Recently I was asked why I was working on gathering a faith community, Commoners, in Hamilton when it’s obvious to some that if I did the same thing in Auckland I could probably have something that would fit the traditional definitions of reasonable success fairly quickly.
It’s probably true. I’m sure that if I did in a central Auckland space, the exact same thing that I am doing in Hamilton, there are a number of people whom I highly respect that would gather around it and give time to it, and there are a fair number of people who would connect into it very quickly. It’s likely that I would be able to draw a part-time salary from it early on to devote time to the pastoral care of those who would be part of the community and to give time to the creative organisation of worship spaces (pastoral care and worship gatherings are the two central planks in how I envisage the life of a faith community). It would happen because of the networks and friendships that have developed over the 12 years we have been living in Auckland.
Doing something around central Auckland would also dovetail well with the service I offer as a chaplain for people who work in New Zealand’s news media. Most of those people live in Auckland, so curating a faith community in Auckland would give them a safe space to connect into if they wanted to explore spirituality in the way I express it.
With those things in mind, if I was about growing a church that had all the usual markers of success I’d be starting something in Auckland in a heartbeat.
But I’m slowly learning to cultivate different markers for success (they’re things I’ve learned over a long period of time from people I highly respect) and because of the vision I have for communal worship and spirituality, not giving into the temptation to follow the most convenient path to a successful ‘church’ as quickly as possible, feels extremely important.
I sat with a friend a few days ago and over coffee we discussed something he called ‘slow church.’ What he was expressing captured where I’m at perfectly.
I’m interested in the worship gatherings of a faith community being the space where we come as everything that we are, the good and the bad, as distracted as we might be, and we devote time to placing ourselves before God and being open to the work of his Spirit – both as individuals and as a community of disciples. In that space of worship I believe that we are transformed and recreated. I’m interested in this happening in the same, slow, faithful direction over a period of years.
From those divine times we are given back into the world as a gift that has been blessed through worship. In being recreated we become more able to connect with what the Holy Spirit is doing within us and all around us in the beauty and mess of everyday life. Through the shaping that takes place in our communal and individual worship we are given eyes to see the presence of God and his grace in those times when we’re just doing the dishes, dealing with the struggles of parenting and the joys of it, when we’re having conversations with neighbours and work colleagues, when we’re wrestling with conflict in relationships, when we’re out walking, and even when we’re sitting in traffic.
It’s not an ethereal, transcendent spirituality, but one that is grounded in the land of the living, is able to see grace in the everyday moments and find calm in the midst of the noise. To enact this, Commoners will not be program heavy. We won’t do stuff that requires a lot of manpower or finance because our understanding is that you are shaped in worship to engage in mission and ministry in the context of your own life. We simply want to provide the space and relationships that shape and enable you towards that.
To do that I wish to curate and participate in worship gatherings that are stripped back, simple, and roomy enough for the ups and downs of who we are as we come into those spaces and give ourselves back to God. In what I do, to model a spirituality that connects with the work of the Spirit even in the smallest things of life requires that the communal gatherings express that, because we are shaped by what we worship and how we worship. Simple, stripped back, quiet.
Faithfulness
With all that in mind the first marker of ‘success’ for me is consistent faithfulness. Hamilton is a city we (my wife and I) feel called to even though the way forward for curating a faith community is unclear. I will be faithful to that call and take who we are into the mix of that city whether I am clear about where we fit or not. As a community we will learn as we go. Some of our steps will be clumsy but we will be faithful in taking those steps.
I will also be faithful to my own walk with God because all that I do in ‘ministry’ flows from that. I will be faithful to curating worship spaces week and week out no matter who turns up, trusting that such faithfulness to worship will, in turn, shape a community of disciples of Jesus (the ultimate goal) as God continually transforms us through unity with himself.
Presence & Availability
The second marker for me is presence and availability. Whether I know what I am doing or not (and I don’t have any great plan for growing a faith community), I will be present and available. I will be present for whoever shows up to our worship gatherings. I also trust that the Holy Spirit will be present and available among us no matter who turns up. That is true whether there are 3 or 4 of us, or more. Faithful and consistent presence for those who show up and for God is what I want to be devoted to. And in that desire to be present and available I also want to be present and available to what God is doing.
If I throw away the usual markers of success then I know that, for me, I am more open and able to connect with what he is already doing. Because of this I have been in awe of the grace of God that I have seen in our tiny gatherings in Hamilton. Previously I would have been blind to this because I would have been impatient to have that successful community as it is usually understood. I still find it easy to slip into the desires of a big and glitzy church that would stroke my ego and validate me, but when I do, I miss the beautiful nuggets that are present to be seen in what’s already around me.
Process
The third success marker for me is in the process. Life isn’t always exciting. Often times it’s mundane. Dishes always need to be done. Clothes always need to be washed. We could create a long list that captures those ongoing activities that are simply part of the process of life. But we need to remain faithful to those processes for life to function well. Worship and spiritual disciplines can be the same.
When we come back to the worship spaces time and time again they can often be mundane and feel boring. If the same liturgy gets said time and time again it can lose the gloss. When Holy Communion is done week after week after week, sometimes it just doesn’t ‘feel’ special. When we’re seeing the same people time and time again it can feel like ground-hog day. But we’re shaped as we maintain faithfulness to the process even when it doesn’t feel exciting.
Through remaining faithful to the common and the ordinary we are shaped to see God in the ordinary outside of our worship spaces and we’re equipped to connect with what he is continually doing. This takes place by being engaged in rhythms over time that more often than not, don’t ‘feel’ amazing. For this reason you won’t get rousing messages in Commoners worship gatherings, the music (when it’s there) won’t blow your socks off, and hopefully the whole thing doesn’t rely on strong, charismatic personalities everyone gravitates towards (over time I expect it to rely less on who I am as a real community begins to emerge). It’s a humble, quiet, spirituality that will, let’s be honest, sometimes feel boring but I have no doubt, within the rhythm of it, you will be recreated if you’re open to it.
On that last note, allow me to offer a challenge though – if we’re feeling bored, how much of that is because we’re addicted to noise and distraction. If that’s the case, then what does it look like to ‘detox’?
Don’t hear any of this as a critique of big, charismatic churches and what they offer. I believe they have a significant place and there is much about who they are and what they do that I love, fully endorse and enjoy engaging with – but that’s not my lane so to speak, and therefore Commoners is a different part of the Christian family. In being part of the family, we call many other parts of the family who are different from us, brothers and sisters. We wholeheartedly recognise our unity in Christ.
By being faithful to walking this journey in a city (that we don’t live in yet) where I can’t guarantee traditional success, hopefully I’m practicing what I preach. I know that it’s causing me to deeply think about what ‘success’ is. It also means that God is somehow transforming me to see beauty and grace in the smallest of faith communities where I otherwise may not have if I had taken a more obvious road to curating a faith community.
The journey and the process exist in a mist where I cannot see the way forward clearly, but it’s proving to be a pleasure and I’m grateful for each person who steps into that journey with us. I won’t be a superstar in any room where Church leaders gather to compare notes about church size or anything, but it’s not their validation I’m seeking. Right now I’m excited to be riding something with God’s Spirit where he’s visible in the beauty and grace of the smallest of seeds.
If you do want to be part of the journey with us in Hamilton, get in touch.