Reflection paper of urban evangelism practicum in boston

 Reflecting upon the urban evangelism practicum to the city of Boston there were many insightful experiences, challenging ideas, and applicable principles found scattered throughout the trip. On our trip we saw a total of sixteen church planters within just a week’s time and heard many of them explain their churches and experiences. During the time with each of the church planters we had a Q&A time from which I gleaned many profitable insights. Traveling throughout Boston and Great Boston we got to see Cambridge, Newton, Medford, Brookline, West Roxbury, Weymouth, and many other towns. Our travels led us to see Harvard, MIT, and the Bunker Hill Monument. During our time at MIT we even rubbed shoulders with some of the top-tier professors and were led on guided tour throughout the campus. This week was crammed full of as much of Boston as one could see in seven short days. Amongst the traveling, the dialoguing, and the many wonderful experiences there were a lot of great concepts that one could apply to church planting and urban ministry in general.

The call of God upon a lead church planter was one of the consistent things that almost every planter mentioned as a necessity prior to planting. For instance, when Joe Souza, NAMB Catalyst and Lead Pastor of Celebration Church, spoke to us he said that he personally had given up on ministry in Boston 1,032 times; but each time God refreshed him and drove him back to his calling. The call of God was especially essential for lead church planter Vivek Arora, of All Nations Church, who had gone through the most struggles and hardship of all of the planters that we saw. In the pit of struggle and hardship this planter continued to possess confident faith in the fact that God had called him to Boston to plant a multiethnic church.

As I pondered the call of God for my life I began to dialogue with Joe Souza who gave me some very real and practical advice. He told me that he prays very practically concerning the will of God and the call of God. He asks God to give him a clear no, meaning that he pursues what he sees as the will of God and prays that if it is not God’s will that he would make that perfectly clear. This seems to be solid advice concerning discerning the will and call of God; because, if God places opportunities before you that seem to honor him, why should you not act upon what you think is his will? Souza described how God solidified his call and opened up doors for him. This idea of an “open door” for Souza was that God would give him connections in Boston, provide for him on the way, and give him opportunities to share the Gospel. Souza’s advice will guide my prayers as I pursue where in the North East of the U.S. God desires for me to plant a church.

The necessity of the call of God is not simply for the lead church planter but also must be held by the lead planter’s wife as well. While there was no current example of a planter whose wife had not received the call of God, there was a repetition of this concept among all of the planters. Some of the church planters told us that there had been many planters who had left the field due to their wives’ lack of call and commitment to the area. Even though many of the planters we met did not have wives who led the women’s ministry, it was still significantly important for the wife to be a godly example to the new church. As we continued to talk with the planters we found out that many of their wives were huge supports for them in time of stress, trial, and need. The wife almost always played a supporting role for the lead planter. Though not seen by the public, many planters expressed how their wives carry a lot of the stresses and burdens because of the oneness of the man and woman. When the planters spoke of the call of God for the wife they did not necessarily mean the call in the same way that the husband was called. The call for the wife was a settled contentment in the belief that God has called both of them to the area. This call might only be fully revealed to her husband, but it will be accepted and rested in by the wife. This acceptance of the call by the wife is actually, what many of the planters told us, confirmation for the call of God upon the lead planter’s life.

Another concept that was repeated throughout the trip was the necessity for a church to be planted with a team as opposed to a lone church planter. Partial evidence of this concept was seen in the planting of All Nations Church, which was a struggling church due partially to the fact that it had been planted with only one lead planter and his family. As many of the planters expressed to us, church planting is hard. Satan attacks the church planter in countless ways. Many problems will arise that seem unsolvable. But, as the planters expressed to us, a church planter with a team will have support, shelter, and wisdom in numbers.

