Last night was the 3RD leadership training for Regional Reach Team (RRT) leaders and hosts. After 23 years with a mid-week service these trainings are evidence there is a new trend in our midst. The Rock Church (TRC) is going Regional, and with nearly 660,000 people in Snohomish County, positioning our church to reach all of them is a giant task. To do it right requires our entire church to get on board with the direction God has equipped TRC to venture.
2002 stats from USA Today indicated that in our county 1 in 4 people are connected to a church on Sunday. While only 25% of our neighbors are attending services, where are the rest? You guessed it, stuck in traffic!
It is necessary to break out and change the way church is done if we are going to reach 75% of our community! It's not that we change the theology; instead, we change the methodology. Sometimes it is hazy for Christians who are deeply committed to a local church to see the need to change. I understand, we are creatures of comfort, but change we must.
I am significantly committed to leading The Rock Church into environments that may seem different, dechurched or even slightly offensive. I am convinced if people are not coming to church, then church must go to people. People in our community are no longer looking to the "church house" for answers; instead, people are looking to other people.
Real change begins to happen when those who are going reach, befriend and help people begin to question the status quo. They begin to ask themselves, "WHY NOT?" Why not be here, or why not go there. That is exactly my experience with racing cars. I would have never been involved with car racing unless I saw it as an opportunity to do something to connect people to Life. Why waste a perfectly good hobby on fun only?
However, questioning the status quo is only one step in the process. It is not enough to just question, we must search for alternatives and adopt new rules. At TRC the alternative to weekly Wednesday nights is Regional Reach Teams. In the old Wednesday model we had the capacity to realistically reach 42% throughout a given month. As Regional Reach Teams launch in cities all over our county we have the potential to reach many more; but more than just reaching people, RRT's disciple people. This is a significant adoption of new rules at TRC. For two decades our primary form of reaching people was through a "church service," but with the adoption of new rules discipleship is now possible in a greater measure as dozens of leaders and hosts prepare themselves.
There is a new trend at The Rock Church. We are headed to Regional Ministry. I can imagine a day when a GRID29:11 will be in several cities. I can see a day when Regional Reach Teams number in the 100's and thousands of people are connecting all around our county. I can imagine it because God has given TRC a vision for it!
One day, a few years from now, our church will be gathered in one place and it will dawn on each of us that TRC's potential is only limited by the vision we believe, the dreams God gives us and the willingness we have to follow Him! One day, we will gather, thousands strong. Why Because there are 660,000 people in our county and TRC believes Jesus Christ wants to connect everyone of them to Life.
