The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community
Hugh Halter & Matt Smay

Jossey-Bass—Church Ministry | Leadership
179 pages

[part 1]

Deconstruction towards reconstruction… this seems to be one of the greatest sources of dissent in the church today. There are those that are actively seeking a deconstruction of the norm in order to explore and experience a new reconstructed norm that is positioned to speak prophetically into the culture and then there are those who grip tightly to maintain the systems and functions that are currently being deconstructed. It seems that this is what the emerging church truly introduced into the mainstream of ecclesiology… however the attitudes behind the movement were often times less than gracious (and even though it has tempered as of late, the undercurrent still remains.) I myself still struggle with a gracious attitude to those that have gone before me, preparing the way for the future. Halter reminds us:

As I speak for many in the budding missional church world, I have to share that I no longer judge the faithful, fervent work of so many pastors who have pastored well but who struggle to find their place in this new world. They deserve to be honored instead of belittled. Without their legacy, we would have nothing to build upon.

Therefore, it would behoove us to begin treading graciously with those who have paved the way—honoring them, yes, but also providing them the grace and mercy as they too struggle to find their way in the new world.

Reconstruction can only begin by starting with Jesus… and it’s through Jesus that we can begin coming together as a unified church. “By starting with Christology (the life of Jesus), which informs our missiology (how we live), we’ll have a better chance of finding common ground with our ecclesiology (how we do church).” (pg. 20)

These chapters took a great turn in tone. There has always been a very gracious tone, however the tone shifted from a deconstructionist viewpoint to a re-constructionist viewpoint and a presentation of hope that can be had throughout the emerging church as we move forward for change. The final question for reflection that was asked: “If Jesus were to trim down your Christian experience to his essentials, what would he remove? What would be left?” I’m not sure the wording of this question was truly indicative of the re-constructionist tone and so I’d rather answer a new question… a better question: “If Jesus were to trim down your Christian experience to his essentials, what would you keep? What would you start with?” This is probably an easier question, not to mention a shift in thinking away from deconstruction and onward towards reconstruction.

As I thought through this question of what would I keep… I’m not sure it would be a very long list. In fact, the only thing that immediately came to mind was Jesus. I think as a church we have lost focus and sight on Jesus as the bridegroom, as the head of the church, and instead have supplanted ourselves in his place. In this reconstruction it is my hope and prayer that we rediscover the supremacy of Jesus in the church, getting away from paying him lip service and move towards a new understanding and reliance upon Him. “By starting with Christology (the life of Jesus), which informs our missiology (how we live), we’ll have a better chance of finding common ground with our ecclesiology (how we do church).”

By starting with Jesus we’ll soon enough be able to reconstruct a new “norm” that can speak prophetically into our culture because of the influence that will be gained in our missional ways… but we shouldn’t expect this new “norm” to last forever… a new wave of deconstruction will come about in the decades to come as once again we will have to figure out how to present the gospel to the culture that we interact with.

I’m writing this from the front seat of a packed out charter bus (Fung Wah—a charter bust that takes you from China Town Boston to China Town NYC) and it’s certainly an interesting experience. All around me are people of different ethnicities, speaking in different dialects and languages on their cell phones and in conversation… it’s like I’ve somehow entered into a Pentecostal worship service and everyone is speaking in tongues. It is, however, an amazing experience nonetheless to hear so many people from all over the world come together to travel the same stretch of road.

I wish this bus was more indicative of what local expressions of the church look like. I wish that we could break through the cultural and ethnic lines that keep us separated and somehow come together as one, journeying along the same road towards revealing and proclaiming the Kingdom to the world.

I think that this is a unique issue specifically for the American church at large to take on. We are (as a country) the melting-pot of the world comprised of so many different nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures, and perhaps (in my estimation) the only country in the world like this. This presents a unique opportunity for us to do something remarkable as local expressions of the body of Christ.

I’m not exactly sure how to break through these lines, but we will certainly be attempting such a feat in the very ethnically diverse city of San Francisco where to be Caucasian is no longer the majority (46% vs. 54%)—a growing trend in cities and urban centers all over the country. Times are changing, and I’m excited to see what this next move of ethnically and culturally diverse churches will bring about.

6 years ago this month, Tracy and I made our way to Seattle to celebrate our honeymoon. We spent our first few days as newlyweds in the Mt. Rainier National Park in a secluded cabin in the middle of no-where. It was a dark, quiet, and beautiful place to stay… yet because of the quiet and the dark I slept horribly… Tracy on the other hand slept like an angel. Our next few days were spent in the city of Seattle taking in the sites, enjoying the Space Needle, Pike Street Market and the culture of the city.

