All the guys on our leadership team are chaplains with the Philadelphia Police Clergy. One is in full time law enforcement. (You can see some of us in the pictures below with the mayor and police commissioner at National Night Out Against Crime.) We meet monthly with two district police captains and other clergy. Among the community activities we engage in are prayer vigils at murder sites. Recently a number of pastors met on the corner of a troubled neighborhood where there had been a sharp uptick in burglaries. We went door-to-door to install burglar alarms on the back doors and windows of homes. My partner was an Afro-American pastor, a good brother in the Lord. Even with him at my side and with our official police clergy jackets we were viewed by some with suspicion. Who can blame them? A white guy and a black guy in a high crime neighborhood asking people to let us into their homes. Usually that suspicion was overcome with small talk accompanied by a gospel tract. I mentioned this activity in response to a posting in an article I wrote. One Christian (don’t know if he is a pastor) posted a response which demeaned serving the community in this way with the following remark:  "Pass out all the home alarms you can while you can. Perhaps they can protect them at the great white throne judgment." Here is my response. I had to bite my tongue although I might now be guilty of sarcasm as well:

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Someone asked me last week a question I've often heard: "Who is your target group?" By that they were asking if we trying to reach students (since we are in University City), middle-class professionals, Afro-Americans (since we are in West Philadelphia), immigrants, etc. My standard response is that at Grace Church we don't have a target group per se. We are determined to simply preach the gospel and pray that God would bring together people who reflect the diversity of our community – which has all of the above “targets.”

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There are many things in church planting over which you have no control. Really over most things. You do what you know to do, can do, and then stand back and see God at work. I saw this while in line recently at the post office. I rarely stand in line at the post office, hate standing in line. On this day I was in line to pick up something that wouldn't fit into our box, and it turned out it wasn't even for me. While in line, a young Asian woman saw my shirt with "Grace Church" and asked about the church. She is a new believer from a Restricted Access Nation, in the US for a year as a PhD student, returning to her country and husband in November, and wanted to find a church and be baptized before returning. She had been told not to mail things from this particular post office because she would have to stand in line. She came anyway. Obviously God had other plans. For several weeks she has been doing a Bible study with my wife and we are planning a baptismal service next Sunday for her and at least two others. In ministry you realize that there will be many transitions and God will give you some people for a time, a time of investment in their lives, a time to meet them where they are and help them to the next step. As a result of meeting this young lady several other students from her country have attended our services, two first-timers last night. God is good. God is at work.

One of our elders at Grace Church, John Leone, has written and spoken extensively on the relationship of the gospel and mercy ministries. Please read this message he preached at our church.

From my conversations with pastors and church planters I do think that church planters are more attached to exploring missional ideas because they are looking for ways to bring the gospel to people rather than simply bringing people to church (although that's okay). I've spoken with church staff including pastors who told me that they can go weeks without speaking to an unsaved person. It's not that they don't have a heart for the lost but that they are busy managing programs. This can happen to church planters as well but cannot be true at the beginning of a church plant or there will be no church planted. If you are a pastor reading this, ask yourself this question: "When was the last time you had a serious encounter with a non-Christian outside the pulpit to witness to the claims of Christ?" I'm not asking how many souls you led to Christ. That would be man-centered.  Contemporary missional ideas are not above criticism. But a good question for critics is this: “What are you doing to reach the lost and when was the last time you did it?” If you have a hard time answering that I will have a hard time taking your criticisms seriously.

Is there something about hands-on church planting and/or living and serving in urban areas which makes you think missionally in a different way? In other words, does context in some sense determine content, direct outreach and effect  outcomes? I'm wondering out loud as I hear debates on the missional church or on missional church planting. Am I wrong or do pastors of established churches more quickly dismiss or criticize missional concepts than do church planters? In some of my exchanges with pastor friends it seems that we are often speaking a different language. They appear to be concerned about ideas or practices associated with being missional that I haven't seen nor would embrace although the concepts might be found in a book if you have time to do enough research.

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There seems to be a growing interest lately in many circles on missional churches, whether to understand, discuss, advocate, criticize, or misrepresent. (BTW, an upcoming conference should be of interest on the Missional Church Movement.) It has been rightly pointed out that there is a need for clear definitions. There has also been concern expressed about the centrality of proclamation.  In an earlier blog I briefly defined missional in saying that "the church is on mission daily and not only when gathered on Sunday. God's people are in the world, in their communities, in the lives of unbelievers – for the gospel's sake, to make Christ known, to be a visible expression of God's power and proclamation." I don't claim any originality on this definition but can't pinpoint a source. Anyway, from my standpoint as a church planter when I hear about the centrality of proclamation I let out a "Duh." How insightful! Honestly I don't want to demean anyone and I know "missional" has been abused by some for activity divorced from gospel proclamation so please read on.

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We observe the Lord's Table each week at Grace Church. We don't say that weekly observance is a biblical mandate or think that since we do it this way all churches should. For us it has been a conscious decision and has become an integral part of our liturgy. Over the years I have heard some objections or reasons why churches did not observe the Lord's Table more often. For some, since Jesus said "as often as you do this" there was no pattern established. For others, there has been the concern that it would become a routine or it would be difficult to do it creatively or meaningfully. I even heard of churches that celebrate the Table only once a year during Passion Week behind closed doors for members only. It is not my point to deal with or debate these views or to enter into a discussion of closed, open, or close communion. Churches that do not observe the Lord's Supper weekly might at least ask if they observe it weakly.

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Earlier this year I received an email from one of my alma maters encouraging me and other graduates to support a political candidate who also happened to be a graduate of said institution. I know the man personally and have high regard for him. I would've voted for him in the primaries but was not registered with his political party. I told myself that if he won the primary I would probably vote for him in a general election. He lost the primary so is not a candidate in November. However the problem with the email solicitation was that I and others were encouraged to recruit our Republican friends in our churches to support the candidate. 

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The term "social justice" has long been controversial and means different things to different people. Earlier this year Glenn Beck encouraged Christians to leave churches that preach social justice. Should Christians heed the advice of a Mormon? That's another issue but let me say "NO"!  Kevin DeYoung has wisely suggested that Christians not use the term "social justice" without explanation. It is true that social justice has been attached to issues that are not biblical concerns or are part of a manipulative political agenda. For others, "social justice" and "social gospel" are connected. I am not prepared to drop the term social justice unless another term would be more helpful and here's why.

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