Week #17 - Phase 2

Week #17 - Phase 2

Last week Deb and I returned from a trip to the New Wineskins 2016 Missionary Conference.  This triennial event is designed to encourage and promote world missions and featured mostly Anglican Mission agencies.  I am in the process of joining a Mission Society called NAMS which stands for “New Anglican Mission Society”.   It is an order of  Church Planters, both here and abroad, that have committed themselves to planting disciple-making multiplying churches.  

Jon Shuler, the “Servant General” of the NAMS, he is like the abbot who has been recruiting, training and coaching church planters for many years.  In 1994 he founded NAMS and launched it as a ministry to help plant new churches in North America.  NAMS was publicly introduced to the church at the first Wineskins Conference that year. Jon then helped me in 2005 as a coach when I first started New Wine in Flint after I attended one of his NAMS bootcamps for church planters.  I sat under his counsel and leadership for 2 years until we formed a new AMIA network in the upper Midwest.  In recent years NAMS has taken on a global vision and formed an order or society of church planters much like the societies of Franciscans in the Roman tradition or Society of St Luke, a healing ministry order, in the Anglican church.  I am feeling very drawn to become a “Companion” in this order.   This would be an intentional and public commitment  to spend the remainder of my ministry years supporting, mentoring and praying for those who are starting new works throughout the Anglican Church and specifically in the ACNA.   I see it as very appropriate that I might enter this second order fellowship at a time where the Lord seems to be opening the door for Deb and I to embark on one more church planting effort.  

On the return trip from New Wineskins we spent several days in Indianapolis continuing to help All Souls Anglican Fellowship develop a plan to call a church planter on the northwestern side of Indy, as well as help build a network of like-minded Anglicans who can develop Word & Sacrament congregations around Indiana’s largest city.   

We now are entering Phase 2 of the project, the fund raising phase. If enough pledged funds can be raised for a 2 to 3 year start up phase, Deb and I can see ourselves serving in this new position.   My years of ministry in the Anglican Communion as a lay youth pastor and ordained clergy has prepared me for this Network/Church planter role we envision in our vision document published earlier in the Blog.  With this experience and because of my passion for small group ministry and leadership development  I feel well prepared to help create and grow a Cell-Celebration  or Relationship based missional community on the Northwest side of town.

We have set a fund raising goal of $80,000 annually for the first 2 years of start up.  The initial core group from ALL Soul’s will pledge the foundation funding.  We will then be inviting several people who have expressed interest in supporting the development of a new work to one of several vision casting dinner meetings asking them to commit to this new Church start up enterprise.  We hope to hold these meetings in May and early June.  We are compiling this list at this time and invite all to recommend contacts who might join us.  Next we will explore funding through a wider ring of support within the region and diocese of the Great Lakes.  For example, just last week I heard of a special grant program from one of our churches in Lexington, KY that Indy Network would be eligible for in January of 2017.  

Sensing that the Lord wants Deb and I to be ready to move when the time comes, we are putting our home of 11 years up for sale this week.  We are asking that it sells for a fair price and at the right time.  

Please remember us in prayer and if you want to know more about this project please call (810) 964-0432.  

IAN Vision Document

INDY ANGLICAN  NETWORK (IAN)

 

IAN Defined:  A community of Jesus Followers who strive to care for people and change their surrounding neighborhoods and communities for good.

IAN Vision:  To build a supportive network of Missionary churches and fellowships bound by ancient Christian practices based on Anglican tradition and structures in Indianapolis and surrounding communities.

What we are not:

             Not a program focused ministry     Not simply a worshiping community

Not facility based ministries            Not pastor or personality focused ministries

What we want to be:  

Indy Anglican Network will purpose to be diverse.  

1)  Ethnically because we are increasingly a global village.  Our generation expects to see racial and ethnic diversity in every aspect of life and especially the church.  Note that the Anglican communion is mostly African and Asian and we hope to learn and gain from this diversity and express it in our life of faith.

2)  Generationally because we need the wisdom and experience of the aged, the energy and resources of the family aged demographic, the vitality and dreams of the youth, and and the joy and wonder of the children.   We purpose to live and minister inter-generationally.  

3)  Economically because Jesus is not a minder of person or means.  Our goal is to challenge all to give time, treasure and talents for the work of Gospel.  

 4)  Stylistically drawing the best of music, arts, contemporary and traditional.  Striving to encourage every member involvement and contributing to worship, fellowship, service and mission.  

5) Governmentally because we are in a season when the Anglican World is in a state of flux.  Currently there is a minimum of 4 Anglican ministries or affiliations under separate episcopal oversight.  The hope of IAN is that a spirit of cooperation and practical unity will emerge through a common effort to reach the Indianapolis area  with the power of the Gospel.

Basic unity of fellowship will be neighborhood house churches.  Each missionary community will plan its life around Worship, Discipleship, Fellowship, Ministry and Mission.  Each house church’s primary mission field is the neighborhood where they are centered  (i.e. Whitestown,  Rocky Ripple, Speedway, Clermont, etc).  Each House church will be formed around a rule of life and a basic 2 to 3 year life cycle.  Each fellowship is to be lay lead with multiplication and community engagement its goal.  

