mission.statement

A community encouraging others to live good and true lives, seeking God as revealed through Christ.

philosophy

For us, philosophy is an attempt to make sense of the important thoughts in our lives together as Christians. We have put together a number of sections throughout this document that help to shape these ideas, put urgency to them, and relate them to a real Kingdom. At times their relationship to each other is clear and tacit, and at other times the threads and resulting associations are razor thin and loosely formed. What follows is our effort to summarize and provide order to the rest of this document; a variety of sections that point to the emerging reality of Case Mountain Community Church (CMCC).

The creed, like those of old, sums up important theological perspectives. It risks defining God and our relationship to him. In this endeavor it is an exercise of being as precise and vague as possible. We want to help those seeking Jesus to be better Kingdom citizens while refraining from alienating those who don’t (whenever practical). The mission is a single sentence that compels us to preserve focus. It is like a well-worn scrap of paper thoughtfully inscribed with a precious line to lift you in dark times. It humbles us when we get outside of God’s touch.

A people who love God can travel so many possible directions. The Word become flesh, Jesus, allows immense freedom in congregations, and so our values help to provide the compass for our micro world. We navigate big decisions as well as little acts of kindness with these characteristics. They are far from exhaustive, but they help us evaluate our integrity and our being.

Praxis is the section that looks at how we can live as a community. It stresses our values in action and reflects on those parts of living which are first level order; the urgent shards of our faith. It provides a narrative for people living as faithfully as possible in Christ. Likenesses is a section composed of glimpses that help provide insights into living lives that are good and true, seeking God through Christ. These are windows that augment Praxis and shed light on our creed. They offer clarity by way of poetry, art, photographs, sounds, etc. and aid in the articulation of Case Mountain Community ideals. These are things worth meditating on and emulating. Likenesses can provide quick looks that are as abysmal as they are lovely. They can teach us the horrors we are capable of as well as the amazing possibilities in Christ. Now is a collection of contemporary issues that are important, but do not easily fit within the other sections. As science and technology force us to evaluate what it is to be human and followers of Christ, this section helps in the navigation. It is part of the age-old struggle of Christians in every situation, context, and era to make sense of the Gospel in their world and in relation to their culture.

We want to be people of action as well as contemplation. Dreams provide the big picture directions and vision worth pursing. What is the Spirit saying in our people, in our community? What problems is God solving in our world? How does he want to change lives? What shall our energies and resources go toward? It stretches us to get beyond ourselves and into the good world God has created, redeemed, and loves. Our goals are found within the Dreams and are the means of putting feet to the mission, creed, values, likenesses, and expressions of now. In many ways they are the praxis nascent in vision. Goals take the written Dreams and engage life. How is God stretching us in action and service? They help us articulate context and wrestle with success. Goals provide points to rally upon and territory to cultivate. And, they offer vistas of joy from which to praise. They may be formal and project-based or more often than not, informal and strive for connections of intentionality.

Generally, a philosophy statement in this context answers the reason for particular practices or provides a mapping of scriptural relevance to precise theological understandings. It often provides a litmus test to determine if a congregation has proper beliefs. You will find pieces of this within all of the sections in this document. But we find ourselves struggling to separate these aspects into an isolated, unified account. We are convicted that right-belief is important, but that right-action sometimes doesn’t fit nicely into a belief structure. Many times doing the right thing can’t be theorized or produced in a cohesive model, but must be risked in relation to our God and those around us. Jesus’ actions were often misunderstood or attributed to heresy. From our perspective, to be his follower is to assume these same risks.

Over time, putting together a more standard philosophical statement may get easier, but we like the idea of starting at nakedness and newness, and asking afresh how to love God, how to love our neighbor, and how that all works in the Manchester region.

values

The following values help to provide the compass for our micro-world. We navigate big decisions and little acts of kindness with these characteristics. They are far from exhaustive, but they help us evaluate our integrity and being. If you were to whittle down the most important elements of our community and what we want to be, these would describe them:

