation or rebuilding is going on?

3. What do you notice about the front gardens or entrance ways to each of the homes?
Does your neighbourhood feel like a cared-for place?

4. How many houses or apartments for sale do you see?
What indicators of transience do you observe?
Does the neighbourhood have a feeling of permanence or change?

5. Is there a freeway or major highway close by?
If so, try and imagine this area before it existed. Who has gained and lost by its introduction?

6. Stop—sit if you can—in a tree-lined street or quieter spot and also at a busy intersection. What are the smells and sounds of the neighbourhood?
How quiet or noisy is it?

7. How many community or civic buildings do you see?
What are their purposes?
Do they look inviting?
Well used?
Deserted?

8. What public spaces are provided for children, teenagers or adults?
Are they being used?
If so, in what ways?

9. If there a local park, what do you notice about it?
Does it feel like an inviting place?
Who is there?
How is it used?

10. Do you pass any churches or religious buildings?
What does their design or appearance communicate to you?

11. What kinds of commercial buildings are there?
Walk around a supermarket or local store and identify who makes up the clientele.

12. If your neighbourhood includes a shopping area, is there provision made for people to sit, relax, or relate?

13. Excluding the areas of business, how many people did you pass walking?
What age, race, and gender are they?
How pedestrian-friendly is the neighborhood?

14. Imagine yourself as an old, infirm person with no car, or as a young child living in the middle of this neighbourhood. How disadvantaged or advantaged would you be with respect to shops, churches, parks or schools?

15. What evidence is there of public transportation?
Who uses it?

16. Are there places in your neighbourhood that you wouldn’t go?
Why?

17. Where are the places of life, hope, beauty or community?

18. What evidence of struggle, despair, neglect and alienation do you see?

19. What sense of connection do you feel to your neighbourhood as you walk though it?

20. What do you discern about God’s presence where you live?

(Taken from “God next Door” by Simon Carey Holt)

Do this walk in different seasons as you'll notice different things.

Discern what God is up to in your neighbourhood & participate in it

Naming the Name: it’s what the Incarnation calls and empowers us to do where we are: God with us. In the same vein, theologian John V. Taylor writes, ‘nothing is more needed by humanity today, and by the church in particular, than the recovery of a sense of ‘beyondness’ in the whole of life.’

A spirituality of the neighborhood is one that embraces its most immediate context as a place of God’s presence and rich with sacred possibilities. Of course, discovering this ‘beyondness’ relies on our ability to see God in places we don’t normally think to look. For those conditioned to see God in the rituals, gatherings and ministries of the church, those spiritual bifocals become all the more necessary.

The fifteenth century mystic Saint Teresa of Avila once described the essence of spirituality as ‘learning to look.’ The fact is, the presence of God is not something to conjure up through particular rituals, nor is it contained in special places. God is with you—with you in the neighborhood just as profoundly as God is anywhere else. (Simon Carey Holt)

Name something that you think God might be doing in your neighbourhood?

Do you know the stories behind:

People:
- Marriages
- Neighbours
- Friendships
- Families
- Children?

Organizations:
- Business
- Public transportation
- Gathering spaces/places
- Housing
- Community league
- Community groups or clubs
- Sports teams
- Social service agencies
- Schools
- Religious groups that meet in your neighbourhood
- Parks or other common spaces?

What are the strengths of your neighbourhood?

What are the issues or needs present in your neighbourhood?

Name “celebration” initiatives taking place in your neighbourhood. (e.g. block parties, festivals, barbeques, holy days).

Name “service” initiatives taking place in your neighbourhood. (e.g. clean ups, kids or youth programs, International initiatives, senior care, block watch or parents).

Is there a story you can share that describes yourself or other neighbours participating in what you could imagine as God’s dream for your neighbourhood?

In the next year, what do you imagine it would look like if God’s dream for your neighbourhood was lived into, what would change?

Identify the people of peace in your neighbourhood & eat with them. (HL)

As I look at the earliest communities of faith, what stands out is just how local in nature they were. In fact, it’s fair to say they were local in character and mission before they were anything more grand or universal. The church is primarily the two or three gathered in his name: the church in my neighborhood.

Interestingly, in his discussion of the Pauline use of the word ekklesia, the New Testament scholar Robert Banks argues that each local gathering of believers understood itself as fully and completely the church in a particular location. Perhaps it was this that enabled them to take their neighborhoods so seriously.

As an embedded and local community, the church fits the neighborhood. It’s the localness of the Incarnation that makes this profound act of God so confronting, and ultimately so comprehensively saving, so too with the church. (Simon Carey Holt)

Luke 10:5-7
“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.

