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  • November 30, 1999

Archives For November 30, 1999

House Churches on Mission

Charles Kiser —  July 27, 2010 — 2 Comments

Below is an article by Patrick Cone, one of Storyline’s house church leaders (for the Victor Church), relaying some of the work they’ve done to get involved in the community and work for justice. I love the way working for justice attracts and connects us to those who are searching for God.

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As stated on its website, Storyline Christian Community lives to discover its place in God’s story through dependence on God, mission, life change and genuine relationships.

One way we do this is through our justice initiatives. Each house church chooses an area in which they think they can be of use in the community around them.

The Victor house church has chosen the Ferguson Road Initiative as our area of influence. The Ferguson Road Initiative’s mission is to “transform White Rock Hills and Greater Casa View into a safe, beautiful, prosperous and proud community by inspiring hope and working together to achieve a shared vision.”

Just 10 years ago, east Dallas’ Ferguson Road corridor was the most crime-ridden area of the city. The initiative has brought vast improvements and we want to be a part of that movement. Two of our members live in this neighborhood and the area would be a very attractive place to plant a house church in the future.

Our partnership with the initiative began in April, 2010. So far, we have adopted St. Francis Park, a large park right in the middle of the community. We meet as a church group once a month and pick up trash and try to make a difference cosmetically. We believe part of being a child of God is taking care of his creation. So far, we’ve had 90% church participation. We also have a friend who has faithfully joined us at each “justice event” to date, yet has never attended a house church gathering. We are excited about our friend’s desire to join God in his mission here in Dallas and we rejoice that his heart is for justice.

However, park clean up is just the beginning. As the school year approaches, we hope to get involved in adopting a classroom at one of the schools in the neighborhood. We have also had members get excited about mentoring, an anti-graffiti initiative and one member was even selected by the Initiative’s board to serve as event coordinator for the community-wide fall festival. This position will involve recruiting other members of the community to volunteer at the event. What a wonderful way to meet new people.

Our church family prayed and considered this opportunity for several months and in the end, we believed God was leading us to the Ferguson Road Initiative. We are excited, FRI officials are excited and we believe we can work together with the community to inspire hope in this neighborhood.

In Community Connection, Justice, Mission
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Engaging our Neighborhood

Charles Kiser —  June 3, 2010 — 1 Comment

Storyline hosted its annual City on a Hill retreat on May 21-22. The retreat is designed to equip people who are interested in participating in God’s mission to bless and restore the world.

The focus of Friday night is, “What is God’s mission?” The focus of Saturday is “What do missional people do?”

We answer Saturday’s question, “What do missional people do?”, with five key elements. Missional people engage in five rhythms as they participate in God’s mission. They:

  1. Listen to God
  2. Engage their neighborhoods
  3. Show hospitality
  4. Work for justice
  5. Tell the story

If Storyline has a “rule of life,” it’s these five elements. These rhythms are what we center our life around as community.

I got a facebook message last weekend from Heather Amend about how the conversation about “engaging our neighborhoods” had impacted her. By engaging our neighborhoods, we mean becoming embedded in the broader community of which we are part: 1) our street; 2) our workplaces; and 3) our “third places” (social hang-outs).

The assumption is that we can no longer expect  people who are searching for connection to God to come to us. Like Jesus (cf. Luke 5:27-32), we must go to them. Further, the church should spring up ‘out there’, amongst people in our community who are searching for God – rather than extracting them from their environments and into to our “safe” church contexts.

One learning point from the conversation was the suggestion to engage the community in community – that is, not as a loner, but in conjunction with other friends on mission.

Heather’s facebook message pertained to that – and got me excited about the way Storyliners are participating in mission. I’ve felt all the same dynamics she mentions; it’s nice to have someone articulate them so well. Heather’s comments demonstrate that the best learning happens when we’re actually doing something.

Hey guys,

I figured something out, a revelation if you will.

You know how you told us to go in pairs for non-church spaces? I thought of several more reasons why that’s good. That’s because I joined a meetup group and went to my apartment’s brunch by myself this morning. The meetup group worked because Elizabeth went with me. The apartment brunch was 10 shades of awkward.

– Whenever I go somewhere by myself, I am quite certain I project a “Help! I don’t know anyone” vibe.

– If I’m flying solo and I invite someone to a Storyline event or to hang out, it’s like, “Come hang out with ME.” It’s more pressure. Who wants to hang out one on one with someone they just met?

– When you invite someone to an event and you’re in a pair, it’s like, “Hang out with US.” Immediately it’s like being invited into a crowd, which is less weird than being invited to hang out one on one.

– The person you’re inviting already knows TWO people at the place you’re inviting them to.

– It shows them that you have friends and you’re not a loser.

– It kind of depends on who you’re approaching. When I went to interview the homeless at Solomon’s Porch, flying solo wasn’t a big deal at all. Those people are so much more approachable. But Uptown people?

Just some observations. Anyway, I firmly back you guys’ idea that you should go in pairs.

In Community Connection, Mission
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Friends on Mission

Charles Kiser —  February 4, 2010 — 2 Comments

One thing I love about church planting is the immediate solidarity and partnership I sense with other church planters in the area.

