These are exciting times. Today I spent a few hours at the Kopi Traveler’s Cafe in the Andersonville city neighborhood. This is one of my favorite places to meet people. Today I met up with 5 church planters who are spread out and around the state of Illinois. This team is thinking strategically about how to recruit, equip and send church planting teams all around the the state, including Chicago.
We met to talk about the Pray4Chicago project, a developing dream to invite youth groups, college students, missionaries-in-training, simple churches, and others to head out into the city and witness God at work. Sort of a “praying with your eyes open” experience. At this moment the whole thing is in a beta stage, but we’re hoping to establish a sort of regular event that includes groups from inside and outside the city. I talk more about the project here. The whole goal of P4C is to be a first step for Christians in responding to what may be God calling them to urban church planting. I’m excited to see others who are catching the vision, and I look forward to working together with them!
Here’s how it could work – a network of simple churches (or a youth group, campus ministry, or congregation) in Chicago attend a “Pray4Chicago” event, starting on a Saturday morning. Several church planters/ those passionate about the harvest would offer a bit of orientation to the project – that the participants will be spending the next day and a half in small groups (2-3 in each) prayer-walking through a city neighborhood.
Each group will be given a map of a city neighborhood, and then, armed with a journal and a digital camera, head out to “pray with their eyes open.” Watching for where God is already working in the city (ministries, social programs, parks, bars, etc). They’ll take pictures of what they see, eat in their neighborhood, and possibly even sleep there.
Sunday they’ll worship there – either at a local church or as a small group out in a park or coffeeshop – somewhere outside of their comfort zone. After worship, we’ll meet for debriefing. Groups will put their photos/discoveries/reflections into the website (behind a login), and then come together for a pizza party.
At the party, each group will present their “God findings” to everyone. It will close with one of the facilitators inviting the participants to live with a sense of awareness that where they live is a mission field – and that God is up to exciting things right in their own neighborhood. The goal of the whole event is to motivate participants toward planting a church in the city, or (for the non-locals) taking it back to their town and starting there.
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So – its still in beta stage, but I’d love your thoughts. What do you like – what would make this idea even better?
This year we’re thinking a bit more ahead – trying to save a little each month so its not a financial killer when it shows up. But what are we going to spend our money on this Christmas? Are there better and worse things to buy?