A team will encourage each other. The lead planters of True Vine Church, Brandon Allison and Myke Wilkerson, gave some keen insight into how their team works together. Wilkerson expressed to us that sometimes when they go out to evangelize one of them will not always feel like going out but the other one will encourage him to be passionate to share the gospel that day. They encourage each other on days when the other member is not feeling prepared, ready, or wanting to evangelize. Wilkerson also expressed to me how his team fit together like a puzzle, supplying what is lacking in each other’s spiritual gifts. Allison is the lead planter doing all of the teaching and leading while Wilkerson leads out in worship, tech, and youth ministry. Wilkerson works better in the supporting role whereas Allison the lead role for this new church plant. The giftings of this team then compliment each other and work together, covering each other’s weakness. A team then is essential to the building of a healthy church.

The use of technology within the context of Boston seemed to be reiterated throughout the trip. For instance, Jan Vezikov, lead planter of a Russian-American church called Mosaic Boston, told us a story of how the use of technology, specifically sermon videos on their website, actually brought someone to their church. Vezikov recounts that there was a young man who came to their church and said what first intrigued him was a sermon that he had found on their website. Shortly after that this same young man became a Christian and took lead of their tech ministry. This tech ministry was actually helped by a fellow church planter who had sent his tech guy over to train Vezikov’s tech guy.

Reflecting upon the use of technology, I began to recognize the need of a quality website and thought about making a website that began to give answers to the questions of the secular people of Boston. This could be used especially if one was to hand out cards with their website on them for people. The vision of this website would be one that uses videos to give short answers to the key questions that are at the heart of many of the secular urbanites. But the videos would definately need to be of a quality that is not distracting. This reflection that I had was reinforced by Send City Coordinator and Pastor of Hope Fellowship Church, Curtis Cook, who said that if he had to start all over again he would spend more money on a good website. His reasoning was that 9 out of 10 people will visit your website before they visit your church. All of these experiences gave me a solid belief in the importance of quality tech ministry.

Bi-vocational church planting was urged by many of the planters we came in contact with. The belief that the church planter should find a job in the community to work while he plants the church was enforced from many different angles by the planters we met. Joe Souza told us that even if we raise all of our own funding to plant it is very important to work in the community. His reasoning was that having a job in the community would help you connect better with the community because you become a part of the community immediately. But not only does it help you connect better with the community, it also helps you to learn your context more quickly. You will be living amongst the people daily and in turn learning more about the people and the area.

A great example of bi-vocational planters who are using their jobs and contexts to influence the community is seen in the planters of True Vine Church. Both Brandon Allison and Myke Wilkerson work at Dunkin Donuts. This has been an instant opportunity for them to grow their church; everyone in their bible study works with them at Dunkin Donuts. Additionally, Allison has been able to show a character that exemplifies consistency and reliability. This character has led him to get a promotion to store manager in just a year of working at Dunkin Donuts. This promotion has been a witness to those who worked with him, as one co-worker expressed shock at how fast he was able to gain promotion. Truly, this credibility has gained him a hearing with the rest of his co-workers, many of whom have gotten saved through his witness. Following the suggestion of Joe Souza, their apprentice church, Allison and Wilkerson have been successful in bi-vocational church planting and an example of bi-vocational church planting done properly.

While in Boston, we also observed the importance for church planters to look for “people of peace.” These “people of people” are people who are Non-Christians but are interested in the gospel, willing to lend an ear, possibly provide a space to meet/resources, and/or introduce you to an entire network of people. This was seen throughout the trip as a way many of the planters received an open door into the community. This was first seen through the experience of Pastor and Lead Planter of Charles River Church, Josh Wyatt, who attempted to get in touch with a main street association for a while before he got an open door. This association helps out in West Roxbury where the government recently built a high-end section eight housing complex. The association has social workers and events to help the people of this poor neighborhood get jobs that would sustain them. After several failed attempts to get permission to help serve the main street association, Wyatt finally obtained a willing ear from a new head supervisor of the association. Though this new head supervisor was a Universalist, she allowed Wyatt opportunities to staff their events, host youth/children’s event, and serve in a multitude of ways. This person of peace opened the door wide, eventually giving Wyatt office space to serve the community, as the social workers would be leaving in a few months. So because of that one person of peace Wyatt now has a free space to host events for the community, conduct youth ministry, use all of their tents/equipment, and take the role of social workers helping to serve the community as Jesus did.