This past week I was able to return to the Seattle area for a few days for a training session for church planters, and the final day of the trip I was able to make it into the city and to the Pike Street Market… unfortunately this time Tracy wasn’t with me. It was a great place to visit, but a hard place to be without my lovely wife… especially considering the memories we had.

I did, however, thoroughly enjoy the Pike Street Market again with all its charm, uniqueness and the eclectic nature of it all. I enjoyed the street musicians, the flying fish, and the unique novelties that people sold throughout. I was even able to visit the first ever Starbucks again (first time was with Tracy). I love Seattle, the culture, the people, the conversations that you can so easily strike up with people. It’s a great place. Hopefully in the coming years Tracy and I can both go back together… and maybe the next time I’ll get to see Mt. Rainier!*

*In the two trips that I’ve made to Seattle, I’ve never, ever seen this 15,000 ft. mountain that everyone talks about and is extremely visible from the city… that is of course when there is no rain… or clouds in the sky!

[» a culture of: encouragement, fun, trust, risk, reproduction, generosity, reproduction 2, change (idealism)]

There is an order to creating a healthy culture and I believe it all starts with encouragement. It is the lynchpin, for without a culture of encouragement nothing else will truly come about in a healthy way. I do not believe that what I have presented is a step-by-step approach to creating a healthy culture, rather I believe that this is the natural progression that takes place in a healthy culture as witnessed in the presence of Community Christian Church.

I look forward to interacting on these points even more than has already been done, and I look forward implementing them in San Francisco as we move forward towards a healthy church culture that does amazing things in the community and around the world to further the Kingdom of God.

[» a culture of: encouragement, fun, trust, risk, reproduction, generosity, reproduction 2]

Positive, healthy change is not possible unless each of the previous cultural characteristics are prevalent within a church culture… or at the very least it makes change a whole lot easier to create. I don’t believe that the church should change for change’s sake, however in our rapidly changing society it is extremely advantageous, if not essential, for the church to learn how to quickly adapt and change in order to be the most effective at reaching out without losing the nuances of the past. This should breed a strong and healthy sense of idealism within the church as we continue to strive and push forward to new heights.

One of the phrases that gets used around Community is ‘pushing forward towards a preferable vision of the future.’ I have found this to be both inspiring as well as essential to maintaining a humility about your community. Community has consistently been named as one of the most influential churches and one of the most innovative churches in the country the past few years… however, that has not stopped them from envisioning an even stronger future to come. All of this is of course predicated on the culture of change that has been bred… for without this culture of change, innovation would cease and influence would shrivel.

I truly believe that the culture of change is the direct result of encouragement, fun, trust, risk, reproduction, and generosity because through each of these mediums idealism is allowed to fester, swell, and change towards this idealistic endeavor is able to be implemented in a totally healthy environment. Community embodies a culture of change—healthy change, and necessary change—and it is my hope and dream to embody such a culture in San Francisco as we continue to progress towards this dream of helping people find their way back to God.

[» a culture of: reproduction]

Late last week I wrote about the culture of reproduction (link above) that is prevalent and deeply ingrained in the life of Community Christian Church… well, I’d like to make an addendum to that post with a story.

This past weekend I led worship at the Shorewood campus and working alongside of me was Jim, a worship leader apprentice. I had never had the opportunity to experience working with an apprentice in this role, and I was a little bit nervous… considering leading worship isn’t my forte! However, I remembered a little bit of what Bill Carroll has written on his blog from time to time about the worship apprentice role and how he handles it and I felt all the more confident to give it a go.

Jim walked through the practice with us on Saturday morning and sang right along. (You could really tell that he worked hard to prepare for the practice and for Sunday morning.) Once practice was finished I sat down with Jim and walked through the songs and asked him how he felt with the music, what he was comfortable with and what he wasn’t comfortable with. We ironed out all the details and I made the ask: “Jim, would you like to lead the song ‘I Am Free’ tomorrow morning?” Jim was excited (you could just tell) and he said, “yeah, I’d love to.” I gave him some pointers to remember and work on between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning and then we walked through what he was comfortable singing along with on the other songs. I spent some time encouraging him—he sounded really, really good with the song ‘I Am Free’—and then we went home.

