I am committed to Connect09.
I have already seen and heard of great things happening. But there are a number of ways the initiative could fail.
It could fail if we think that it is run from head office, and so leave it "to the system to make it work". Connect09 is about us connecting with our community.
Connect09 could also fail If we do it alone. Each parish doing what is right in their own eyes.
I believe that the congregation (or parish) is the fundamental unit of church life. However, God has also given us relationships of love, concern and prayer that transcend our parish boundaries. They are bonds that are forged by sharing the one one Spirit, one hope, one Lord and one faith. We will fail if we do not use the benefit God has given us of each other. The failure will come from us thinking that after we have made contact with our parish. We, in the parish, must meet the diversity of ministry needs of those around us.
Our parishes are rarely monochrome in ethnicity, let alone age, marital status, aspirations, education and so many other things. That being the case, maybe there is a ministry that lies outside our parish that can best help the people within our parish to grow in maturity.
Here's an example. I serve in a church called Subcontinental Bible Ministry that meets at St Andrew’s Strathfield.
It is a collection of people generally from India and Sri Lanka, who have joined us. They are from all over Sydney and from a variety of church and religious backgrounds. These people gather together because they understand people of similar backgrounds and want to reach them with the good news of Jesus.
If through door knocking as part of Connect09, you meet someone from India who desires to meet with a church to understand more about Jesus, then you need to ask yourself a question: “Should I should invite them to my local church or to the Subcontinental Bible Ministry?”
Sometimes it is better to have them join your local church- after all their contact is with you. But sometimes it is better that they join a church filled with people of the same background.
How do we determine which way to go? By answering the question: "What is going to most help this person grow like Jesus?"
The answer to that question is shaped by so many factors: whether they feel alienated in an Anglo church, whether they associate strongly with their suburb, the affinity they feel to their ethnicity, the relationships they are in and many other things that vary from person to person.
The question that should not be asked is: "what will most further my church's ministry?" After all, we are seeking to grow the Kingdom of God, not our kingdoms.
Click here to read Archie Poulos’ follow-up article, ‘Another way Connect09 could fail’
