Alister Pate www.cafechurch.org 30/1/2014

An Introduction to Caféchurch

FX-MSM Gathering• A gathering of people

involved in Fresh Expressions (FX) and the Mission Shaped Ministry Course

• Practitioners, denominational people

Who Are We• Introduce yourself to the

people in your little group

• Where are you from, and what is your involvement in the FX-MSM gathering? (Unless you aren’t doing it, of course)

A Little Bit About Me• Born into an (Anglican) Evangelical family in

Sydney in 1971• Went to a variety of Evangelical, Liberal, High

Church / Anglo-catholic, and Charismatic churches• Lived in London for 10 years after uni • Married Anne in 1994• No Children• Moved to Melbourne (and joined Caféchurch) in

2002• Senior Pastor of Caféchurch since 2008• Completed my MDiv at UFT in 2012

History of Caféchurch

• Church plant by Youth Pastor of Christian City Church Whitehorse (CCCW) in 2000

• The vision: to build the sort of church that we would like to go to.

• Independent around 2005

• Joined Solace EMC Network in 2006

• Meeting in cafes and pubs around inner and Eastern Melbourne

Theological Task• “God’s people are called to carry

forward this unique witness, to translate it into every new situation of history, so that the Word happened continues to be the Word witnessed, heard, responded to, and obeyed”

• Darrell Guder The Continuing Conversion of the Church (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids MI: 2000) p. 61

Beliefs• We emphasize a centred, rather

than bounded, set – where people are drawn towards the truth at the centre, rather than obsessing about who is in and who is out.

• We don’t have any expectations around beliefs for members.

• We do have expectations around a generous orthodoxy for leaders

Four Values• 1. Reclaiming secular space: How chatting over coffee

in a bar is in fact a radically incarnational statement.• 2. Open-ness, inclusivity, and acceptance: How can we

wrestle honestly with questions of faith? Is doubt OK? Inevitable? Perhaps even a bit desirable sometimes?

• 3. Authenticity: We want to be real: real with each other, real in our dealings with the world, real with God. How can we free ourselves of masks and encourage one another?

• 4. We’re all in this together: Some people like to call it “Every Member Ministry”, but we’re going to experiment with “Church as Wikipedia”.

Question

• What values should characterise a missional church?

• Do any of these values particularly resonate for you?

• What would a “church we actually want to go to” look like for you?

The Structure of an Evening

• 6:45 - Dinner– Caféchurch pays for the coffee

• 8:00-9:15 “The Formal Bit”– Announcements

– Change Gear – help people refocus from work

– “The Main Bit” – usually a presentation / discussion

– Use of graphical and musical elements

• About 15-20 people most evenings currently

Different Stuff We Do

• Presentation and discussion• Communion• Chicken Soup for the Soul

– Everyone brings a contribution

• Caravan (last Saturdays of the month @ CTM)– Reflective

– Worshipful

– Prayerful

A Few Big Projects• In 2006 we made a CD

– Fish Under a Tree• In 2011 we wrote a

book – The Cliff and the Sea

Post-Modernity : Post-Christendom

• Post-modernity – the process by which we, as a culture, have no agreed-upon grand narratives– Instead of a more or less coherent

culture, we have a collection of tribes

• Post-Christendom – “no-one goes to church any more”– In fact so few people go to church

that most people don’t have the first notion of what Christianity is about.

Post-Modernity, Post-Christendom

• Is this an opportunity or a threat for the church?

• Why?• Tell a story which

illustrates post-modernity or post-Christendom for you

Caféchurch Key Demographic

• Working with youngish, inner-city-ish, left-leaning, Green-voting people

• Highly mobile

• Mostly tertiary educated

• Many with some sort of church background

• Many with serious, challenging questions about faith

• Tending towards “Spiritual but not Religious”

Lessons We Have Learned

1. Know Your Community

2. Reclaiming Secular Space

3. Openness

4. Authenticity

5. We’re All In This Together

Know Your Community• What music do they resonate to? Taizé

might appeal to you, but not to them. Choruses might make them squirm.

• What media works for them? Watching someone unknowingly make out of date cultural references, or, worse, get them wrong, is embarrassing for everyone

• How do they spend their time? What do they do, where do they do it, when do they do it? What do they do for work? Is Sunday morning really the only time for church?

• What do key theological terms (e.g. “sin”, “redemption”, “sacrifice”) mean to them?

• What do they value? What is sacred for them? (ANZAC Day? The environment?)

Secular Space - Hospitality

• Where you meet sends a message– How do you welcome people into

your space?

• How you structure your meeting sends a message– Do people often sit still for a half

hour talk? Is this what you expect people to do?

• How you speak sends a message– If you talk too much in “holy”

language, you alienate people. If you can’t say what you mean in plain language, then perhaps you don’t know what you mean.

What We Have Here is a Failure To Communicate

• If it isn’t well (or at least well-enough) designed, it is invisible (or worse)

• Stories are better than facts and theories.

• Visuals are important• PowerPoint is a two edged sword• Even in academic lectures,

people expect to be able to interrupt, to question, to ask for clarification, or just to contribute.

• Words don’t always mean the same thing to different people. E.g. “Sin”

Openness - People Of Difference

• How would someone with a non-traditional lifestyle (e.g. gay, single parent, unemployed, mental health issues, dreadlocks and tattoos) feel in your church?

• Have you ever actually loved a sinner while not loving their sin?

• Do you have any non-Christian friends? How would they react to your church?

Open-ness - The Thing We (Used to) Talk

About Most• Theodicy: Why does God allow suffering?

• A glib answer is worse than no answer at all.

• The most important thing is to be real

Authenticity• Are you really open to being challenged

and moved by the people amongst whom you work?

• Who is your church actually for? For holy people, or for outsiders? People notice if you have a “them and us” attitude

• People don’t appreciate feeling like a target

• People can spot a phony a mile away

• Can you be honest about your own doubts, fears, limitations?

• You don’t have to pretend to be cooler than you are – just be aware when your taste differs from the norm in your group.

We’re All In It Together• How prepared to share authority

are you?• People can need support and

encouragement to create things, and are hesitant to do it at all.

• You need to provide opportunities for small scale involvement

• How do you decide who speaks and when?

• What happens if someone dysfunctional starts acting inappropriately?

• What is, and is not, an appropriate item for an evening?

• How do you guide and support people to create helpful sessions?

Caféchurch – Hard or Easy?

• It can seem like an easy way to do church

• But making it a welcoming experience for outsiders can be a challenging experience for Christians

• It puts your own faith under the microscope, and you learn how much is really your faith, and how much is tribal

The Big Question

• What is church for?• How does that influence what

church does?

Further Reading• Alister’s blog www.alisterpate.com• The Cafechurch website: www.cafechurch.org• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerging_church is surprisingly good• Anything by Brian Maclaren, esp:

– A New Kind of Christian series– A New Kind of Christianity– Naked Spirituality

• Lesslie Newbigin The Gospel in a Pluralist Society• Darrell Guder The Continuing Conversion of the Church• Gibbs & Bolger Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in

Postmodern Cultures• Phyllis Tickle The Great Emergence• Ray Anderson An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches

Blessing

Christ the Sun of Righteousness shine upon you,scatter the darkness from before your path,and make you ready to meet him when he comes in gloryAnd the blessing of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

be amongst us and remain with us ever more.

Amen