If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you.

Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

Can you make the connection between this sending by Jesus of the disciples and your own?

Do you have friends in your neighbourhood? How long would a walk to their home take?

Do you know those who might be called the “people of peace” (Luke 10) in your neighbourhood?

Do you enjoy having neighbours into your home for meals? Do you get invited out within your neighbourhood?

Do you enjoy spontaneity and frequency of connection with any of your neighbours?

Rate your relationship with other “people of peace” in your neighbourhood on a continuum: 1 – 10; “don’t know them” – “love as family”.

Don't know them 1. ------------------------------------------- 10. Love as family

Is the religious background of others in you neighbourhood an asset or stumbling block in your relationship with them?

Can you imagine a more robust community of faith in your neighbourhood? What might it look like?

I passionately believe that the home dining table is our last remaining family gathering place. It’s a place for friends and family to nourish the relationships that are at the heart of homes, neighbourhoods and communities. Graham Kerr

Identify your neighbourhood…and dwell there. (HL)

The philosopher Martin Heidegger once said that to be human is to dwell. To use his very words, ‘Man is only in so far as he dwells.’ By dwelling, Heidegger means more than simply residing. Any living creature can reside. But to be human is to inhabit a place—to experience it from the inside—and allow that place to inhabit us. In a sense, it’s this inhabiting that turns a neutral, empty space into a fully human place invested with meaning. (Simon Carey Holt)

Mark 12:29-34
Jesus said, "The first in importance is, 'Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these."

The religion scholar said, "A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that's better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!"

When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, "You're almost there, right on the border of God's kingdom."

Reflect on Jesus’ implied link between loving our neighbour and the Kingdom of God.

How would you define your neighbourhood?
- Name,
- Qualities,
- Landmarks,
- Boundaries.

How might a 12 year old child describe the boundaries of your neighbourhood?

Would this be a fair assessment?

There are multiple layers to your neighbourhood. Describe them.

Shopping Layer: draw a perimeter around the third spaces in your neighbourhood. (Grocery store, restaurants, shops, schools)

Social Layer: draw a perimeter around your where your neighbourhood friends live.

Street Layer: draw a perimeter around the households of those who are your neighbours in the most basic sense of the word.

Do you know or can you imagine what your primary boundary of engagement might be?

What percentage of your after work hours do you spend in your neighbourhood?

How many evenings and week end days per week do you spend in your neighbourhood?

Are your children active in your neighbourhood?

How are you, or might you imagine becoming, attentive to your neighbourhood?

These last 4 questions are CRUCIAL!

STOP COMPLAINING START NEIGHBOURING!

What might it mean that God has placed you into, and called you to your neighbourhood?

The call of God is a call to neighborhood. To define the Christian call like this is not about limiting vision or straight-jacketing the reach of the gospel; the universal and inclusive nature of the Christian call to the whole world is not diminished.

Rather, to speak of the call to neighborhood is simply an acknowledgment that this wide and diverse world includes an extraordinary collection of local cultures, local communities and local neighborhoods, each one loved and inhabited by God. It is an acknowledgment that as those commissioned to bear the good news, we are a placed people. This ‘placed-ness’ both limits our reach and deepens it.

We are most effective when we embrace those limitations with intention and purpose. What’s more, we acknowledge that as a community of faith, the church is most true to its nature and mission when it lives with and for the world on its doorstep. (Simon Carey Holt)

He who has a mind to meddle must have a heart to help. Emerson

MEN (& women!) WANTED: FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL.

If Shackleton can survive in the Antarctic I'm sure we can meet & build community during our Canadian winters!

Snow problem!

The job of facilitator/change agent was described by F Williams : “Would you like a job that offers no formal authority; a high degree of uncertainty; no regular hours; and you will need to earn respect from skeptics; be proactive when the limelight fades; work with energy drainers; lead from behind - no ego tripping. The upside of the job is that you can break patterns; cross boundaries; build bridges across your community; be a hero finder uncovering talent; make things happen through others; influence people in and beyond the cluster; satisfy your hunger for Action; and make a dent in the universe?” (Brian McGaffigan)

Reweaving social webs will depend in part on the efforts of dedicated local leaders who choose to pursue their goals through the slow, frequently fractious, and profoundly transformative route of social capital building. (Robert Putnam and Lewis Feldstein)

When we are looking at how to strengthen cities, often we overlook the viability of a neighborhood. In a global economy, we first need to look within our home, look at our backyards, and see how we can strengthen our neighborhoods. (Juana Guzman)