• Authenticity – all we do must hold to the Gospel (good news of God’s intentions becoming reality) with great integrity
• Generosity – striving to intuitively give in every aspect of life
• Community – living together and seeking God, who manifests Himself through relationships and getting beyond oneself
• Organic – moving, growing, changing, adapting, as guided by the Holy Spirit
• Creativity – honoring beauty, imagination, play, and birthing legacies for others
• Participative/Co-Laborer – God entrusts people with carrying out His intentions
• Simplicity – focusing on the essentials; appreciating what we have

praxis

Brian McLaren says, “What you focus on determines what you miss.” As we look through the Bible, we can pinpoint certain topics and focus on them more than others (predestination, prosperity, salvation as a momentary act, the poor, war, peace, sin, etc.). This section explores what it means pragmatically for our community to encourage others to live good and true lives, seeking God as revealed through Christ.

We are a community of faith, hope, and love for all people. We are particularly sensitive to those who have been turned off by religion or Christianity. These are people who haven’t found what they are looking for, but keep searching, and those who have tasted of it, but know there is so much more. It is Case Mountain Community’s desire to engage the Manchester region. This means perceiving what the Spirit is doing in the lives of people in this land and then experiencing life together with them. The people we encounter, and who become associated with our Community, run the gamut spiritually. Some are rich in God, some desperately separated, and most somewhere in between. We desire to be good neighbors in light of being lovers of God. Our neighbors could be the bartender at the pub down the road, the lady walking along the street, a family in the park, or a single in a local restaurant. It’s in these spectrums that the Lord has called us to live. Our hope is that people are drawn closer to Christ through relational interactions at Case Mountain Community. God allows natural interactions to form acquaintances, cautious bonds, and deep friendships. We sense that these are the foundations of authentic Community.

Case Mountain Community Church is a group of people that daily lives in the grace and mercy of God. We are regular people who desire to share God to as many in the world as we can by living authentic lives. Christ desires the poor people, the rich people, the widows, the “average” teen/young adult, the elderly, the “dysfunctional,” the sick, the lost, the lovely and beautiful, the disgusting and perverse, the un-knowing, the down-and-out, and the-together. Classifying people like this falls to pieces in light of God’s mercy and grace, and in this reality we strive to live as acceptingly as possible.

We spend time in deep conversation with our neighbors, nurturing friendships. This is how the bonds of Community are formed and maintained. Parties, picnics, BBQ’s, quick chats in the store, hanging out just-because, etc., cultivate the environment of these conversations. We invite our neighbors and share deep thoughts over a meal. We snow plow with them and pray with them when their wives have migraines; or, in other words, we naturally connect in the day-to-day. During these times people are able to tell their stories and others are there to listen. Case Mountain Community Church listens people to free speech, in that the environment we create causes them to better express themselves. The Spirit weaves in and out of lives and we want to be attentive to this movement. We wish to hear the depths of our friends and understand their frailties, strengths, happiness, and pain. Free speech expression happens during our gatherings, and could include a story, a discussion on theology, sharing a struggle, coffee talk, a phone call, an email, or possibly blog interactions. Listening is difficult work, but as a foundation to the Case Mountain Community, it’s a core conviction for us.

Listening is a prerequisite for loving. God has bestowed unconditional love to us; likewise we must bestow unconditional love to His people. This means that no matter what, we love them for who they are and what they have been through. Some members of the Community might use foul language and yet grace is larger. They may make major moral blunders or even espouse heresy, and yet God has not forfeited them. Our hope is not that we ourselves change the person, but to listen to her or his story and allow God to move in his or her life. This hope is not passive, but intentional and active. It is the venue for heart, soul, mind, and even circumstantial transformations. During these times, and throughout life at Case Mountain, we admit that we have faults and issues, and yet we strive to live God’s healing power as being greater than the depths of our inadequacies. His Word says that He will restore everything, and this is the hope that (in Community) attracts people to their God.

Case Mountain Community Church is a local congregation seeking God and what He is doing in the community we find ourselves in. Jesus lived and walked among the people; likewise, the people of Case Mountain Community Church live and walk within the Manchester region. Jesus said that the greatest commandments are to holistically love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Case Mountain Community participants strive to live by these two commandments. We understand that it is God’s job to judge, convict, and restore; it’s our job to reveal Jesus to others, and that is by His Holy Spirit. We want to be an instrument of blessing in the Manchester area that as a Community brings salvation in its totality.