Two more church plants also experienced clear open doors from people of peace. Lead planter Steve Brown of Wellspring Church in Stoneham experienced a key person of peace, which is actually now the place where they do most of the their ministry. This person of peace is an owner of a local pizza place within the town. The relationship with Brown and the person of peace began as his family frequented his local pizza place. Now Brown has events at the pizza place to reach families with children. For instance, Brown is planning a Red Sox Family Night on June the 5^th. These events consist of games, prizes, and trivia to keep all of the children involved. Along the same lines, the church planters of True Vine Church also frequented a local restaurant, gaining a great relationship with the owner, and have a local trivia night in the restaurant. There is most definitely a common theme of God using people of peace to reach many more with the Gospel and expand the kingdom of God.

Many of the planters employed what I will entitle Volunteerism/Event Hosting to expand their influence and serve the city, building creditability. This first example was Todd Burus who, at the time of our trip, was not even living in Boston as a planter yet but had already gained credibility in the community. Burus achieved this credibility by hosting weeklong youth sporting events for the children several summers in a row. Hosting these events, Burus gained credibility with the families and was able to gain many relationships with people prior to coming onto the field. Allison and Wilkerson of True Vine Church also mentioned that they participated in a community clean up event where they were able to wear special shirts signifying who they were.

Vezikov’s church, Mosaic Boston, models servant hearts through their homeless ministry where each week they bring food to the homeless and share the gospel with them. Also, Mosaic Boston goes to the local assisted living home and helps them by spending time with the elderly and meeting any physical needs. Mosaic also partner with the local community outreach to serve the community in anyway necessary. Every September Mosaic Boston hosts a free ESL class in order to help those who speak English as a second language. Along with Burus and Vezikov, Josh Wyatt also serves the community as was mentioned above. Volunteerism/Event Hosting are ways that new planters and new church plants can establish credibility in the community and serve the community as Jesus has called us to do.

The sharing of ideas, resources, and mission teams is a great sustaining factor for most of the church plants in Boston and Greater Boston. As mentioned above, Vezikov received tech training from another church in the area. But, even greater than tech support, was the providence of mission teams from Curtis Cook. Cook has been the Pastor of Hope Fellowship for thirteen years and possesses many connections to churches outside of Boston. These established churches regularly send mission teams up to Boston to help Cook. But, unlike most churches that would simply use the mission teams for their own churches, Cook sends the teams to almost all of the church plants in the area. Since Hope Fellowship is one of the few churches that actually owns a building in Boston, they are able to house these teams in their space. It is important to make connections with established churches outside of Boston, which could send mission teams to serve all of the church plants in Boston. Thus, Hope Fellowship being the most established church shares their mission teams to expand the kingdom of God in Boston. Not only does Hope Fellowship share its mission teams, but it also shares its space hosting many ethnic churches on a weekly basis.

Along with the sharing of tech ministry, space, and missions there is the sharing of ideas. For starters, most if not all of the existing church plants have apprenticed for a time period under existing churches. During these apprenticeships the young aspiring church planters serve and sit under the leadership of the seasoned church planter where they learn techniques, principles, and work on their weaknesses and strengths. One of the ideas that many of the church planters have shared is that of putting advertisements up on the T (subway) and billboards. The existing churches pass along their contacts for advertising, and the new churches implement the same strategy. Another idea they share came from Hope Fellowship where they pass our granola bars or waters along with a card for their church. These servant handouts have been implemented at churches such as True Vine and Charles River. With limited time the planters could not share all of the ideas that they glean from each other but with their tight knit network one can be confident that more sharing continues.

This practicum has given me insight into church planting that I could never gain from reading books. It gave me a chance to see how different planters operate within their different contexts and with their different spiritual gifting. It has also challenged me personally to living more intentionally at my church here in Fort Worth. Not only have I learned a lot from this experience, but also I see Boston now more as a possibility to plant a church. This experience has also challenged me to seek God more on a daily basis and how to seek him concerning his will. God is doing a great work in Boston and there are many things that I have gleaned from the trip.