Life
Several lifegroups, which consist of anywhere from 3 to 12 people, comprise these missional communities. Lifegroups provide an opportunity to cultivate vulnerability through committed relationships, servanthood, and love, and very often meet over a meal in the home of a fellow member. These groups allow believers to walk together in the rhythms of Jesus’ way through the practice of shared spiritual disciplines: prayer, the study of Scripture, fasting, relationships of accountability. The pursuit of vulnerability in these groups requires the practice of reconciliation, and communal life deepens as members learn to bear with one another in love.
Story
These neighborhood churches hold weekend worship gatherings that highlight how the kingdom of God is being expressed all across the neighborhood. Each community has the freedom to contextualize its worship to the culture of its neighborhood; communities meeting in areas with many families may focus on developing a thriving children’s ministry, while a gathering in a neighborhood full of artists may include interactive, creative elements in its worship.
Kingdom
Missional communities are organized around a shared mission to a neighborhood or industry. They cultivate partnerships with schools, organizations that provide social services, business leaders, activists, community organizers, and anyone else who loves his city and wants to make it a better place to live; they then leverage those partnerships to implement strategic projects aimed at redeeming and renewing that neighborhood.
Movement
Every six weeks all neighborhood churches come together for one citywide gathering to tell the story of God’s grace to the city at large. These citywide gatherings feature stories of transformation, freedom, healing, and renewal from every corner of the city. From these gatherings, the harmony of passionate, reverent worship offered by so many different tongues rises over the city, and an integrated, holistic vision of urban renewal emerges. These citywide gatherings of a single city church also leverage influence, steward momentum, and display unity to the city through prayer and worship.