Why Plant Another Church in Christian America? (Part 5)

As we prepare to move to Spokane this summer to begin the process on the ground of launching Grace Church Spokane, we do so from our home church of Clark Fork City Church in Missoula, Montana.  I’ve noticed a funny thing:  as great as CFCC is, not many people make the drive on Sunday morning from Spokane to come to church in Missoula.  I’ve also noticed that though there are Christians who do make the drive to Missoula from nearby towns to come and worship with us, not many of their friends who live where they do are added to our church.  This is just one of the reasons church planting is so important, even in the context of one metropolitan area.

From Neighborhoods…

The city limits of Spokane and Spokane Valley host about 300,000 people.  The metro area has 300,000 more for a current grand total of around 600,000 people.  They aren’t all going to fit in my living room.  Or in any of the existing churches in Spokane.  Or in the largest building we could erect.  This is why we need to have a mindset of church planting even within the various neighborhoods of Spokane.  Since the best way to impact a neighborhood is to be a part of it, I envision not just one neighborhood church of a few hundred people, but gatherings to the north, in the Whitworth and Mead areas; a central location near the University District; one in the South Hill; another in the Valley; another in Hillyard; and still another by the Eastern Washington University campus out in Cheney.  (Unless you too are a die-hard University of Montana alum and Griz fan, you have no idea how cross-cultural it is to talk about planting a church near EWU!)

To Cities And Nations…

As Bilbo said to his nephew in The Lord of the Rings, “It’s a dangerous business Frodo, going out your door.  If you step onto the road and you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.”  The Great Commission calls us onward from our own living rooms, neighborhoods and home towns to wherever God will send us.  Every people group, every socio-ethnic population in the world, has a place in the kingdom of God.  Jews and Gentiles.  Rich and Poor.  From the Tattoo clans to the Cowboy-booted Marlboro Men, from the urban coffee connoisseur to the tenement-dwelling single mom, these people are all a part of the fabric of Spokane – but they’re also all over the world!  Imagine those people groups within a city uniting under the banner of the good news of Jesus Christ to partner together to reach those same people groups globally.  We’ll send some right from Grace Church Spokane and we’ll also partner with other like-minded churches around the world.  Places like Mexico.  Russia.  Ireland.  Kenya.  Estonia.  England.  Cities like Chicago.  Tacoma.  London.  Rio.  St Petersburg.  We actually have friends in these places who think like we do!  It’s a big world loved by an even bigger God – and He has filled our hearts with His passion to see lost people saved!

Cross-Cultural Church

I’m not naïve.  Well, maybe I am.  I’m a dreamer and a visionary so I tend to think in giant terms.  I’m dreaming and making plans toward a church of thousands of people locally, representing the various people groups of Spokane and affecting millions on a multi-national scale.  I also recognize that I’m just one middle-class white guy in my mid-30’s who is married to a white girl in her 29-forever’s and that we will naturally attract people who are similar to us.  We have 2.5 children (okay, 3 children) and we have to balance church planting with parenting, homework, Boy Scouts and Irish Step Dancing.

We will have to work hard to make in-roads and relationships with others in Spokane who are older, younger, richer, poorer, darker, whiter (if that’s possible) etc.  However, since the Book of Acts shows us churches like the one in Antioch with a multi-cultural leadership that sent out the likes of Paul and Barnabas to impact the world, I’m asking and thanking God for a church that represents this right in Spokane.  Together we will embrace this vision and see a vibrant church established in this great city – quickly becoming our city.

·        We envision young and old of various socio-economic backgrounds committing together to plant churches and extend the kingdom of God together in the neighborhoods of Spokane and in other cities and nations.

In a nut shell, Grace Church Spokane is going to be a place where our common identity and mission in Christ so supercedes our differences that the people groups, cities and nations of the world can come into clear focus.  Rich and poor will serve together.  Single guys and families.  College students and business professionals.  Grandmothers and single moms.  Nations mixing.  The kingdom of God.