ESSENTIALS
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WHY LARGE AND MEDIUM SIZE CONGREGATIONS SHOULD SPONSOR AND ENCOURAGE NEW ALTERNATIVE AND EXPERIMENTAL CONGREGATIONS
reprinted from the Spring/Summer 2004 edition of Essentials

 

   Because we now live in a mosaic culture of great diversity, we need a much greater variety of ways of being church to reach the various subcultures that make up contemporary Australian society. We need to encourage the development of alternative experimental congregations alongside the traditional models. Successful "contemporary" models like the large regional baby-boomer churches should be sponsoring these experiments. Indeed some of these large contemporary churches are in danger of becoming stuck in a baby boomer paradigm! Peter Corney pretends to be retired, while working in consultancy with churches around Australia  
   Many of the alternative experimental churches have been aimed at Gen-Xers, young adults or teenagers, but others have been created to reach other kinds of specific sub-cultural groups, for example an alternative church called "Ecclesia" that is seeking to reach people in the arts and music culture. It has developed a coffee house, and an arts and recording studio environment in which to meet and reach a particular community.
   The names of these churches are instructive in themselves: "Solace", "Matthew's Party", "Sunday night live", "Parallel Universe", "The Soul Cafe", "Soul Space", "Touching Heaven", "Urban Heart". Sometimes called "new paradigm churches", they are attempting to find new and relevant ways of being church for the many people who find that traditional expressions no longer work for them. They are also an attempt to create a new authenticity in church life.   
   There is a large group of people out there who have not given up on Christianity but have given up on traditional church. Somewhere around 10 million adult Australians say that the desire for a spiritual life is important. About 40% of this large group have specific Christian beliefs but the majority of them feel church attendance is not necessary. (See the 1998 NCLS/Edith Cowan University community survey on Australian attitudes to spirituality.) These new alternative churches have a better chance of reaching some of these people than the traditional models which they have either dropped out of in adolescence, rejected as adults or never even connected with.   
   Alternative congregations also provide a great context in which to explore a greater experience of intimacy and community. Many people under 35 find the large contemporary baby-boomer churches too big and busy and corporate. These new congregations are almost all experimenting with more interactive means of teaching and learning. They have moved away from exclusively passive forms of communication. They are also able to explore new ways for people to express their worship.   
   Challenges and danger s
   There are challenges and dangers in these alternative and experimental churches.   
   1. Isolation   
   It is very important to maintain a strong connection to something larger and wider. Experimental and alternative congregations need the following:   
   (a) A supervision and accountability structure to belong to. By their very nature they are exploring edgy methods and ideas. These need to be tested theologically in the forum of a strong staff team that a larger church provides. Alternative congregations that are too independent can lose their way theologically or structurally.   
   (b) They need but cannot afford the administration base and resources that a large church can provide.   
   (c) Alternative church plants can attract a large number of burnt and cynical Christians and high-need people or people who don't like structure. Such groups are difficult to lead and hard to get commitment from. Therefore there is a high risk of failure or leader burnout. The leader and the congregation need the support and the human resources of a more established and stable congregation.   
   But it should also be noted that the large church and its leadership also needs the challenges that alternative congregations bring, with their creativity, their desire to be relevant to the culture, their willingness to take risks and to challenge the old paradigms and presuppositions of the larger congregation.   
   2. The illusion of community   
   Small does not necessarily equal community. Community requires commitment, time, history, the formation of an ethos and culture. In the words of Jean Vanier, "People who love people create community. People who love community destroy community." In other words, if you love community more than you love the people in a community you will destroy it. But loving each other is costly, there is a price to be paid for community. The very people that experimental congregations attract often find the price too high or they have paid it before and have been disillusioned.   
   3. Evangelism and kingdom growth   
   Church plants can become preoccupied with their own issues and forget that they were created to reach out to others. While reconnecting disconnected Christians is an important task, it is even more important to bring new members into Jesus' kingdom.   
   Reproduction 4.   
   To successfully multiply these congregations, once one is established, requires finding, growing and forming new leaders with similar gifts, understanding of the concept and commitment to the ethos that those who began the first plant have.   
   THE FUTURE CONTEXT FOR MISSION   
   The future context for mission in Australian society will be tough. Commerce has formed a powerful alliance with advertising, popular culture and the media machine. This has now overpowered the other two traditional forces in the formation of culture: family [or clan] and religious belief. This alliance is so ubiquitous and powerful, that it now forms the software of the contemporary mind, creating people's world view, values, attitudes and behaviour patterns. To develop or sustain any alternative world view and culture in this environment, such as New Testament Christianity, requires two things: (a) a powerful alternative community of belief to belong to, and (b) very strong, very intentional alternative family life [or household.] If the new alternative congregations can do this they will have made a great contribution to the Kingdom.   
       


       
 

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