We help when needed. People in our Community have needs and God provides for us to meet them. This may mean to help them move, buy food, baby sit so that the parents can go on a date, or even to take them out for coffee and a conversation. It is bringing about peace in a real sense. We focus on other people, listening to them, loving them, and helping them when needed because our hope is that as we are living authentic lives around others, God will bring transformation and restoration of their hearts, minds, and souls.

creed

Our understanding of God has great limitations,[1] but in humility this creed challenges us to live good and true lives. It is our perception of how God is moving theologically at Case Mountain Community Church. The creed is placed in our greater cultural context and has inherent biases, which impact it. It may not reflect how God has worked throughout history or how he might choose to work in the future, but it seeks to reflect his working today at CMCC. A creed can never replace God’s touch in our lives, and as a work is as prone to distortion as it is to being helpful. As such, we acknowledge that it shall be looked at often and that it must be open to the strongest criticism:

There is one God,[2] maker of heaven and earth.[3] He stood in chaos and created order,[4] a pattern found throughout his interactions with humanity.[5] He is understood in triune terms of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit[6] and is beyond gender.[7] God is not like us, and our understanding is therefore circumscribed.[8] Our response to this is humility.[9] We look to God to provide a living means[10] to help us know him and to also alert us when we misunderstand or misconstrue him.[11]

Jesus as the Christ experienced life as divine and human,[12] and through his living,[13] passion,[14] resurrection,[15] and on-going intercession[16] has made way for the salvation[17] of humanity. For humans are distant from God and yet essentially recognize that they should be intimately related to him.[18] Nature[19] and our conscience,[20] as well as scripture,[21] illuminate the story of God’s good intentions for us. Each person plays a significant part in his or her salvation presently and eternally,[22] but God’s pro-activity and grace form the foundation.[23]

Our hope is pragmatic, allowing each person to live life as intended by God.[24] It is summed up in Christ’s commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with our entire mind, and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.[25] This hope is found in intimacy with God through Jesus;[26] his second coming; and points of justice, peace, and love on earth as God’s Kingdom is revealed. Authenticity of the spiritual life comes in our participation with the work of Jesus through ongoing patterns of incarnation (God touching humanity in tangible time and space and with intention), reconciliation (a mix of repentance, forgiveness, redemption, and justice/restitution), peacemaking, loving God, and loving others. Expressions of a God-life include gratitude, generosity in all realms and capacities, praise, worship, the deepest of communion and prayer, righteousness and obedience, rituals of love such as baptism and communion, and finding the beautiful wherever possible.[27] It is a life grasped by faith,[28] and this faith requires aggressive participation.[29]

Those who take God seriously will find adversity at work. This can be attributed to bad decisions believers make, the devil’s influence in a world where distance from God has given Satan counter-streams of power, others’ free will to make bad decisions or decisions in line with Satan’s counterfeit influence, or life being inherently risky.[30] Christ’s redemption allows for the overcoming of adversity.

Jesus the Christ is the Word of God, which was manifest before time[31] and continues through creation in the Holy Spirit.[32] The Bible is inspired by God through human authors[33] and provides the primary means of conceptualizing who God is and our lives in relation to him.[34] It speaks to the centrality of Jesus and helps us make sense of the world. We recognize that God uses the Bible in subtle and extraordinary ways,[35] and that humans can (sometimes) use it for manipulation and their own ends.[36] It takes careful and in-depth study[37] to understand the Bible, and through meditation,[38] it can change lives in God.

God has deep intention and love for the world, and the work of Christ is primal.[39] The full means of eternal life, reconciliation and redemption, and other matters deep within the soul are within God’s hands.[40] We look to him for wisdom on where to place our faith, where to keep speculative, where to voice, and where to remain silent. Jesus indicated that humanity was ready for God’s radical[41] message and that the problem was in believers not participating with him in the work.[42] We are compelled by this message.

