Vision
Urban
Village describes itself as bold, inclusive, and relevant.[1]
These three somewhat vague descriptors encapsulate a number of traits that make
Urban Village a unique worshipping community. But what does “BOLD. INCLUSIVE.
RELEVANT” really mean? And how is this vision lived out in the lives of the
worshipping community?
First,
they see themselves as firmly rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ and to the
incoming Kingdom to which it points.
While they celebrate religious diversity in all of its forms, Urban
Village is first and foremost a community grounded in the Christian tradition.
Second, they describe themselves as a church where “...everybody — seeker and
skeptic, Democrat and Republican, gay and straight, young and old, woman and
man — has a real place at the table.”[2]
Urban Village takes their commitment to inclusion seriously. I was surprised to
discover that not only are they LGBTQ affirming, but both of the pastors I
interviewed are openly gay. Third, they are a church that believes in the
relevancy of scripture. Through the use of modern technology, accessible
preaching/teaching, and contemporary
styles of worship, Urban Village brings the gospel to bear on the everydayness
of people’s lives. Moreover, their commitment to social action directly
connects their Christian witness to current and pressing issues in the
community, nation, and world.
Operating
as a network of autonomous worshipping communities, connected to small groups
across the city, is a key feature of Urban Village’s vision and mission. Trey
Hall, the Lead Pastor of Urban Village, says the Ferguson model of replication
—developed in the book Exponential—
is their key organizing principle.[3]
Having a small-missionally-minded focus grounds the identity of the church in
their physical location. For this reason, Urban Village will always reflect the
community in which it is located. This is especially important when it comes to
their commitment to social justice. The church can make concrete changes in the
lives of their members, insomuch as they are attune to the pressing issues in
the community. In a sense, their approach to planting is as important as their
overall vision.
Community Context
Urban
Village is a diverse multi-site United Methodist church, spread across Chicago,
IL. Right now they worship at four locations: Wicker Park, River North, Andersonville,
and Hydepark-Woodlawn. Urban Village Church does not own their worshipping
facilities. Instead, they rent space from other United Methodist churches,
school auditoriums, or retirement home facilities.
Using a
Mission Insite framework, you might classify Urban Village’s main demographic
as the “Young City Solos” (YCS). Mission Insite describes YCS as unmarried
(possibly cohabitating) 30 to 40 something white urbanites. Other attributes of
the YCS include: politically left leaning, engaged in social activism,
physically fit, renters/condo owners, young professionals, childless, and
college educated. The staff and congregations that make up Urban Village
largely reflect these classifications. However, their commitment to inclusion
and diversity, especially as it relates to their context in urban Chicago, has
made them one of the most —ethnically, culturally, and
economically— diverse United Methodist communities in the country.
The Pastors (A.k.a The Interviewees)
For this
project, I spoke with Pastors Trey Hall and Brittany Isaac. Trey is a founding
member and lead pastor of Urban Village. He says he was surprised by the call
to become a church planter. Trey entered seminary shortly after his conversion
experience at the age of twenty-one. For a time, his passion was for church
redevelopment. As he put it, Trey loved
helping churches figure out “why they
are.” At some point during his years as an associate pastor at a large
suburban church in Illinois, Trey attended a church planting think-tank hosted
by the Institute for Congregational Development. The think-tank was a sort
“best practices” for church planters, peppered with church planter testimonies.
Trey describes listening to a young pastors testimony about the challenges and
rewards of church planting, as the moment he knew how God wanted to use his
gifts for ministry. He is currently serving as the site pastor for Wicker Park.
Brittany
Isaac began her journey with Urban Village as a Church Planting intern through
Path 1. Brittany described herself as an “unlikely disciple,” whose ministry
really began as the manager of a Starbucks. Brittany discerned a call to church
planting over her time as an intern. During this period she also attended the
Institute for Congregational Development, which bolstered her passion for
church planting. At the end of her
internship, Urban Village decided to hire Brittany as the pastor of their
Andersonville site. She says being a part of a successful church plant has
aided her ministry.
The Story of Urban Village
Urban
Village’s story begins with Trey. After his experience with the Institute for
Congregational Development, Trey began dreaming about what a new church plant
in the urban context of Chicago might look like. Instead of waiting for a new
appointment, Trey put a strategy together and asked the Bishop of the Illinois
conference for permission to plant a new church. His permission was granted;
funds were allocated, and thus began Urban Village.
Of course,
planting the church was a long and arduous process. Trey says their strategy
has been one part grassroots organizing, one part Exponential replication, and one part administrative coordination.
First, best practices for grassroots organizing.
In our
interview, Trey said using grassroots organizing, as a framework for building
relationships was absolutely fundamental
to the success and longevity of the church plant. His very first step as a
planter was to begin having one on one sit down conversations with everyone he
knew — friends, family, community leaders, young professionals, religious
leaders, etc. During these conversations Trey discussed his vision for a new
kind of church. He was quick to say that this was not a commercial for Urban
Village. He was not trying to “sell” anything, only to see where there were
points of intersection between his dream and their passions. No matter what,
her would always finish every conversation with the question: “Is there anyone
else I should be talking to?” The goal was to connect with as many people as
possible to build capacity.
