Vision for the direction and future of Daventry Baptist Church
The following vision of where we want to go as a church is based upon a paper compiled for our AGM. It was written as an attempt to capture those things that God has been saying to us over the past months and years. The proposal contained below has now been voted on unanimously as an expression of what God has been saying to us and preparing us for.
Different and distinct
Due to the way that the town has developed - different estates rising up at different times to be populated by distinct groups of people (e.g. Southbrook created to be a Birmingham overspill) - most of the estates are fairly distinct. As a result, many people appear to have a distinct attachment to their particular estate, be that Lang Farm, Southbrook, Steffen Hill or wherever. If you ask someone where they live, they will firstly tell you the Estate. This is strange for such a small town.
Of course, this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is simply the way things are. Yet it will affect how we attempt to reach this town. Many Christians throughout the town (and friendly observers from outside) are beginning to realise that the only way to reach Daventry is to reach the individual estates. To think that we can reach the whole of Daventry in one foul swoop is over-ambitious and unrealistic. We need to reach Ashby Fields as Ashby Fields, The Headlands as the Headlands and The Grange as The Grange etc. (For example, just because an Alpha Course or Parenting Course is an effective means of outreach on one estate does not mean that it will necessarily be so on another.)
Our Vision for the future of Daventry Baptist Church involves a "house group" on each estate on Daventry - each group having its own feel and structure and emphases. We would then tailor our evangelistic efforts differently depending on the estate that we were targeting. Each group would be committed to reaching its own estate in a way that is meaningful to the people living on that estate. 'Daventry Baptist Church' would then be the name for this group of groups, this collection of communities.
Style, structure, ethos and emphases
We envision at least one group on each estate. We see some of these meeting at the weekend and some during the week - some during the day and some in the evening. Some of them might meet in living rooms, in schools, in community centres - and some in coffee shops and cafes. They could be reaching out through Pizza nights, Carol singing, Pub Quizzes, Parenting and Marriage courses, Barbecues, Door-knocking, Baby-sitting, Car-Washing, Alpha courses, counselling and good old-fashioned friendliness! And all of these different and distinct groups could come together on a Sunday morning for joint fellowship, worship and teaching.
The groups will have different styles and structure and sizes. They will also reach out and serve their communities in different ways. Some of the groups may follow the sort of pattern that we currently follow on a Sunday morning. Some of them will seem a lot more like a traditional mid-week Bible-study. Some of them will seem like an Alpha course. And some of them will appear little different to friends meeting up for a meal! The important thing is that each group will be designed in such a way as to best reach their estate with the gospel and better serve the people there.
This may all mean that our understanding of how we grow as a church needs to change. Many churches seem to adopt an Old Testament approach to church growth. That is, they call the nations to come in and join them. However, the New Testament approach is that the Church goes out to the nations. It seems that rather than calling more and more people to join us and building our numbers up higher and higher, we could be making it our aim to spread out further and further. This may actually involve not building up as high in order to reach out further. A church of (for example) 200 people meeting in one central place may have less impact on a town than (for example) 2 groups of 50 people, 1 of 40, 1 of 30 and 2 of 15 spread throughout the town. Basically, the former would produce an Old Testament Church, whilst the latter could be an example of New Testament Church.
Being the body of Christ?
Each group would 'adopt' a particular estate - and this would be the focus of their prayers, evangelism and practical service. No one will be forced to join a particular group. And it is not necessary that every member of the group lives on that particular estate. The important thing is that they have a heart for the estate that the group is trying to reach.
We need to begin to take seriously Jesus' words in the great commandment about loving our neighbours and in the great commission about going out to all peoples to make disciples.
Lovingly reaching them means doing so in a way that is meaningful to them. This may mean 'going out' beyond our comfort zones, past experience and personal preferences. Yet, if the church is the body of Christ, then it is important that we are an 'incarnation' of the gospel to the people we are trying to reach. When God chose to redeem humanity, he sent his Son to become one of us - to reach us in a way we could understand and relate to. He sacrificed his comfort, dignity, reputation and exalted position to reach out to others. As those seeking to 'embody' the gospel, can we afford to do anything less? So, for one group, an Alpha-type course may be ideal, whereas another might feel that it is more appropriate to start a Pub Quiz team or go door-knocking. One group may feel that 10 members is their maximum limit, whereas another may grow twice as large.
The gist of this vision is that each group spends time and energy discovering what it means to embody the grace of God for their estate. This may involve sacrifice and 'dying' to what is comfortable for us - but that is what being the body of Christ is all about.
Conclusion
Daventry Baptist Church was first planted with these values at the forefront, but for one reason or another, they have fallen out of focus. We believe that this new venture - given the backing and support of the Church - could go quite some way to seeing the initial vision re-focused and restored. More to the point, we may begin to reach our town with the good news of great joy that we have found in Jesus!