This Network of missional communities will share training and development, and share staff from time to time.  Each church unit may gathered around separate clergy or lay catechist.  They may even be under separate ecclesiological authority and may embrace different modes of funding but will purpose to work together as a team. This Network of house churches will purpose to gather together on a regular basis (perhaps monthly) for worship around the Lord’s table, share testimony and encouragement, while clergy & lay leaders preach or teach. Clergy will gather regularly for coaching, accountability and development.  The clergy will strive to minister as a team rather than completely separate church planters.    This Network is meant to be a church planting community, not a series of competing church start ups. 

Though liturgical style and practices in each congregation may be different, the Network is committed to being under episcopal oversight, use Anglican ordinals and building our life around the church year and observances.  Our desire is to be more outward focused than inward.  The Network goal is to challenge our community adherents to a lifestyle of evangelism and service so that others might come to faith in Christ or be blessed by our good works.  Our goal is that they too may enter a life of discipleship built around the church year and regular participation in the sacraments.  To accomplish this we will develop community appropriate training and a web of mentoring relationships which are designed to raise up the next generation of Kingdom building leaders.  

The Network’s primary goal is developing active and multiplying house church ministries throughout the metro Indy area.  One can envision that within the Network of house churches, several could organize around an independent Anglican Church that may one day have a central facility. but this is not the primary focus.  The goal is to develop healthy, growing communities that can support the work of each cell group and minister into the community and individual’s lives, and support staff or missioners who are sacramentalists, teachers and whose focus is to raise up more leadership for our growing parishes.

What makes the IAN different than other church planting work in the area?

Anglican Distinctives Mission Distinctives

Eucharistic Center Home based

Calendar Sensitive Service Focused

Episcopal Structure Intentional Leadership Development

Prayerbook guided Ministry Intensive

Historically Orthodox (Creedal)

Indy Anglican Network Participants:   Anglican communities that want to focus on a missionary emphasis of church building.  Founding missionary works (could be):   

 1)  All Souls (ADGL)  2)  Ascension (ACON)  3)_________ 4)________   

To establish the Indy Anglican Network it seems needful that we call a person who could help facilitate and coordinate mutual ministry and support of this initiative, beyond just gathering existing mission workers.  The part-time facilitator role could be coupled with the establishment of at least one or more new house church ministries.  Below is a proposed job description:

All Soul’s Missioner & Indy Network Facilitator (Job Description)

We are looking for an Anglican Priest or Lay Catechist with the following skills:

A leader whose personal faith is demonstrated in their personal devotion, growth, and discipline and an expectation of God the Holy Spirit working in power both in their life and those they lead, expressed in an Anglican model of worship and discipleship.  

A teacher who can preach the gospel and lead people to faith.  Instruct in the basic teaching of the faith and life of the church.  Mentor and raise up other leaders who can lead small groups, gather new believers and lead house churches in ministry. 

A developer who can establish new and creative means of engaging the preChristian world primarily around relationship based efforts and the creative arts or acts of service and helps.  

A networking person who can pull different ministries around a common vision of missional communities and encourage their sharing, supporting and blessing each other in their work.  

A worship leader who can gather people for sacramental ministry around the table and other sacramental moments (weddings, funerals, baptism, etc.) that sync with other Anglican communities for the good of the common life of God’s people.

Time Line 2016

March -  Vision Development

April  -   Core Team  Formation -  Fund Development

May -  Search Team Establishment   (Part-Time or Full-Time Position Determined)

July -  Interview/ Calling

Sept -  Missioner Start and IAN Kick-Off

Important Terminology Note:   There is currently an existing organizational designation  called the SOUTHERN INDIANA NETWORK of the ADGL   (ADGL  is Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes under ACNA or Anglican Church of North America).  The IAN is distinct from this diocesan designation  and not intended to replace it.

Indy Anglican Network is an initiative of All Souls, a fellowship of ADGL.  The Southern Indiana Network’s  appointed Leader is Rev. PT Morgan by Bishop Roger Ames, soon to be under Bishop-elect Ron Jackson, and consists of the following missions or parishes:

All Souls Anglican Mission -  Whitestown

St Anne’s Anglican Church - Anderson

St. George’s Anglican Church - Muncie 

St. Matthew’s Anglican Church - Nashville 

St. Patrick’s Anglican Church - Noblesville

All the above works would be invited to participate in IAN, but distance and mission focus may result in only tacit support.  Implicit in mission-focused ministry is the tendency to dream and work toward creating further IAN type church planting coalitions throughout the region.  This is accomplished by supporting others through prayer, mutual training and sharing. Then when possible sending people and resources forth to see this happen in new locations. 

NAMS  (New Anglican Mission Society) -  There is a possibility of looking to NAMS as a coaching and support group for some or all of the church-planting clergy and/or catechist of IAN.  This Anglican mission society has a proven record putting forth and supporting successful church planting missionaries over seas as well as domestically.   Rev. Jon Shuler  NAMS leader and coach.   http://www.namsnetwork.com/our-mission.html