Sunday morning came and throughout practice Jim was doing great… then we hit “his” song. Jim nailed it! It was an extremely exciting moment to see Jim excel and lead this song in practice. When we finished I spent a moment encouraging him and then I laid out another ‘bombshell’. “Jim, right before this song starts I’m going to announce to the congregation that you are the worship leader apprentice and that you’re going to be leading everyone in worship during this song.” He hemmed and hawed and said, “No, you don’t have to do that.” (I honestly think he didn’t want that type of attention given to him.) But I wouldn’t relent. Sorry Jim, this is how it’s done. It’s a great way to show and teach the congregation about our culture of reproduction and the high emphasis that we place on apprenticeship, even in the arts!

The service came and everything was going really smoothly… and it was time to announce Jim. I did so and immediately the congregation cheered him on right before the song started! It was really exciting to see such support for Jim and the risk that he was taking, the step he was taking towards leadership! Jim started and nailed it again! I sat back with a big smile on my face as Jim led with such energy and enthusiasm… (I think he did a better job leading than I did!) I was blown away at how God was using him… and to think, this never could have happened if there wasn’t a culture of reproduction. Jim is just another attender, a regular Joe and in many settings wouldn’t have had this sort of opportunity. I’m so glad that I can be a part of a church that not only encourages, but equips and nurtures people into leadership in all levels and areas of the church community!

I’ve never had an experience like this that felt so right, that felt so rewarding… I don’t want to stop experiencing moments like this with people like Jim… San Francisco here we come!

[» a culture of:encouragement, fun, trust, risk, reproduction]

A generous church? Who knew it could actually be possible, who knew that it could actually exist on the face of the earth… but it does, it’s not a dream, it’s not a delusion, it’s reality. In fact, Community Christian Church believes so much in generosity as a value that they recently brought Julie Bullock on staff as the Director of Generosity… and what does she do as one of her very first things? She puts together a tremendous conference aptly named the “Generosity Conference” for the entire church that was completely free for all in attendance from the food to the childcare to the speakers to the breakouts… free. Dr. James McDonald was the keynote speaker, and speakers from around the country came in to teach us as a church how we could become a more generous church. This was a truly groundbreaking experience for Community, but also could be a groundbreaking trend started for churches around the country! (If you want to read more about it, check out Dave Ferguson’s—our lead pastor—blog post about it.)

There are countless stories that have been floating around Community about a tremendous sense of generosity that is completely overtaking the people… it’s rather exciting. Just recently Tammy Melchien, our Kids City Champion, shared this story of generosity on her blog… and also sent out this amazing story to the staff:

We have a young woman…20 something…who serves in Kids’ City on Saturday nights. A couple months ago another family that serves in Kids’ City had a big financial need. I sent an e-mail out to our Kids’ City leaders about it and many of them responded…including this young woman. I know it was hard for her. She is in college and probably doesn’t have much expendable cash. But she came out of the service that particular night and told me that she had wrestled with the decision all day but knew that God wanted her to give so she wrote a check for $50 for the family. 

Well, last night in our Kids’ City prayer circle she told us that recently she found out her grant money was not going to come through and she didn’t know how she was going to pay for college. I don’t know which of you orchestrated this or who the givers were, but through her tears she expressed thanks for the generosity of our church because someone through the church gave her the money to continue in school. She thanked everyone in the Kids’ City prayer circle but I’m not sure any of us were involved in this. But even if no one in the circle had given to this need, how cool that they got to see how the generosity of CCC touched this young woman.

Now, if you think the generosity stops there or is only located within the domain of the church body you’re sorely mistaken. There are stories all throughout the newspapers in the area with how Community has taken the homes of single mothers and done an “Extreme Home Makeover” or more recently in Montgomery, teamed up with Triple Threat Sports Mentoring to bring Tre back home.

The stories go on and on and on in amazing and remarkable fashion. I can’t believe I’m a part of such a generous church and I hope to take this same culture, this same atmosphere of generosity to San Francisco, one of the most affluent and wealthy cities in the world to spark a movement of generosity like never before seen so that the Kingdom of God can be furthered in these sorts of ways and beyond!

[» a culture of:encouragement, fun, trust, risk]

Reproducing is at the very core of the culture of Community Christian Church. On every single level there is the desire to reproduce oneself. The very first all-staff meeting that I sat in on this question was posed to the staff: “If this building were to blow up right now (morbid I know) who would replace you? One caveat, they can’t be in this room right now (basically, they can’t be staff.)” This question was asked of everyone including Dave (the lead pastor)… no one was beyond reach of this question. This is how deeply it is ingrained in the culture.

