”In those days when the number of disciples was increasing..." -- Acts 6:1
Austin Christian is having a pretty good year.
We know for a fact that this is God’s work, because we feel as limited in our abilities as we did in 2013. There has been as much messiness and drama as any other year in a church full of flawed human beings. We are also very aware that whatever we got wrong is our responsibility, and whatever we got right was Jesus’ idea in the first place.
This is a brief list of practices, that have helped us multiply as a community of disciples in Austin. All of them have been learned from others, we can’t take any credit. It is our hope that some of these might help your church.
1. Maturing the whole person
Colossians 3:17: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
In a culture born of the post-industrial age, everything seems to be compartmentalized. There’s work and there’s play. There’s your time with your kids and there’s the teen workers/schoolteachers time to shape them. There’s church life and there’s everything else.
We have taken time to teach and practice the importance of maturing as a whole person, where all areas of life are interconnected, fueled by the lordship of Jesus.
We want to help people develop as professionals, campus students, colleagues, neighbors, bosses and influencers. We want these areas of life to not be somehow separate, but to be an integral part of our life with God.
2. Authentic community
Community has always been a strength in our family of churches. The Austin church has been exploring this further by actively teaching about small group culture, discussing, promoting and nurturing authentic, vibrant one-another relationships.
3. Culturally relevant preaching.
Acts 17:22: "Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said:“People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.”
The apostle Paul, was a master of relevant preaching. In his famous address to the Athenian Areopagus, he makes sure to speak the cultural language of the people he is trying to convince that Jesus is Lord.
Austin, Texas is has a very specific culture, so we are all about speaking the cultural language of the city we love. Our sermon series’ are designed specifically with the “people of Austin" in our hearts and minds.
4. Compelling Sunday services.
Sometimes we forget what it’s like to come into a church environment as an outsider. We do our best to shape our Sunday service in a way, that helps people feel at home. We work hard at it, removing unecessary obstacles, because we want to bridge the gap between us and а seeker looking for God.
5. Seasons in church calendar.
Although we are called to be Christians at all times, it helps us as a community to have one focal point at time. The Austin church calendar has a seasonal rythm to it. We vary between inward and outward focus. Outwards to evangelize, inwards to mature and train the church.
February-May: evangelism, June-August: training, September-November: evangelism, December-January: training. We also make sure we talk about certain central topics that require repetition on a regular basis.
6. A worshipful culture
Psalm 98:4-9: "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music."
Music is a major part of our worship. We find music to be essential in our ability to experience God fully. Music and worship is as important as the sermon, or other parts of sunday service. Because of this, we invest in our worship experience and train our congregation in worship.
7. A proactive internet presence
When you invite someone to church, the first thing most people will do is to look you up online. If the website is confusing or simply not engaging, someone’s interest in coming to church might end there. Because of this we keep our website updated, social media friendly and image-driven with an appropriate amount of information, but not boring and overwhelming. We get a steady flow of questions and visitors from the web. A number of them have become members of the church. When we sleep, the website keeps telling our story. We love that. We also encourage our community to be as active in social media about their faith as they are with other things they love.
8. Organic connection between generations
Historically our family of churches has had strong campus ministries. We are no exception. Austin is the home of the third largest school in the country - University of Texas. Alpha Omega is a thriving campus ministry and we love that. Another trend in our churches is that after campus, our youth are often looking at a much less exciting singles ministry. There seems to be a hole in the middle of the generational continuum. We are fixing that.
Our ambition is that at every stage of life, disciples would be able to see their future in the church and be inspired. Because of this, our campus, many of the singles and young marrieds are in the same community. In fact singles and marrieds are mostly in integrated small groups. This creates a natural generational flow, a continuum. Our campus looks forward to joining the singles group they already know well. Our singles are tied in with young marrieds, who are connected to their future - older marrieds with kids. It’s an organic environment wich helps us connect better within the church.
9. Confronting sin
We know it’s pretty much impossible to destroy the church from the outside. The vulnerability of the church is from within. Sin separates us from God and each other. We have worked hard at creating a culture of acceptance balanced with rightous way to address, confess, deal and repent of sin.
10. Shaping godly men
As the men of the church go, so does the church. The role and responsibility of a man in God’s plan is often minimized by culture, our own experiences and our traumas. We teach our men to step up and answer God’s call to leadership in all areas of life.
11. Overcommunicating the “why"
In leadership groups and the congregation as a whole, we overcommunicate the “why” of the things we choose to focus on. Every single member of the body needs to be not only a good follower, but a good leader of others. We want disciples to be motivated on every level, spiritual, emotional and intellectual, to follow the Great Comission of making desciples of all nations.
12. Empowering Christians for ministry
Rather than micromanage the life of a community, we want every member to feel empowered, inspired and equipped to shape the church. We pray for fellow “workers of the field,” builders, stackeholders in the future of Austin Christian.
1 Corinthians 9:21: "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."
Our overall philosophy in the Austin church, is that we will hold firmly to the central truths and practices of faith and yet stretch ourselves for the sake of the gospel. Like Paul, we want to use “all possible means” to “save some” in our city and all over the world.
We would love you to visit us at www.austinchristian.org or https://www.facebook.com/ATXChristian and share your best practices. Send us a note. What are your practices for multiplying a community of disciples?
A plug for our campus ministry. If you have a college age kid, check out UT and the Alpha Omega ministry in Austin. They rock.