There’s the burden of maintaining a big, empty and often very dated looking building. There’s the ghost of happier days that seem constantly to haunt their memories and gatherings. There are the aging saints who struggle to make it out on Sundays, who seldom find friendship or support throughout the week.

Many churches feel stuck. This can be due to a lack of ideas or energized leadership. Sadly, it is often due to specific individuals, committed to maintaining their power or preferences.

Why do we sit around asking “why is my church dying?”

We need to remember that we serve a God of resurrection! If we are willing to die to ourselves, including our fond memories of the church that used to be, we can be resurrected to become something new.

Here’s are six bold moves I’ve seen or studied that  can be used by God to resurrect your church.

1) Foster a Fresh Expression

Have you ever seen a sapling growing off the side of an existing tree? It thrives because it can rely on the resources of the other plant.

A Fresh Expression is a new church or congregation that develops out of a new approach is used to share the message of Jesus with a different group of people. An existing church can foster a Fresh Expression by providing meeting space, finances, and friendship to men and women dedicated to reaching this different group.

In the U.K., the Fresh Expressions movement has brought new life to the many churches. It has led to planting 518 Fresh Expressions over the between 2002 and 2012. This has also led to the launch of Fresh Expressions US, committed to bringing the best ideas and practices from FXUK to the Americas.

2) Adopt a Church Planter

All around the country, there are missionally-minded, apostolically-gifted church planters that “parachute” into a new city.

These women and men have a strong calling from God to see new churches planted for specific cities, neighborhoods and people groups. However, they often are outsiders. They desperately need help finding their place in their new home.

Find a church planter to adopt. Invite them to speak on a Sunday. Buy them a beer. Ask them their story. Cover the cost for babysitting or for their kids to go camping. Be their friend.

Your church might never turn around. Which is okay, especially if you’re using your remaining time to help build something new. (Tweet this)

3) Re-Plant

A replant is the probably drastic, ambitious and the most difficult of all the options. Re-planting basically means pretending that your church is gone, and reorganize the remaining members into a church planting team.

You take down the sign. You stop meeting on Sundays.

Your goal is not to re-envision your church. The goal is to become a different church, with a fresh understanding of what it means to be a church and a new take on your role in the surrounding neighborhood.

Legend has it that Einstein said “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” You can’t do this without outside help and new thinking. Probably you would need completely new leadership.

If your church is brave enough to change and focused on their locality, this is the bold move for you.

4) Reboot

With a new version of Batman and Spiderman coming out every eight years, we all know what a reboot is. You take the most important features of a character and their story, and reimagine it for a modern day and place.

So how do you discover and revive these key elements of your church’s identity? Mark Lau Branson suggests the process of Appreciative inquiry in his book Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change.

AI is a change management technique that involves the entire body in the process of discovering what is best about a church,and building on that. Branson suggests that you should look over the history of your church and use these steps to form “provocative proposals” about what the church could become.

1. Focus on an area of the church’s life and mission.
2. Name the best examples of this in recent memory.
3. Name specific factors that contributed to the church’s ability to be faithful to this mission.
4. Building on the “best of what is/was,” envision “what might be.”
5. Write out a proposition of what is possible, express as it is already true.

Granted, this is more of a renewal process than resurrection process. Some churches maybe “too far gone” for it to help. However, the process is worthwhile no matter what, even if it only serves to bring back good memories of the church’s heyday.

5) Transfusions

Some churches may never turn the corner. That doesn’t mean they can’t have a meaningful kingdom impact somewhere else.

I’ve seen a few churches do this. My favorite example was an older church that merged with a new plant. The new plant had succeeded in reaching young adults and young families. The older church helped them even things out.

It’s sad that church transfusions don’t happen more. The reason is that it is hard, and one group will have to completely surrender their identity.

But we’re all on the same team here, right?

6) Retire

One of our supporters at Austin Mustard Seed is a small house church that used to be a much different church. As they got smaller, they sold their building. Then they began meeting in a home, and put all their money in a foundation. They’ve used the cash they have from selling their building to build up the next generation.