Just because it’s ingrained into the culture, however, doesn’t mean that they are by any means “experts” in the field of reproducing themselves—in fact, I’m not sure anyone can really be an expert in reproduction. Why? Because it’s such a messy process. There is no clear-cut process because each and every time it’s different. That’s what you get when you work with all sorts of different people… a messy process. But it does work, it just takes work to make it happen, and although Community is not an expert in the field, they certainly do it better than any other church I’ve ever seen (does that make them the expert?).

This culture of reproduction is broken down into a few different levels: artists, leaders, coaches, staff, campuses, churches, movements. It all starts with reproduction at the smallest level. Much like there is macro-risk (risk on a big scale) and micro-risk (risk on a small-scale) there is also macro-reproduction and micro-reproduction and it takes a lot of micro-reproductions to reproduce campuses, churches and ultimately a movement. Community is very intentional in their reproduction, it’s not a haphazard sort of process, however at the same time it just seems to happen. Everywhere you look there’s an apprentice leader for this or an apprentice coach for that… everyone learning, stretching, growing and reproducing. It’s really rather amazing.

Our dream for San Francisco is to reproduce on a couple of different macro-levels, but none of that will be possible unless we’re really good at the day-to-day reproduction on a micro-level and in the process reproduce disciples who are fully devoted to and completely in love with Jesus. This is part of our dream, and Community (not to mention the NewThing Network) will certainly have played a major role in the process… and the future.

[» a culture of:encouragement, fun, trust]

Risk has become the norm… it is truly ingrained into the culture of Community in a way that I have never before seen or experienced. My guess is that early on in the life of the church there was an emphasis on taking risk. Now this may not seem to different from many other church cultures out there, but I think there was probably one big difference: there was action taken as opposed to simply talking about taking risk.

Taking risk is never an easy thing, especially early on, however the more you do it the easier it becomes to jump into the ring and allow God to work in remarkable ways. Community is about to launch their 9th campus, and although there is a great deal of expectation that it will flourish, there is still a lot of risk that joins along with that expectation. It wasn’t too long ago that Community had a failed campus launch. Their 4th campus planted in a community just didn’t survive. However, that hasn’t stopped them from learning from the experience, moving forward, and continuing with their mission to help people find their way back to God.

The risk involved in launching new campuses around the Chicago-land area and new churches in metropolitan surroundings like Boston, Manhattan (NYC), Miami, and soon to be San Francisco are what I would call macro-risks. Macro-risks are those endeavors that take place on a large scale, they’re the result of a commitment to and a collection of micro-risks that take place on a day-to-day basis. A micro-risk culture is what is ingrained deeply into the culture of Community that allows for the high percentage of successful macro-risks, and this is the type of culture that I wish to develop in San Francisco in our community.

A micro-risk culture begins with how we view people and trusting (a culture of trust) that they are completely capable to be used by God to lead. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you immediately place someone in leadership, rather it means that you pull them along side of you to “shadow” you and to be your apprentice. By taking the micro-risk of asking someone to apprentice with you, you are setting the stage for a potential macro-risk. (There are several stories like this that float around Community, but one that is perhaps the most interesting took place with Troy McMahon, former staff member at Community and now a church planter in Kansas City working to plant Restore Community Church. Troy’s journey started out by being asked to be an apprentice leader of a small group…) This is only one of the ways that a church can begin creating a culture of risk by utilizing a series of micro-risks. There area slew of other possibilities for engaging in and creating a culture of risk, but the most important aspect is to start doing it… not just talk about it.

[» a culture of: encouragement, fun]

The first day I walked through the doors as a staff member of Community Christian Church I was trusted. No, really I was. I wasn’t paid lip service to trust, I wasn’t just told I was trusted, rather I was implicitly given over to the trust of others. Allow me to clarify.

I started at Community at the very beginning stages of the budget season and was immediately whisked away into a room to pour over every detail of the finances of the congregation. Not only was I allowed this “insider” access, but I was also immediately asked for my input—trust. Some of you may be thinking, “well, what exactly is your position with the church? It must be high up in order to be given such access.” Well, not exactly. My position is as a Leadership Resident—or in normal terms, a professional internship. Maybe even more telling than this example, is that this is not a one-time experience. This is the culture of trust that has been bred at Community, it’s a culture that freely trusts people and in that trust allows people to flourish immediately.