We are convinced that it is within the aesthetic, joy, and pain of community that God works as well as the Spirit within us individually.[43] This community is where: faith is released, worship engulfs, healing occurs, births and deaths are ritualized, marriages are celebrated, righteousness becomes intuition, important matters are grappled with and practiced, spiritual gifts[44] and talents are released, and lovers of God are equipped to live intentional lives. Daily life is enjoyed with others. The unbeliever tastes God’s goodness as God’s lovers interact with him or her in community, and they are given room to explore their potentiality and voice in the Body of Christ. All in the community become responsible for who they existentially become: decisions reflect their lives drawing closer to Christ or distancing from him. A Kingdom community offers an honest place for this living to take place along with amazing grace to manifest, which can’t be contained in the imagination of humans.[45]

We are one locus of the Body of Christ. God is more creative and uses avenues, denominations, and personal revelation in ways that are inventive and meets the depths of people in every context. We recognize that there may be inconsistencies or even heresies in how others may work out their faith in God, but we also recognize that we could be participating in similar sin at any time. We want to be honest and live an authentic expression of God through Jesus Christ and are open to discipline when we get it wrong.[46] There is a subset of humanity that will be known as God’s children, his church, but determining who will be included in this group is the responsibility of God. [47] We choose not to conjecture.[48] Believers recognize and passionately obey Jesus’ voice[49] and our joy is to encourage this whenever possible.

[1] 1 Corinthians 13:12; John 3:31

[2] Deuteronomy 6:4-6; 1 Corinthians 8:6, 12:4-6; James 2:19

[3] Genesis 1:1, 14:19; Psalm 115:15

[4] Genesis 1:2-3; Isaiah 45:18

[5] Genesis 22; Job 26:7

[6] Genesis 1:26; Proverbs 9:1; Matthew 6:9, 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14

[7] Genesis 1:27; Luke 13:34. The biblical account typically uses male pronouns, although female imagery is also present (Isaiah 64:8; Matthew 6:9; Isaiah 49:15-16; Luke 13:34)

[8] Proverbs 3:5; Isaiah 55:8-9

[9] Job 42:1-6; Matthew 11:25, 21:16

[10] 2 Timothy 1:10; Hebrews 1:1-3

[11] Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2

[12] John 1:14, 6:68-69, 20:28; Matthew 2:1-4, 16:16;

[13] John 1:14, 8:12

[14] Mark 14:3-15:47

[15] John 11:25-27; Matthew 28:2-10; Acts 1:3

[16] Romans 8:34; Hebrews 2:17, 4:15

[17] Psalm 98:2-3, 106:21; Song of Solomon 2:4; Isaiah 12:3, 25:6-9, 45:22; Matthew 19:21-30, 22:1-15; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 14:13-27, 13:22-30; John 5:39-40, 17:3; Acts 4:12, 28:28; Romans 10:5-20; Philippians 2:12; 2Corinthians 7:8-11; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 2:14-18, 1Peter 1:6-30; Revelation 19:9

[18] Acts 17:22-26; Luke 10:25-29; 18:13; Romans 5:12-20

[19] Romans 1:20, 8:19-22

[20] Job 27:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Corinthians 1:12

[21] John 7:38; Acts 17:2; 1 Timothy 4:13; 5:18; 2 Peter 1:20

[22] Philippians 2:12; Luke 3:4-9; John 8:46; John 14:6; Romans 6:8, 10:9; 2 Timothy 4:10; Acts 5:3-5; 1 Peter 1:13

[23] Zechariah 12:10; John 1:14-17, 4:11-30; Acts 4:11-12, 15:10-12, Romans 5:6-21; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 1:10-12

[24] Exodus 9:16; Psalms 57:2, 138:8; Proverbs 16:4; Isaiah 14:26; Ephesians 1:1-14, 2:10; Hebrews 4:12

[25] Mark 12:29-31

[26] Romans 5:1-5, 8:31-35, 38-39

[27] Philippians 4:8

[28] Mark 2:5; Luke 17:9; 1 Corinthians 12:7,9; Galatians 5:5; Ephesians 2:8-9, 4:4-5; Colossians 2:12; Hebrews 11, 12:2

[29] Genesis 22; 1 Chronicles 10:13; Matthew 8:5-13, 11:12; Romans 1:17; 1 Timothy 3:9, 6:12; James 1:6, 2:22; Revelation 14:12