Retirement is one of my favorite options because it allows you to “choose how you end.” Instead of fading into obscurity or squandering resources, you get to be a blessing for untold generations to come.

The truth is, all churches have a beginning, middle and end.

But with Jesus’s resurrection power and the Holy Spirit as our guide, new life is possible.

Please click these links to share on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Six Bold Moves for Resurrecting a Dying Church appeared first on Chris Morton.

Six months ago, we launched Austin Mustard Seed. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting. This isn’t it.

It’s better.

An encyclopedia could be written about the difficulties of church planting. What gets lost is the unexpected joys along the way. Such as:

1. People who “Get it”

Recently I heard the term “church planter” defined as “the people who are willing to go where no one else wants to go and do what no one else wants to do.” It’s shockingly true. When we were recruiting for our launch team, it seemed like we heard an endless stream of “go, be warm and well fed.”

Then, by the grace of God, people started saying, “I’m in.” Our “early adopters” have been people of impeccable character. Most of them have been in church leadership roles before. A few have helped plant churches before. A surprising number of people on our team are professional counselors.

These people show up early, stay late and create opportunities to hang out. They know how to greet strangers and invite them into our life together. They are seeking God’s will for their lives and quick to join in with what is happening in our church community.

Church planting isn’t for everyone. Getting up on Sunday morning is hard enough. In Austin, there are dozens of great established communities with top-notch programming.

There are some people who just get it. The idea that “we need more churches and better churches for the sake of our neighborhood” seems natural. They don’t bat an eye when Sunday gatherings feel a little ad-hoc or there isn’t a clearly defined youth ministry.

It’s easy to relegate planting a church to regularly “pitching your idea” and hoping people will buy in. Finding a group of people that “get it” is not only personally refreshing, it’s incredibly inspiring. Who knows what God could do through them?

2. Set up time

The hour and a half before our Sunday gathering has quickly become one of my favorite parts of the week. Initially, it was a mess. We ran around like chickens with our heads cut off, trying to set up chairs and get the sound system to work right.

We’ve finally got into a rhythm and have an unofficial checklist. From the outside, it looks like set up time is just lighting candles and grinding coffee beans. But it’s becoming one of the few unhurried moments in our week, where we can reconnect after a long week a part. We share jokes, adventures, fears and prayers.

It’s easy to understand why people sleep in and show up late on Sundays. When else would you be able to do that? But it’s too bad. It’s one of the best moments of the week.

3. When something doesn’t work

Not everything we try works. We’ve had events with no-shows. We’ve had technology fails. We’ve had really great people decide our church isn’t for them.

When these things happen, there’s always a little sting of embarrassment. Once that’s past, there’s also a great sense of relief. It feels really good to be able to say “well, that didn’t work” and try something new.

This is teaching me that we have a God who cares for sparrows, lilies and even me. Good ideas and hard work are no promise of success.

“Success” is notoriously difficult to define. The process of trying new things, whether they “succeed” or “fail” is also the process of articulating who we are. We’re learning exactly what we do and don’t do. Eventually, we’ll look back and be able to say “this is who we are.”

4. The Grapevine

It started with a truck.

One member of our community showed up driving another member’s truck. They had read their Bibles, and knew that churches are places where people care for eachother’s needs.

Every time we gather, I hear stories about unofficial, unprogrammed get-togethers. People are in each other’s home for dinner and babysitting each other’s kids. One guy, whose “road warrior” job keeps him out of town most weeks, sends text messages throughout the week with a few other guys. One woman realized her aged neighbor needed some help getting around town, and quietly organized others in our community to care for her.

The best things happening in our church community have not come out of official events or programming. They are happening because we have a group of people figuring out how to care for and love each other.

5. Potential Miracles

Our Sunday Liturgy includes a time called “the prayers of the people,” which is basically an open mic responsive prayer time. During this time, as well as in our small groups, we’ve seen people be incredibly vulnerable about their hopes, dreams and needs.

