Long before “missional” became a church buzzword lighting up the blogosphere (and on the lips of such evangelicals as Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, Alan Hirsch, etc), a church in England started doing things differently. They operated in a European culture that wasn’t friendly to Christians and they knew that if they were going to reach new people for Jesus, it wasn’t going to be in a church service. So they reinvented what church looked like. And as it turns out…it looks a lot like what we see in the early church.
They broke to the streets, the college campuses, living rooms and pubs; and in doing so, they quietly started a missional revolution. By 2000, they had become the largest church in the country. And chances are, you haven’t heard about them.
At the heart of it all was a church culture that didn’t just create converts—it created disciples that seemed to live an awful lot like Jesus did. They trained regular, ordinary lay people to be leaders, to listen to the voice of God and respond. And the people they trained…in turn trained people themselves.The movement spread.
Yes, there were best-selling books and speaking engagements across Europe, but more importantly, there was a movement afoot, with hundreds and thousands of churches embracing a church life that put both discipleship and mission at the center. A movement that has made its’ way to 4 continents and is now exploding in North America.
And chances are, you are just hearing about this.
We are megachurches, church plants and everything in between.
We are Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Non denominational.
We are brand new churches. 200 year old churches. Rural, suburban, urban churches.
We are a movement of churches learning how to thrive in the future.
We are 3DM.
They broke to the streets, the college campuses, living rooms and pubs; and in doing so, they quietly started a missional revolution. By 2000, they had become the largest church in the country. And chances are, you haven’t heard about them.
At the heart of it all was a church culture that didn’t just create converts—it created disciples that seemed to live an awful lot like Jesus did. They trained regular, ordinary lay people to be leaders, to listen to the voice of God and respond. And the people they trained…in turn trained people themselves.The movement spread.
Yes, there were best-selling books and speaking engagements across Europe, but more importantly, there was a movement afoot, with hundreds and thousands of churches embracing a church life that put both discipleship and mission at the center. A movement that has made its’ way to 4 continents and is now exploding in North America.
And chances are, you are just hearing about this.
We are megachurches, church plants and everything in between.
We are Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Non denominational.
We are brand new churches. 200 year old churches. Rural, suburban, urban churches.
We are a movement of churches learning how to thrive in the future.
We are 3DM.
