Church of the Redeemer
FAQ Sheet
Church plants go through various stages of development, where are we now?
We have been in the initial Information Stage where the Vision is cast and shared and begins to call a group of people together who are interested in it. The next stage is the Developmental Stage, in which the Vision is developed into core values and the foundations are laid for actually doing ministry and worshipping together. These are both ‘prenatal’ stages: the birth of the church hasn’t happened yet. (These two also overlap: during the Developmental Stage, we should continue to add new people who are drawn to our Vision.) The Launch Stage is where we begin to actually hold worship services on Sunday mornings and engage together in ministry.
Will we start having church services in January?
Technically speaking, no, we won’t. The counsel that I have received is that one of the worst things a church plant can do is to ‘launch’ before it is ready. We can’t rush through the prenatal stages to get to birth otherwise all of the operating systems for life together won’t be developed and ready to go.
What are some of those ‘operating systems’ necessary for the Launch Stage?
These are the Big 5 that need to be prepared:
Worship Arts Team – Liturgy is simply the form of our worship. Every church has liturgy and this is very important b/c it forms visitors’ first impressions
Children’s Ministry – Unless we only want senior citizens and singles we better be prepared to care for and nurture children
Assimilation/Follow-up Process – We drop the ball if we don’t have a process in place to welcome, follow-up and assimilate new people
Evangelism & Outreach – Who are we going to reach? How will they hear? How will we invite them to our community of faith?
Leadership Development – Leadership is service to others. This component is all about preparing and calling people to places of service according to their gifting
What will we be doing then on Sunday evenings beginning in January?
This is when we start to become “a glorious we”, when we begin working together laying the foundations for a new church. . These really won’t be ‘services’ per se. The term ‘service’ is probably not the correct term to describe these meetings because is could give the impression we’re starting full-fledged worship services. So, here’s what I envision for these meetings: I want to reflect together on God’s Word with respect to the 8 Points of our Vision, grounding them in the Bible and trying to answer the question, “What is a church?” So first of all , some careful Bible teaching followed by discussion and prayer response… We’ll probably do some worship in singing as well. All mission is grounded in worship. So I hope these meetings will have a strong sense of coming together before the Lord, hearing His Word, and seeking His face. I also hope we will continue to add people along the way who are drawn to our Vision, but this is not really the time to invite ‘seekers’ and non-Christians, that’s what we want to be doing in the Launch Stage. Then second, we will need to be doing some ‘work’ together: some of it as a large group, and some of it in committees.
You mean there will be Committee work?
You bet! We all have to begin owning different pieces of this large undertaking. Church-planting is not a spectator sport!
Is this going to be an independent church?
Christ Our Redeemer is not being planted by a particular denomination and in that sense it will be independent. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to be ‘making up church’ any old way we want to. Wise men and women have given considerable thought to how to do church in the last two thousand years of church history and we would do well to listen to them and learn from them. So I hope this particular emergent church will be creative but will also land us right in the midst of solid traditions. We will have an elder form of government as taught in the New Testament, men who will “keep watch over you as men who must give an account”(Heb. 13:17). Peter describes them as “shepherds” who are serving under “the Chief Shepherd [=Jesus]”(I Pet. 5:1-4). The Vision document has a listing of websites at the end of it for some strong, missional, ‘independent’ Bible churches that we can learn from.
I would also hope that we would intentionally work on projects and partnerships with other churches in the area and build a larger network of fellowship and cooperation and in this sense become ‘interdependent’.
What about staff for Christ Our Redeemer?
We do not have a funding base or church-planting endowment like a denominational church plant would normally have. That’s going to make it financially challenging for us to add staff. I love doing ministry in teams; I definitely do not want this to be a ‘one-man show’. I would love to add other staff, such as a Music Minister and a Youth Minister and perhaps a Small Group [“COR Groups”] Coordinator whenever we are able. In the mean time, these ministries will have to be led by volunteers.
Can I begin giving financially towards Christ Our Redeemer?
Yes. We certainly hope you will. Your gifts are the only income the church has. We have set up the Post Office Box, a church checking account and a separate bookkeeper so that money is not being handled by Tom, even though his salary and expenses will be covered by this account. Beginning to give now also helps us plan financially for the future. Very soon, we are going to have to begin renting facilities and then, hopefully, adding staff. Giving ‘patterns’ will be helpful for all our financial planning. This is another area for Committee work, and we hope to set one up very soon to oversee all the financial elements of a church plant.
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