I visited a church, with the intention of joining them long-term, on Sunday. It was quite a unique church with a beautiful vision that I believe is from God and aligns beautifully with his plans and purposes. You can visit their blog/site at cantrburychurchplant.wordpress.com. I was encouraged to read their vision statement to get a better sense of the bigger picture for why they exist as a church, and that definitely got lots of gears in my brain turning, and my heart pumping with excitement! (See their vision statement at: http://www.canterburychurchplant.com/our-vision.) I will explain why below.
I was very graciously invited to join them for lunch at Jonathan’s (the minister) home where I was greeted with lots of love and welcoming faces. There I met nearly almost the whole church, about 15 people, so it’s still early days for these brothers and sisters, but it seems like it’s started off with God’s behind it!
What makes this church so unique in my eyes is the fact that when they call themselves ‘Canterbury Community Church’, they really seek to be that! Unlike most community churches which have their beginnings in being a body of Christians who meet up on Sundays and live what can sometimes seem like separate lives during the week wherever they’re at, except for weekly bible studies, socials, etc., this church seeks to make the community their meeting point – instead of seeking to draw people to church, they seek to go to the people! And they really do! After lunch, they go door knocking and house visiting, seeking to establish relationships with neighbours. I got to visit an old couple with one of the team with whom they’ve been spending time with since establishing an initial relationship. I was surprised by how much this person knew about this couple’s life and their daily happenings, as we conversed. The conversations we had were generally ordinary, but I felt like we were having a relaxed catch up with old friend. In other words, it was a genuine relationship! I guess it was great for me to come in as a new guest, as it gave me an opportunity toshare a bit about my story and ask some intentional questions that would enable me to share some gospel bites. The beauty of it was that because there was an already established relationship with this couple, they didn’t shut the door in my face when I brought up something about Jesus. One of the guys on the team, Christian, said to me that he had always had negative experiences with door knocking, but since he joined this church, it has been very different. And I really got to see that for myself. It really made me think…do we as Sydney suburban Christians see our local neighbours as part of our personal community? As the community in which we seek to be a light for—and this is the important bit—as a church? If so, then how are we making them part of our personal community? I think Canterbury Community Church is seeking to answer this question by the way they have prioritised getting to know people and building relationships based on love for them.
More thoughts to come 🙂
life matters 
We were reading Total Church in our Bible study group recently. One of the major things it talks about is being in the community and also evangelising as a whole church. That sounds a lot what like this church are trying to do. (Have you read it?)
I am not a fan of doorknocking however. It annoys me so I wouldn’t want to do that to anyone else.
Thanks for your comment Andrew G! No I haven’t read the book, but I will get round to it :)It was very interesting, because that point proves so relevant in real life…when we were taking to people at Top Ryde Shopping Centre yesterday, one of the things we asked was whether they knew of any churches in the area they lived to find out what the church culture is like. It was interesting that most people knew at least one church not very far from their home. Some said they just didn’t know anyone there so felt it wasn’t a place they’d visit; others said there just wasn’t time. I think both of these things can be ‘fixed’ by the Christian body simply building friendships! The latter because friends look out for each other, babysit when needed so that we can be in each other’s lives. I think we need to, as a body, change the attitude of the community that the church is ‘that building down the street’. Who can blame them when that is all that they see?
Fair enough about the door-knocking. Any other ideas of ways to do the reaching out?