Many of us are younger and are much more ecumenically wired. We’re not threatened by each other. We don’t have kingdoms to lose. We’re a part of the same kingdom. We’re on the same team. We need each other to reach and bless the whole city. We’re sickened by turf wars and competition. We want to work together.

This week we’ve been grieving with one of our friends on mission, Kevin McGill. Kevin started Koine Church, a network of house churches in downtown/old east Dallas.

On Monday, Kevin and Koine closed their doors because of a lack of funding.

We rejoice for their ministry. It wasn’t for naught. It goes to show the great challenges of starting churches in the city…or anywhere for that matter.

Today we’ve also been rejoicing with a new friend on Mission, Matt Cote. Matt is the lead pastor of Concept Church, a new church that meets in the Magnolia theater in West Village.

It’s affirmation that we’re in the right place that others would move to join us in the work of church planting in the city center of Dallas.

I’m looking forward to ways we might partner together in mission in the future.

Please pray for the McGills and Koine as they transition to the next step. Pray for Matt Cote and he gains his bearings in a new context. Pray for us as we continue to live on mission as a community.

In Church Planting, Mission
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Made in the Streets

Charles Kiser —  January 7, 2010 — 1 Comment

In 2008, we started a Storyline Christmas tradition as part of the Advent Conspiracy: taking up an offering for a global service organization that serves the cause of justice. In 2008 we gave to Touch A Life, an organization that helps liberate children from slavery in Ghana, West Africa.

This Christmas we decided to continue the Advent Conspiracy tradition by making a donation to Made in the Streets. Made in the Streets serves streets kids in Nairobi, Kenya. They provide shelter, food and education to kids who would otherwise be left to roam the streets.

Watch this video to hear a story about Laurent, a young teenager whose life was changed by the ministry of Made in the Streets. Charles and Darlene Coulston, founders of the organization, tell the story.

A special connection is that South MacArthur Church of Christ, one of our partnering churches, is heavily involved in supporting Made in the Streets. It’s exciting to me the way Storyline is now able to come alongside South Mac in mission in this small way.

All are welcome to make a donation to help God’s work through Made in the Streets.

Storyline is accepting tax-deductible donations until Friday, January 8, here. If you’d like to make a donation directly to Made in the Streets after January 8, you can do so here.

We have the special opportunity to present Storyline’s gift to Charles and Darlene Coulton this weekend at our January worship gathering.

In Justice, Mission, South Mac, Videos, Worship Gathering
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Genesis: Recreating Missional Life

Charles Kiser —  December 22, 2009 — Leave a comment

I want to extend an invitation to all you readers out there in the blogosphere to participate in a conference hosted by Mission Alive, our church planting resource organization.

The conference is called Genesis: Recreating Missional Life. It takes place March 18-20 at the Richland Hills Church campus (one of our partnering churches).

The basic question of the conference is, “What does it look like to participate in God’s mission in our own contexts?”

This conference is for followers of Jesus who want to dive deeper into missional rhythms for life. It’s for church planters who want to embed such rhythms in their new churches. And it’s for established churches who want to revitalize their missional lives.

I’m excited about this conference for two reasons.

One – I’m not sure I’ve seen so many ministry resource people of such caliber together at any conference experience hosted within the Churches of Christ.

Here’s the keynote list: Hugh Halter (author of The Tangible Kingdom), Randy Harris (enough said), Alan Hirch (co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come), and George Hunsberger (co-author of Missional Church). You can see more about the presenters here.

The presenters are individuals who aren’t just talking about living on mission; they are themselves living on mission and helping to pave the way forward for the rest of us.

Two – The structure of this conference is unlike any other I’ve ever participated in.

Most conferences have large venue keynotes for the high caliber, internationally-known presenters (e.g., the Hirch’s of the world), then mid-sized venues (50-100) for presenters with local or regional influence.

One’s interaction with the Hirsch’s of the world at such conferences is usually limited to a big screen, bright lights and a seat about 100 rows away from the stage.

The Genesis Conference, on the other hand, is designed for deeper dialogue and personal interaction.

From the event brochure: “Genesis is a new kind of conference. It models learning in community….Participants develop practical paradigms for recreating missional life. It cannot be done by more listening, more speeches, more thinking! It can only be done in dialog.”

The conference models such community learning through conference, cluster and cohort groups.  Keynote presenters make presentations to the whole conference (limited to 400 people). Keynoters and other speakers then cycle through clusters (35-45 participants or 4 cohorts) to have deeper conversation about their material. Participants in cohorts (8-12 people, usually from the same church or with similar ministry roles) then gather together to talk about implementing what they’re learning in their own lives and ministries.

Can you imagine the benefit of sitting down with someone like Alan Hirsch and 30-40 other people to talk about living missionally in your own context?

I’m looking forward to journeying with a cohort and facilitating interaction for a cluster. This promises to be a powerful learning experience.

You should come! All are welcome. Spots are limited so sign up as soon as possible at TheGenesisConference.org. Early bird registration ($135) ends 12/31/09.

In Church Planting, Community, Mission, Mission Alive, Richland Hills
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