[30] Genesis 4:6-8, 25:32-36; Job 6:1-12; Jonah 3 and 4; Matthew 16:23; Mark 4:15; Romans 16:20; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Corinthians 2:11, 11:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:9- 12; Galatians 2:11-14

[31] John 1:1-5, 17:17; Genesis 1:2-3, 2:7; Romans 10:8, 17; Hebrews 1:3

[32] John 1:9-10; Acts 17:25; Hebrews 1:2

[33] Luke 1:1-4; 1 Corinthians 7:10,12; Titus 1:1

[34] Matthew 22:29; Luke 4:21; Romans 4:3, 10:11, 15:4

[35] 2 Timothy 3:16

[36] 2 Peter 3:16; John 5:39

[37] Technically, exegesis and hermeneutics - Ezra 7:10; 2 Timothy 2:15

[38] Merton’s definition of meditation that includes experience beyond one’s capabilities through Christ

[39] Matthew 28:18-20; John 3:16; Romans 8:19-24; 1 John 4:9, 17

[40] Isaiah 55:8; Jeremiah 33:3

[41] “arising from or going to the root” from Visual Thesaurus by Plumb Design

[42] Matthew 9:35-38

[43] Romans 8:16- 17; Colossians 3:16

[44] 1 Corinthians 12 and 14

[45] Acts 2:42-47

[46] Deuteronomy 8:5; Proverbs 13:24, 19:18; Acts 17:11; Hebrews 12:3-11; Revelation 3:19

[47] Matthew 7:20-27, 13:24-33; Mark 10:31

[48] Romans 10:6-7

[49] John 10:3-18, 10:27, 14:23

likenesses

Likenesses are portraits of lives that are good and true, seeking God through Christ. They show us truth in strikingly positive and sometimes negative glimpses. These are words, acts, elements of art, etc. that articulate ideals of the Case Mountain Community worth emulating and meditating on. They provide a means of understanding our praxis that cannot be matched through straight text.

dreams.

What follows are both the dreams and underlying goals that are emerging within Case Mountain Community Church (CMCC). The section Possibilities of Engagement provides tangibles within the vision to help understand the direction pragmatically. The Immediate Goals section has goals we would like to accomplish within the next year. We try to be cognizant of the Lord’s leading and take responsibility where they move astray. And the Nascent Goals section represents those tasks which the Lord is starting to articulate, but may be afar off, and others that are on the edge of being birthed as Immediate Goals. This process is one that is reviewed with great frequency and is one of the ways God chooses to move CMCC beyond itself and its limitations.

Developing Groups and Spaces that Deepen Relationships, allow for Free Speech, and Cultivate Worship

To worship and create “real” opportunities for people to risk in their faith is complex. We want to establish safe spaces where people can express themselves without judgment, condemnation, shame, or guilt. It is Case Mountain Community’s intention to listen people to free speech, love people unconditionally, and help when needed. God often offers healing in our lives through community gatherings and relationships. We are challenged to dissolve untruths about others and God and perhaps see Christ for the first time in these settings. These are also the spaces that allow us to collectively worship the Lord of all. As we honor and love Christ, love for others is given room to move or grow.

Possibilities of Engagement

· This includes our Sunday Community Gathering, mid-week community gatherings, and various small gatherings based on interest, accountability, etc.

· Technology related to extending language and relationships

Immediate Goals

· Develop technologies that facilitate gatherings and extend them virtually. Includes audio/visual, pod casting, etc.

· Transition to role-based and area-based web page

· Ministry portal for calendaring and serving, phone listings, training materials, etc.

· Establishing children’s ministry

Nascent Goals

· Campus to meet current and emerging needs, including sports and fitness spaces

· Camp ground and retreat center

Developing Good Kingdom Citizens

There are many facets to being a disciple of Christ, and to be a follower of Jesus puts you within a new realm of possibilities, freedom, responsibility, and emotional/financial/temporal economies. In this sense, we desire to help people mature in their faith, as well as their personhood. This means creating opportunities for people to grow in areas of God and self. As the community unites in experiencing dimensions of life together, it becomes a family in Christ. This dream looks at the components of self-discovery and personal growth, and it develops the leadership instincts and goals that allow for as egalitarian an experience as possible, to love others with limited bureaucracy.

