we be church

Project Huddersfield

This last week I been in Huddersfield to do some design research with good mate & graphic designer Viv to produce a logo and promotional material for the Newfrontiers Huddersfield Church plant (The Ark) that will stepping up a gear in the coming months.
We felt as well as getting a tour of the place our research needed to included interviewing the multi ethnic population about what they felt about the town, the wider area and the general sense of community. We endeavoured to talk to as much a wide mix of people as we could including students, graduates, market workers, pub frequenters, council staff, families and even tourists.

Huddersfield is a unique blend of rural and urban due to the industrial revolution of the late 18th and 19th centuries. Large cotton mill architecture is still very prominent along with towering chimneys. Today shops and the up and coming university are the main magnets. The cities Leeds and Manchester are easily accessible from the town making Huddersfield an ideal place to live if you like the Yorkshire country side and are willing to commute to work.

The older people desire to hold on to past history which frequently comes into conflict with seeing something new come out of the area. Although the university does keep old mill architecture, there does to appear to be a struggle for visual identity in Huddersfield. Despite some valuing the cosmopolitan vibe the community is divided down ethnic lines. A Church that gathers the various ethnicity’s and ages together in Huddersfield will be so vital in bringing visible transformation to the area.

The favourite place of most people we asked was the landmark “Castle Hill”, a tower built on an old iron age fort situated just outside Huddersfield Town overlooking the area. This tower was constructed to mark Queen Victoria’s 60th Jubilee Year and in its opening attracted thousands of people.

A big thank you to the friendly Pape and Bunce families for showing us round, we couldn’t have done it without you! Thinking of joining this loverly bunch? Ill let Steve Hurd have the final word.

Steve Hurd. Huddersfield from Box-head* on Vimeo.

The Context for Using Web Technology as a Church – Tradition, Trend or Truth

There are two dangers when using web technology within the church, trend and tradition, but we need to be concerned with the truth. This post will provide a brief overview on how to recognize trend and tradition then make the case for gospel truth to be our absolute objective when we come to use web technology as churches.

As Tim Keller suggests there are three ways to live, legalistic, liberal or gospel centric, I want to suggest these three ways influence how we approach the use of web technology as churches. Most of our technological shift in the last decade has been communication based and this effects how churches are reaching people with God’s revolutionizing truth. We all sway towards tradition or trend on different issues, I know I do, but it is helpful to understand where we mostly stand so that we can line up with what the Bible actually says and have the Gospel centric view taking time to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying.

Continue reading…

[Sore Thumbs] The Presence-Shaped Edition

Tim Keller on Preaching, Cities, and Relating to Culture

At a recent event in London at Westminster Chapel Tim Keller delivered a very measured and well thought out combination of talks and seminars on the importance of churches in the city, preaching to change people in their seats and finally relating to surrounding culture the right way. I didn’t go but by the wonder of the internet Newfrontiers have published video of the talks for all to see. I have added the last one on Relating to culture to this post below.

Preaching the Gospel
Why Cities Matter
Cultural Transformation

Tim Keller – Cultural Transformation from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

Terry Virgo on “Why Church Plant?”

Over at Terry’s blog he has written a two part series on why church planting.

Church planting, it has been observed, is the most effective form of evangelism. Some statisticians have done the sums and worked out that you get more individuals saved through church planting than from any other form of evangelism. Sadly, however, by simply adding up the numbers they are in danger of missing the point.

Terry makes a strong case for church groups to be “presence-shaped”.

When ‘He is here’ all things are possible. This is what makes God’s people unique – His presence goes with us.

Why church plant 1
Why church plant 2

Web Tech and the Church: A New Blog Series Starting.

Cartoon by David Walker

One of my great passions is the internet and related technology and how it can support churches in their mission. Want I want to do is write some really solid posts on how churches can use the web to impact the culture and locality. Why? Well I think the climate is right we have some fantastic examples out there now of Churches engaging with culture and even the media through web technology. Some churches are beginning to ask how they too can achieve such things. So what qualifies me despite my passion to write and talk about this? Here is a bit of my background and journey related to the topic.

Continue reading…

Prayer as Mission

Photo by Ben Askew

So the church I attend as a student (City Church Newcastle) is just finished a series on prayer. At the last service we looked at Praying Together as a Church Family with the example of the early church in Acts 4:23-31.
What I love is that they are told not to speak about Jesus and then when released they decide that they need to pray together and ask for the exact opposite, boldness to speak. They had faith which caused them to be spiritually stubborn for Jesus. The place where they pray is shaken and the Holy Spirit arrives. They then do what they prayed for, went out and again spoke with boldness, they were open to God to deliver their prayers in them stepping out.

I just want to illustrate this. I came across this video of 24/7 Prayer in Ibiza the party capital of the world. There is a load of prayer going on but notice it is mixed with action/mission. You will have to watch it on YouTube as it can’t be embedded here.
Also of inspiration is my pal Clair Francis talking on prayer at Kings Church in Wellington New Zealand. Go Clair!

Newday Youth Conference 09

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Newday Youth Conference in Sherwood Forrest, yes that’s right, the realm of robin-hood. I didn’t really know what to expect, but thankfully I was in experienced company, thanks Larry!

Looking at my notes the theme which leaps out is that God wants us to be equipped by the understanding that we are His People and to stick to the Guns of his Gospel! You would expect that to be a given but it is very easy to get bogged down or distracted from the fact as your focus. This is how we can run with the youth we are responsible for and see change in their lives.

