Our Dream
“the kingdom of God is like a bamboo forest”
The church as we know it has been decline in the US for some time. And for anyone with the courage to admit it, there is too often an embarrassing inconsistency in helping people develop as apprentices of Jesus, experiencing the flourishing that comes from following him. Which is, of course, the core mission Jesus entrusted to his people. Covid didn’t create this problem, it merely hastened it’s growth. It isn’t necessarily that Americans are any less spiritual, but it is true that a growing percentage of people don’t think of “church” as a place to go to engage their spiritual curiosity or to resolve the larger questions of their life. We all know folks like this. Digital media can offer some support, yet online relationships are notoriously thin and the culture of consumeristic “on demand” streaming seems to run exactly counter to the wisdom of the great spiritual traditions. To the extent we think Jesus is beautiful, good, wise and worth following, what can be done?
“The kingdom of God is like a bamboo forest.” Consider the growth patterns of bamboo: A single bamboo shoot sends out roots in multiple directions, and every few feet a new shoot rises, from each root. With each new shoot, more roots are released and the process is repeated. Though slow at first, in time bamboo grows quite quickly. Soon there is a vibrant, robust, interconnected forest. Bamboo is strong, lightweight, versatile, resilient, sustainable, and thrives in diverse conditions. Disciples, families, leaders, and churches can grow and multiply like this.
Our Vision
God has entrusted us with the vision to plant this kind of forest of faith communities throughout the Motor City, bringing blessing to every neighborhood and people group of our city. Detroit is a geographically spread, ethnically diverse major metropolitan area of over four million people, covering six counties, living in more than 150 unique communities and 1350 neighborhoods.
Instead of trying to get people to come to us, we’ll go to where spiritually curious people already are living, working and playing, in their natural relational networks, and facilitate them discovering together from scripture and God’s Spirit who God is and what it looks like to follow Jesus, forming spiritual families that engage in worship, fellowship and mission. These churches (meeting house to house, or in various other venues) are unburdened by buildings and staff, and therefore simple enough to be doable and replicable by people in their everyday circumstances. As the work develops, the simple churches in each city will identify elders to facilitate care, training, teaching and oversight, as appropriate. We’re dreaming of a decentralized network of replicating simple churches, driven by relationship, for every one of these neighborhoods and beyond. And with the diversity of people that are living in this area, these seeds of Jesus’ life and good news can cross natural bridges of relationship around the world. We’re already dialoguing with friends in different parts of the US, east and west Africa, south Asia and elsewhere.
We’re faced with a unique opportunity in this season, fertile soil for this kind of work to grow. Attentive leaders everywhere are discovering important concepts related to the church’s core mission: namely, that large gatherings in big buildings are only a means to an end, and discipleship only happens through the slow work of relationship. With everyone’s rhythms and expectations disrupted, and focus everywhere being reoriented towards what matters most, I believe this is a timely opportunity for this vision to come to fruition.