The family helps others understand more of God in their lives as well as discovering their place in our community. A healthy Kingdom citizen is harmonizing the various roles she participates in and understands the vocation, calling, family, and career implications God has for her.

This dream also includes conferences that allow for growing in spirit, mind, and body.

It looks for ways to help create a culture of service and leaders based on biblical principles such as the priesthood of believers. Everyone is a leader in the destiny God has for him. In many respects, the student becomes the teacher. This dream cultivates skills of empathy, ownership, spiritual and temporal awareness, helping others to fit within God’s bigger picture, personal authority, emotional discipline, etc. It asks, “Who is our neighbor?” and provides experiences and skills to love him and to influence and cultivate closeness to God.

As we look at all of the avenues to becoming good Kingdom Citizens, this helps to shape the unconditional characteristics Jesus has established for his church. These characteristics of love, salvation, grace, etc. transform the church from simply being a group of people to ones who know their place in God’s story and want to help others find theirs too. The end goes well-beyond self-help to revealing God’s Kingdom creatively and personally.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Developing relationships with others through our gatherings – gearing gathering experiences to value others and open healthy discussion and pondering

· Conferences for theological discussions and practical living

· Drawing near to Christ and one another through experiences such as small groups, field trips, etc. to bring about self-awareness, change, and growth in mind, body, and soul

· Foundations of the Ministry Team; a group of people who love Christ so much that they serve to direct formal and informal ministries. At CMCC we recognize that there is risk and learning at all levels, so we often refers to ministries as “practices.” The Servant Team cultivates the Ministry Team through concepts of servant leadership and missional church development

Immediate Goals

· Development of Ministry Team foundations

· Topical studies such as Experiencing God and Tabernacle Study

· Fight Club – a safe place where differing theological ideas and the tough issues of life are discussed, debated, and loved through. In many cases the issues aroused in the Now component of CMCC’s Story provide starting points

· Gifting, vocation, and calling assessments in conjunction to self-leadership training and mentoring

Nascent Goals

· Mentoring

· Life, health, time help

· Regional conferences

· National conference

Opportunities to Work through Life’s Difficulties

Sometimes we face adversity and difficulties that are beyond what we can bear. This dream provides avenues for people to grow in those areas of God and self that hold them back from experiencing freedom fully. It meets material needs for those who are experiencing difficult times of crisis, but more importantly it provides paths and opportunities for them to become vibrant Kingdom citizens. Our hope is that those experiencing difficulties move from victim to servant and healing agent for others.

This life together has informal aspects such as working together to help someone in need, and in the process, growing closer to God. It has formal aspects such as classes on finances, prayer, family life, and life skills. Counseling and recovery groups provide a means for healing by providing insights, prayer, tools, and accountability.

Benevolence takes on transformative elements in this dream. For those with difficulty in being good stewards, opportunities abound to become people of fiscal integrity. For those who are in a place where meeting every day needs is difficult, help in finding financial resources as well as material resources are made available. As the community expands, local experts emerge to help with home-related and automobile problems for those unable to afford professional services.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Recovery programs, targeted mentoring and accountability, benevolence leading to good stewardship

Immediate Goals

· Prayer intentionally available within gatherings

· Develop a prayer culture where prayer is intuitive in one-on-one interactions

Nascent Goals

· Recovery Practice

· Fundraising Practice

· Family counseling

· Individual counseling

· Targeted accountability groups

· Divorce recovery

· Art therapy

· Stewardship programs and accountability tied to perpetual benevolence

· Matching skilled labor with those who need material help such as home and auto repair

· Day care and elder care

· Habitat for Humanity and other community-need activities

· Shelters and meeting lesser known needs such as diapers, personal hygiene, boy’s clothes, shoes, etc.

· Health and emergency service partnerships for community engagement

Developing Deep Roots in the Community

The Case Mountain community is engaged as the church seeks new ways to interact with the local community. As creativity is one of our values, we desire to make these interactions with the community new, fun, and enjoyable.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Fun events that are non-threatening to those unfamiliar with Christ

· Connecting with established community activities or events that have deep roots and meaning for those who live in the area

Immediate Goals

· Manchester Road Race

· BBQs

· Poker nights

· Fire nights

· Walks and hikes

Nascent Goals

· Manchester Cruise Night

· Yearly event that draws people to CMCC through story telling, art, dramatics, film, etc.