We’ve already seen some great things happen. We’re also developing a running list of “potential miracles,” that is, specific things we’ve asked for God’s help with. This had created a sense of expectation. We are excited to see what God will do among us. We are also excited to see how God will use us. This sense of anticipation fills both our official and incidental gatherings with a sense that anything could happen.

Church planting isn’t easy. It’s also full of joys that were unexpected. What unexpected things is God doing in your community?

The post Five Unexpected Joys in Church Planting appeared first on Chris Morton.

There’s a hip saying, often attributed to St. Francis, that goes something like “preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.” This sounds really spiritual, but I’m not sure it really works. My reason for this goes back to another overused pithy saying: “words make worlds.”

Check out the whole article at The Antioch Session.

The post Sorry, “St. Francis,” but I use words…. appeared first on Chris Morton.

Over the last six months, I have been helping to gather a new church community we’re calling Austin Mustard Seed. As we learn whom we are, I am thankful for the twisted paths of preparation we have all taken to get here.

You want to be a Missionary? Here are nine lessons I learned from preparing the hard way.

1. Learn the Story of the Bible (and the Church)

The word “missionary” has some blood on its hands. For centuries, people in power used it to enforce their way of life on others.

The true word for this is imperialism, not mission. Imperialist use the “God card” to enforce their own way of life, and usually increase their wallets at the same time.

The cure to imperialism? Deep study of the entire Bible, from beginning to end. You will find that the Bible tells of a trajectory of history. It begins with creation, becomes complicated in the fall, gets sorted out by Jesus crucifixion and ends with new creation.

Mission happens when the followers of Christ find their place in the trajectory of God’s mission. Any other mission usually results with blood on your hands.

2. Know Thyself

When I was 23 years old, I went to a church planter’s assessment. At the end of three days of grilling from psychologists and missionaries, they told me “Chris, we love you, but right now you are very, very broken.” At their suggestion, I got into counseling.

Of all the things I’ve learned (so far) in counseling, the most instructive is that I must question my own motives. I found was that much of “my identity” had little to do with me and less to do with Jesus. I was living a life based in pain and brokenness.

Counseling was an excruciating and liberating process of peeling back old scabs and finding the person underneath. It’s a process that I will continue my whole life.

There is nothing more messy that spiritual leaders who has not figured themselves out. Their wounds stand in between the people they are want to reach and God.

Do you want a life of mission? Know who you are so you can get out of the way.

3. Develop a Marketable Skill

Theological training is important. The problem is, there is only one place it will pay the bills: an established church.

If you are going to be a missionary, that may mean years of settling in and learning a city. If you have a marketable skill, your settling in time becomes useful in at least three ways.

• You don’t have to introduce yourself to skeptical non-Christians as a missionary.
• You will make relationships with co-workers, who will teach you about your city and become your friends.
• You won’t go hungry.

4. Take Time to Learn the City

I live in a city that is teetering between the Bible Belt and an unknown future in post-Christendom. In my time here, I have interacted with two types of Church planters.

Type A – They came with funds raised and a deadline to launch a church. They created a team of Christians and quickly start a Sunday gathering. They may have a sustainable community, but because of their speed, it may look more like the Bible Belt than the present and future city.

Type B – They settled in, got jobs, went to festivals, met their neighbors and made friends. It might have taken them longer, but their churches feel like they belong in Austin.

5. Practice, practice, practice

When I first arrived in Austin, I visited 15 churches in 3 months. My goal was to find a church that looked like Austin, and was carrying God’s mission for Austin. When I found one I dove in, and tried to learn everything about what they did and why.

As we get going at Austin Mustard Seed we aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel. We already know a lot that works here, and a few things that do not.

When you take time to practice mission you are working towards something worthwhile and preparing for the future.