As Trey
began constructing these “webs of connection,” he decided to throw a party to
see if his vision was gaining traction. He —and his compatriot, Pastor
Christian Coon— decided to host the party at an art gallery where there
would be wine and music played by a local artists. Eighty people showed. A
clear sign that they were ready for the next step.
Trey says
knowing when to launch a worship service is all about
finding that “sweet spot.” In other words, its about building capacity and then
discerning how to maintain and grow that capacity. They decided to begin with a
monthly worship service and see what happened. It only took four months before
the monthly gathering was bursting at the seams. It was then decided that they
should launch a weekly worship service.
During
this whole process Trey was developing leaders using the Exponential model of leadership development.[4]
The process begins by identifying leaders with gifts for ministry. Once
possible leaders are identified they are invited to join “strategy teams.” The
Pastors become coaches for the teams and together they decide how the church is
going to grow and disciple the community. These leaders mentor new
apprentices…and so on… and so on… Trey said, “If you want breathing, vital lay
people begin coaching leaders.” At Urban Village there are five leadership
levels in all.
The
Exponential model of leadership
formation has also informed how the administrative offices of the church are
organized. Urban Village does not have a church council. Instead, they an
advisory board, made up of eight lay people and the pastors, who give oversight
and continually discern the long-term vision. There is a team of financially
gifted people that focus growth and development, and an assortment of other
teams in charge of various ministry concerns.
Just
below these leadership roles are the leaders of “work teams.” Work teams are
responsible for the daily activities of the church. Work teams are made up of
7-8 people who oversee the planning and set up of worship. There are also
hospitality and evangelism work teams. Urban Village has found that when you
invite people into leadership early and often they rise to the occasion. This
value is closely related to our class discussions around “permission giving.”
Money Money Money
Urban
Village began on generous donations and a $300,000 grant from the conference.
As long as the community continues to meet certain benchmarks, they have been
promised an additional $25,000 grant every year. The annual budget for 2014
was $720,000. Trey hopes they can gather
$840,000 by next year.
When
it come to what they do with their money, Urban Village is extremely
transparent. Trey echoed Peter Block’s sentiments in Community, when he told me
that the church (at every level of leadership) tries to model the kind of
community they seek to create. Part of their good stewardship practices has
been refusing to buy a building. While conducting worship from a rented space
has its difficulties, it frees the church from having to maintain a building
when they can use that money to further their mission.
Life Groups
Small
groups are the centerpiece of Urban Village. Right now there are anywhere
between 25 - 30 small groups meeting across Chicago. The core practices of
small groups are: “grow, gather, and give.”[5]
Small groups help people grow their faith. The Life Groups are safe spaces for
people to ask questions and wrestle. In turn, the people in these groups learn
how to support and challenge one another through weekly gathering. Finally,
these groups give back to the community — through activism, charity, and
incarnational relationships.
There
are two primary classifications for Life Groups: “fishing” or “change.” Fishing groups generally happen
three times a year — fall, winter, and spring. These are programmatic,
introductory groups, meant for unchurched persons. Change groups are long term,
close knit, accountability groups. These groups meet weekly for years at a
time. When a group grows beyond 7-8 people they will split and form a new
group. There is also the option for one on one mentoring relationships between
the pastor and a new Christian. Overall, Brittany said their LGBTQ bible study
and discussion groups have been particularly successful.
“What would you change if you could
go back? What would you do the same?”
Brittany
said if she could do it all again she would have more confidence in her capabilities
and reclaim “evangelism.” In other words, she says we need to rescue evangelism
from its colonial past and begin to practice evangelism as a ministry of
hospitality. She told me that Eliane Heath’s work has significantly influenced
her current framework for evangelism.
Something
both Brittany and Trey said they would do all over again, is to really “dig
into their neighborhoods.” Networking with local business owners, school
principals, faith leaders, and soccer moms was among the best advice they could
give someone starting out on a church plant. They said that even when their
invitations were turned down, there were ways they could collaborate down the
road that built meaningful webs of connection. In a nutshell, they said prayer,
asking for what you want, and invitation were key practices for those of us
passionate about what God can do through the process of creating new faith
communities.
[1] http://www.urbanvillagechurch.org/beliefs/
[2] Ibid.
[3] Dave Ferguson & Jon Ferguson, Exponential: How You And Your Friends Can
Start A Missional Church Movement, chapter 6: Reproducing Groups: The Eternal Community.
[4] Ibid., Chapter 4: Reproducing
Leaders: The 2-2-2 Principle.
[5] http://www.urbanvillagechurch.org/beliefs/
No comments:
Post a Comment