Launch

As we move into Autumn and a new school year, we find ourselves moving into a new season of life and ministry here in the Twin Cities. Summer has been busy with the move into our home (June), Daleen’s trip to South Africa and her father’s passing (July) and a 4-week trip to the West Coast to visit family and friends, and to do some support raising (August). It’s good to be back in our neighborhood, which is feeling more and more like home.

Launch

In Spring, our team began the process of defining our identity within CRM. If CRM’s vision is to “empower leaders,” then what is the unique contribution of our team? After much deliberation, we felt like “Launch” was a good descriptor of our team vision. We desire to launch vibrant expressions of the Body of Christ that will reach those, who are unreceptive, and sometimes hostile, to the church as we know it. We also desire to launch leaders, who will pilot these young, vibrant, missional communities of faith.

Fresh Expressions

Over the past ten years we have participated in, given leadership and been exposed to a variety of “missional communities.” This has shaped a longing within us to see local expressions of church that are resolute in effecting transformation in the lives of its people, as well as the wider community where they live, work and play. We find such churches moving from building-centered to community-centered, from attractional programs to missional initiatives and from city-wide to neighborhood-focused.

Missional communities often experiment with alternative ways of gathering where members’ lives are woven together more consistently throughout the week. This will often lead people to live in close proximity to one another. It is proximity to one another that helps missional communities to participate more fully in the life of the local neighborhoods where they are located. And, as people live, work and play in a spirit of being “on mission,” lives are impacted, people transformed and the Kingdom expanded.

Unreceptive and Hostile

Many Christians desire for their church to be a welcoming place where people find Jesus. Unfortunately, for many, the church is not the place to go in their quest for Christ. In some cases, it is literally the last place people would go due to past hurts, painful experiences and a sense of “not being welcome.” We want to see followers of Christ mobilized in order to help others venture beyond these barriers, whether perceived or real, so that they might know Jesus and His transforming power.

Our team is trying to lead the way by building relationships with those, who are part of the vast Creative Arts community in the Twin Cities. We are also meeting our neighbors in the local places where they gather, inviting them into our homes and accepting invitations into theirs, engaging in service projects alongside them and tending to their hearts.

Leaders

A church living on mission requires leaders, who have the character, gifts and experience to guide her into uncharted territories. Leaders who will not only inspire with their words, but will demonstrate by their actions what it means to follow God in the way of Jesus. In contrast to always looking for outside “experts,” we are encouraging and assisting churches to cultivate leaders from within, based on faithfulness, gifting, experience and knowledge.