Intentionally Engaging Culture

As the Psalmist says, “The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” In this dream we look for ways of blurring the permeable lines between sacred and secular; those things designated as inherently holy or godly versus those things that are outside of God. As we see God working in all of creation, we get a deeper sense of worship and appreciation.

Culture establishes or provides context for relevance and we look to engage culture in order to transform lives. By God’s power, might, and authority, we work to see this world transformed, restored, and healed. This looks at culture from a lens that risks “contamination” to be where people live. We cannot comprehend truth without understanding our part in the story. This dream looks at how God is using culture, the arts, and related disciplines and expressions to speak His purposes and love for all of humanity into His story.

This dream is broad and includes exploring creative partnerships with individuals as well as private and public institutions to express God’s Kingdom in meaningful ways that foster worship and/or meet human needs. It looks for avenues to shape the church by God’s working in culture, but equally as important it is attentive to seeking Christ’s commentary and influence on culture.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Blurring of secular and sacred to foster worship and/or meet needs. Initiating ancient and new forms and/or expressions of praise and worship that adore the Lord and touch the story found in this culture

· Establishing new venues or culture, providing helpful ways to commentate and illuminate culture in light of Jesus

Immediate Goals

· Movie reviews

· Book reviews

Nascent Goals

· Groups that look at philosophical works and ask what God is doing through them

· Gallery

· School of the Arts and Languages – including art appreciation, music, studios, language study, etc.

· Develop partnership with Manchester Community College, University of Connecticut, and Eastern Connecticut State University

· Manchester Community College’s An Evening of Fine Wines

· Home school center – spaces and resources for advanced education, health, science, technology

Engaging the Global Church

The Church, as God destined, is made of multitudes of people all around the world; we desire to participate with God in his good intentions for this world and his people. We will connect with local churches to unite the body of Christ, serve the world, and help believers beyond our local confines. This is the Gospel manifested outside the world and limits of CMCC through spirit, mind, body, and might.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Ways of contributing to the global church: relationships, prayer, thoughts, talks, ideas, money, service, gathering, giving, etc.

· Justice through relief efforts, missionary experiences, poverty elimination, environmentalism, legislative\ungodly political processes, corruption and power used for evil, and systemic injustices

Immediate Goals

· Intentional relationship and partnership with Victory Tabernacle Church

· Pray for Amadeo Church, Gilbert, AZ

· Pray for Koinos Community Church, Reading, PA

Nascent Goals

· Mission trips that allow participants to see God moving beyond the U.S. and meet needs. Focused on the indigenous as God’s precious love and fully capable of a good and meaningful life that is self-sustainable

· Micro loans and other economic relief initiatives that allow peoples to become fiscally and spiritually self-sufficient

· Global medical and humanitarian relief efforts that take seriously the Beatitudes as well as the soul issues of the Gospel

· Global green movements that view environmentalism as a continuum of love in Christ

· Assist Victory Tabernacle by hosting annual summer picnic

· Journey with Gateway Community Church

· Justice issues

· Poverty issues

· Global relief issues

Continual Servant Team and Ministry Team Development

Providing formal leadership opportunities to grow spiritually and through credentialing. This process can involve informal and formal training, seminars, retreats, conferences, books, periodicals, etc.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Formal learning opportunities such as training

· Networking with other leaders regionally, nationally, and internationally (e.g. conferences, mentoring, one-on-one peer relationships, etc.)

· Increase leaders’ libraries, technologies, and tools to help them be better at serving and fulfilling responsibilities

· Retreats and other opportunities for the Team to be still, listen to the Lord, and make directional changes

· Multiplying gatherings within CMCC and new church plants with the Spirit’s unique identity

Immediate Goals

· Servant leadership series

Nascent Goals

· Yearly retreats for the Servant Team

· Provide leadership development for new pastors to raise up new churches and gatherings

· New church plants

· Partnering with others doing church plants