"Would you like to join me at my church this Sunday? "
And what if they say no? Then what?
And what if they say no? Then what?
It’s a simple enough request. Actually, it’s probably one of the most oft encouragements of homework that pastors give their congregations every week - Remember to invite someone back to church with you next Sunday!
So what happens when the invited persons say no. Other than our asking again and again, there seems to be a dramatic distance between this Plan A and any kind of alternative thought.
Yet, our faith compels us to look for other opportunities to share our faith. Jesus called us in Matthew 28 to ‘go’ and that requires us to put some further effort into this responsibility of sharing the Good News.
At DTPHX Church, we’ve heard a lot of the stories of people being invited to church. From those conversations, there only seems to be a growing number of those that have turned their backs on the invitation and are thoroughly done with anything to do with the church. Some aren’t walking away from their faith, mature or immature as it may be. But they ARE walking away from attending a church. So, the strategic alternatives Christians use to “will you go to church with me next Sunday” are few and far between.
So, are we to give up, satisfied that we tried but failed? Paul exhorts us to try again. In fact, Paul writes to encourage one another and all the more as we see the day of Christ’s return approaching.
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| Greeting ASU students |
‘Every day’ is one of five core values Downtown Phoenix Church operates under. We want to utilize every day of the week to share Christ and converse with people about His love. When we do host ‘church’, we host it in Open Spaces so anyone and all can observe without obligation to join in but can begin their journey by observing. We are depending on the Holy Spirit to move in their hearts as they listen in. We also tend to meet in Smaller Groups so we can move more efficiently into shared, temporary spaces where the very people we hope to reach are already moving about. Rather than beckon people to follow one of us to church, we want to bring church to them … an alternative for the thousands that will never begin a spiritual journey inside one of today’s church buildings.
Jesus continually displayed ministry through his personal encounters. The gospels give us perspectives into the lives of individuals. Two thousand years later, we recall them personally by their circumstances and measures of faith: The woman at the well, the man blind from birth, the woman caught in adultery, the hemorrhagic woman, the paralytic at Bethesda. Zaccheus, Nicodemus, Martha. Individually with personal lessons to teach us. Even recounting the feeding of the 5,000 people focusses in on the faith of one boy and lack of faith for the 12 disciples.
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| Popup Church at Ro2 Park |
-Talking to the ones that have given up ever going to an organized church. -Talking to the ones that never have gone to church. -Or those spurned by a church. -Spending time with those out and about who think about anything other than 'church' on Sunday mornings. We choose to act as community missionaries.
- And teaching those that join in our calling how to share their faith daily.
- Encouraging ALL to be disciple-makers themselves.
- Missional with our first dollars investing into people and ministry rather than overhead and expenses.
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| Colleen at one of the Roosevelt Art pieces |
We continue to notice that there are a lot more people around us NEVER going to church than those going.
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Colleen and I have made it a personal decision to fund our ministry largely-separated from the DTPHX Church's budget. This allows us to discuss stewardship without sounding self-serving, especially to the skeptical we attempt to reach.
*Dollars given to DTPHX Church General Fund are utilized to support ministry in open
spaces where all can observe and hear. We support ministry on the downtown campus of Arizona State University, partner with businesses in downtown Phoenix for events, support community relationships of generosity with music, and minister in smaller spaces to reach into our neighborhood.
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| Bethany Hatch providing music at MADE |
*Dollars given to Colleen's and my ministry support us and also fund us for our personal interaction throughout the week.
Please go online to https://giving.ncsservices.org/g3/ and choose how you would like to donate. And as you give, know that your gift is being matched by our family (up to $5000) to double it's value between now and the end of 2017!