The Talks?

(The talks will be up on the new newday website soon)

Luke preached on 1 Peter 5:5 about being humble, what true humility is and what it isn’t. Sometimes we can put ourselves above what God is doing and have that arrogant attitude and sometimes we can place our selves below what he wants to do not living up to the responsibility and gifting we are given.

Julian Adams preached on John 14:12-21, the pursuit in God is about his heart which then brings power. Also that we are Children of God, not orphans. We have an identity, an inheritance, a home, and a FATHER!

At this point we chose a seminar. We decided to go to one run by Pete Benton who heads up the Glo Youth in New Life Church East Grinstead. He showed us the need for a strong inspired vision from God and the need for a firm but adaptable structure.

Nearing the end of the conference Joel Virgo preached on Standing Before God from 1 Kings 17,18 using Elijah as an example. Standing before God in resolve, obscurity, responsibility, in truth and even in courage.

Finally Stuart Gibbs helped us look through passages that communicated what Jesus had achieved for us as to be the foundation and core of everything we do. A funny example he made was that we shouldn’t preach a mix bag but a pure bag (using cocaine as the metaphor). We should only preach to peoples hearts. Legalistic manipulation doesn’t work and doesn’t create change in people only the gospel. And yes like pure cocaine it should kill us for any alternative, the word needs to pierce hearts.

Treasure Hunting Leads to Seven Youth Heald!

I came across this awesome video testimony with a chap named Simon Holley who is the lead elder at King’s Arms Church. Him and a friend called Tabo basically asked God to be their treasure map and were directed to people to pray for through pictures given to them. They directed to a group of youth and the results were amazing with the mark of an awesome God interested in revealing Himself as the ultimate treasure. “Treasure come and treasure go but Jesus your eternally mine”

Simon Holley Interview from P&F on Vimeo.

You can find more on the Treasure Hunts at the King’s Arms Church website I found this video indirectly through Andy Bradley’s blog Theologising. I love stories like this where God is directing, inviting us to get involved in seeking people, healing and encouraging people to make decisions. If you have any simillar stories where God is working why don’t you share them in the comment section?

UPDATE:

There are also some brilliant audio testimonies from church members doing street encounters using the Treasure Hunt method. The one published on 29/11/08 is particularly encouraging.

15 healed on the streets of Bedford! - 29/11/08
Treasure Hunting Tales – 09/09/08
Treasure Hunt – 01/07/08

Blog Contribution Example: Shoes for the Homeless

Shoes

Originally uploaded by chix0rgirl

I thought I would give an example of the kind of content you might want to contribute to this blog over on the contribute page.

I came across this photo on photo sharing site Flickr. You too can contribute photos by tagging your photos with “webechurch” this blog will detect them for perusal and possible republish.

1. It’s a great insight into Church life, honest and real “I helped clean up the shoes and socks later on; some were really wet and sweaty. Ew!”

2. It has a global appeal which people enjoy, “ooo so that’s what they are up to in San Antonio these days!”

3. And finally and most importantly it’s all about how Jesus is prompting people to do great things for Him. Awesome!

You might have been on a missions trip, set up a prayer room, started an alpha course, been to a sweet gig, or seen something totally rocking with it’s origin in God that you just want people to know how amazing he is then let me know and it could get republished.

Zondervan Aquires Mars Hill’s Home Grown Church Social Network

Mars Hill recently sold their web based social network known as “The City” to publisher Zondervan. It’s a strategic move that will enable many other churches around the world to use the same features that the Seattle based church provides their members in connecting with each other online. Essentially it is Facebook for your church community but with a bias towards doing mission, as their website explains.

“The City is an online meeting place where Gospel transformation can take place. It ties together your existing local communities into a social fabric that undergirds your ministries and greatly enables connection…”

The inventor Zack Hubert a former Amazon employee and current Mars Hill elder was thinking on Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Wondering how technology might serve to help God’s people live as “a city on a hill” he then set up The City for Mars Hill Church to enhance existing relationships in the church and the various missions which people were involved in. Within two months of the tool’s launch more than 85% of the church’s members had signed up and more than 75% visit the site every single day.

Kiosk Mode from OnTheCity on Vimeo.

Though no one but Mars Hill and the Acts 29 Church network have been using the tool, it is possible that some potential users may have concerns about the Zondervan acquisition. I know that those involved in Christian literature distribution are a little uneasy toward Zondervan as it is an imprint of Harper Collins who publish the Satanic Bible. Harper Collins is also owned by Newscorp (Rupert Murdoch). However Harper Collins have stated in the past that Zondervan “operates with complete autonomy out of a separate headquarters”.

This being said the leaders at Mars Hill spent a lot of time thinking about how the tool could be used for Jesus’ fame outside of their own church, but the work required more than they were capable of on their own. An opportunity presented itself when Zondervan made an offer to purchase. Hubert has moved with the acquisition and will now be heading up a development team for the social network in Seattle at a new office for Zondervan.

Personally I think a tool like this has a lot of potential in connecting many different Church plants, but maybe more importantly this tool is super for large churches who want to get their members doing mission and reaching out to those who don’t know Jesus. Watch the below video on how it works. Other videos can be found on The City blog.

List your Skills from OnTheCity on Vimeo.