In reality, the minute someone becomes a member of the staff they are immediately given carte blanche to speak freely in meetings, give input when unsolicited, shown an unbelievable amount of trust and respect. This breeds a remarkable atmosphere of respect among peers since everyone is highly valued and treated as equals.

It took me a while to adjust to such respect and given such “blind” trust considering the norm everywhere else is that you must earn that trust in order to be respected. But this is just another aspect of the culture of Community that truly makes it unique, and another aspect that I truly desire to bring with me to San Francisco.

Can you imagine not only a staff that is given free reign to speak up and speak out but a community that truly helps to guide the direction of the church to impact a city and the world? For many this is a frightening prospect. However, I wonder how many opportunities the church misses out on, how many profoundly pioneering things the church passes by because there is not a culture of trust bred among its staff and bred among the community of believers to truly make a mark in this world as revolutionaries.

It is my firm conviction that God raises up prophets in the community of believers to speak truth to the body, yet often times they are shut down and shut out because of distrust. May we move beyond this culture of distrust and into a bright, shining new world of freedom as we trust each other as brothers and sisters implicitly.

[» a culture of: encouragement]

Fun? Who said working at a church should be fun?! Isn’t it supposed to be filled with serious talks and serious people dealing with serious things—because, of course, eternity is at stake? Isn’t the church culture supposed to be ripe with broken people, hurting people, counseling sessions and important “church things” (whatever that is)? Isn’t it supposed to be as quiet as a library and as straight-laced as a… well… as a church?

This is the culture that we have bred, and this is the culture that most churches live in. Fortunately for myself, I have found my way into a church culture that is exciting, hope filled, and expectant of great things… yet none of that would be possible without the creation of a culture of fun.

The culture of fun that has been bred at Community is the direct result of a culture of encouragement. Encouragement leads people to cut loose, to not be so defensive, to be free to be themselves and not what they aren’t… and as an ultimate result there is an atmosphere and a culture of fun. It’s a place that’s fun to go, fun to be, fun to interact, and fun to work. These freedom and this fun leads people to take risks—big risks—and possibly envision something great for the Kingdom.

I believe more work, more results are accomplished in a fun environment because work no longer feels like work—it has become fun. Work doesn’t feel like a chore, it becomes a party. And as a result truly great collaboration can take place which not only benefits the local church, but also impacts the greater Kingdom at large!So, let’s have some fun…

Encouragement. Quite possibly one of the most overlooked and most important aspects of a healthy culture. If encouragement is lacking in a culture, there certainly won’t be a culture of risk; and if there is no culture of risk how can you develop a culture of reproduction or a culture of change? I belief that encouragement is the lynchpin, and if one is striving to create a healthy culture it must start here.

I have been in many different church settings in my short 9 years of ministry and never before have I experienced a culture of encouragement like I have at Community. I have meticulously maintained an email folder full of encouraging notes that I have received throughout my various stops during the years and in my short 8 months at Community it has nearly doubled! Encouragement is something that is doled out frequently to everyone on staff and as a result, it has developed a strong sense of trust among the staff, a strong culture of risk and ultimately a healthy church.

I believe that in the stereotypical church culture we have forgotten about the importance of encouragement and what it brings to the health of our culture. Instead, we have focused on the issues and problems at hand—from finances to the color of the carpet—allowing ourselves to get wrapped up and bogged down in the details rather than reveling in the victories of the day no matter how big or small.

One of the easiest ways to implement a culture of encouragement is to take 5 minutes at the beginning of any meeting, whether it be a small group, a staff meeting, a leadership team meeting, retreats, etc, and talk about the “wins” for the past week. Talk about the good things that God is doing in our midst from registrations to conferences, to the behind the scenes baptisms, to the new couple that started attending your small group—the list could go on and on—and in those moments, celebrate: applaud, cheer, high-five, throw chairs, be creative!

This is one of the most revolutionary things that I have learned from my experiences here at Community. Something so simple can change your culture. I have no regrets about my past ministry experience in Decatur, however if there is one thing that I could have done differently that I believe would’ve changed everything it would be this. I wish we would’ve celebrated our wins and created a culture of encouragement… instead, every meeting started with the problems and issues we were facing (and they were a multitude) and everyone left feeling down and out. I can only imagine what would’ve been different if we would’ve stopped focusing on what was missing, and instead opened our eyes to the present and how God was at work in our very midst.

This is what I hope to bring to the church plant in San Francisco. A healthy culture of encouragement that breeds a healthy culture of risk, that breeds a healthy culture.