6. Find Your Tribe

Missionaryhood is lonely. You are doing a lot of tasks that are hard to explain. You are up against spiritual, practical and financial barriers.

Ecumenicism can be good. It’s helpful to have opportunities to learn from people who are different from you. Too much ecumenicism makes you feel like a fraud.

You need a safe place to be yourself. You need to learn from other people who are trying to do the same crazy thing that you are. You need conversations where you don’t have to be guarded about your theological and even political viewpoints.

Fuller MAGL, Ecclesia Network and Missio Alliance have provided that for me.

7. Get a hobby

When Fresh Expressions asked me why the reason that churches seem to only reach Christians, I gave three reasons. One is that missionaries need to get a hobby.

Your week is generally split a few ways: Family time, work, and hobbies. For many church leaders, “hobbies” gets replaced by “volunteering at church activities”. The result is subtle: when you meet your neighbors, you don’t know what to say. Take up a sport, anything from softball to cycling. Don’t join a church league. Have fun. Soon, you and your new friends will be hanging out after the game, getting to know each other.

8. Give up your church baggage

If you’ve been around church for awhile, you’ve picked up some baggage. You read the Bible the way they taught you. You think church should be organized a certain way. You may only like certain types of music. You have specific and inaccessible language that will inhibit make keeps other people from hearing you.

If we all need counseling to peel back the layers and figure out who we are. Likewise, we need to peel back the layers and discover what it means to live the church.

9. Abandon your dreams

When I first wanted to become a missionary, I thought I would show people how to “do church right.” Then, I got excited about social justice issues and wanted to be a part of a church that “changes the world.” I’ve seen others who wanted to be a proper “postmodern Church” or “reformed Church” or “feminist church.”

Ed Stetzer calls this “planting a church in your head.”

“When we adopt a pre-packaged church formula, or simply steal another church’s identity, we often import the vision God has given someone else for a certain time and place and make it ours–we import a model rather than engaging in God’s mission.”

At some point I realized I couldn’t fix the denominations made me mad. Then I realized I couldn’t fix the world. So I’ve abandoned my dreams. When people ask me what we hope to become at Austin Mustard Seed, I’ve started telling them

“I’m just looking for a group of people who want to figure out how to be church together.”

What do you think you need to do to prepare for a life of mission?

The post Nine Necessities for a Life of Mission appeared first on Chris Morton.

1. Austin is growing like crazy.

It feels like 2/3rds of the current Austin skyline was not here when I moved to town in 2006. According to Forbes, Austin will grow at a rate of 6.1% between now and 2016. There’s just no way the existing churches can handle that alone.

2. Austinites aren’t necessarily Texans.

Dr. Joshua Long, author of Wierd City, said that adopting the catchphrase “Keep Austin Wierd” was the equivalent of the famous “New Collosus” sonnet outside the Statue of Liberty. Austin tells the world “send me your poor and weird masses.” Self-styled outcasts move to Austin to redefine themselves. That means those who make up Austin don’t necessarily have much history with the storied religious culture of Texas.

3. We need more neighborhood churches.

Here’s my theory: the best antidote for consumer church is incarnational communities. When I say “incarnational“, I mean that the church follows the methodology of Jesus: “the Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.” Jesus, the eternal Word of God and second person of the Trinity, became a baby. He got calloused hands from working hard labor, spoke Aramaic and ate a lot of locally sourced fish.

There’s a lot of great regional churches. Sometimes the people who live in the same neighborhood as the church building don’t know much about the church other than the traffic jams on Sundays. I’m betting that living the church together in our neighborhoods will make it easier to participate in meaningful community and love our neighbors.

4. Some people are starters.

My favorite reason to start a new church in Austin is simply that some people are called to be “starters”. The New Testament calls them Apostles. In business, they are called entrepreneurs. In some churches, they’re called missionaries. Some people thrive by building on existing systems. Others thrive by starting new things. Church planting is a means of empowering such people to live out their calling.

The post Why would you possibly start another church in Texas? appeared first on Chris Morton.