Bill Ellis Riverside Community Church

Bill planted a church in Penn Hills, they were renting in rented space for about 4 years and then purchased. Bill says that he did it the old fashioned way or the hard way. There was a core group to help get the church off of the ground but the pastor that was leading, after his two year commitment, left. That was about the time that Bill came along...it all started from about the size of a small group. There was door to door invitations and advertising in the paper...when it all came down to it it was relationships that began to develop the church and really grow it.

They were meeting in a Masonic temple for a little while, and things were tough in the beginning. Once they moved into a Lutheran church things got a little better but when they finally moved to Oakmont and they had their own building that seemed to be a pivotal point in the history of the church. The church that they meet in now is very traditional in appearance, in fact it is an old Presybeterian church built in the late 1800's.

One of the foundational philosopohies at Riverside Community Church is intentional missionary mentality. It is a go and be as opposed to come and see. He does not want to focus drawing people to the church but drawing the church to the culture.

One of the ways that Riverside brings the Word to the community is by taking VBS into a sister community that is lower in the economic status. They worked with the mayor in both communities and asked "what can we do to serve our community?" Since there is a great population of elderly individuals and meals on wheels is so big they decided to get involved with that...not as a church but as staff members of the church! they take turns; switching among people on Tuesdays.

From the powerpoint presentation:

• The church is viewed in 2 ways:

• functional view- the place where you go to get spiritual or filled up. Marry people, bury people, and go to church for certain occassions.

• Incarnational View- Church is not only a place that performs functions, but it is a place where God dwells. It is a people in whom God lives. God lives within each one of us! WE are the body of Christ....Jesus established the church before there were any buildings or structures to meet in, before there was hiearchy; during this period the church grew substantially!

• There are 2 kinds of people:

• Those who "go to church" and those who see themselves "as the church."
• Our challenge is to help people who mereley "go to church" become those who see themselves "as the church, and help them find the part they are to play in putting God on display to the world.
  
• People are looking to see what God is like. It is our responsibility to put God on display for them to see.
• The American Chruch in Crisis: Christianity Today
• Les than 20% of americans regularly attend church---half of what the pollsters report.
• American church attendance is steadily declining.
• Oly one state is out-pacing its population growth.
• 'Mid-sized churches are shrinking; the smallest and largest churches are growing.
  
• Established churches--40 to 190 years old are on average declining.
• The increase in churches is only 1/4 of what's needed to keep up with population growth

It was C.S. Lewis who observed that "there exists in every church something that sooner or later works against the very purpose for which it came into existence. So we must strive very hard, b the grace of God to keep the church focused on the mission that Christ originally gave to it." The Forgotten ways Alan Hirsh

It is most likely the very contentedness of the church that works agains the church. The church gets "happy" they way they are.

This kind of missional view is difficult to work out. The struggle with the church is that it can easily become about attracting people instead of being a missional church "us going".

Some things that exist in every church that works against the purpose for which it comes into existence:

• Alan Hirsh-- "the major challenge to the viability of Christianity is not Buddhism...not is it Islam...nor the New Age...All of these are challenges, no doubt, but i have come to believe that the major threat to the viability o our faith is that of consumerism."
• People look and search for the "best" churches...the churches that make them feel the best. The church in response to this begins to market itself as a business to attract more "customers" or Christians. Everything we do we do in order to attract participants; and although they may come..there is no way to attract discipleship.
  
• When churches bate people with a consumerism mindset it is difficult to all of a sudden switch it up on them and lead them into discipleship.
  
• Consumerism is opposed to self sacrifice, self denial, taking up our cross; everything that discipleship is. Jesus

A problem with "box" or mega churches is that the people that can lead them is few and in between. If we are going to reach people with the Gospel we need to figure out how reach people effectively and creatively.

Many times we help our church by helping them believe instead of helping them follow. If it is only about believing then the Gospel becomes a sales pitch.

Although I agree that we need to follow Jesus I am wondering if we can expect people to follow something that they do not believe in.

The nation of America is not the Kingdom of God. When the church puts all of its energy into telling people to vote a certain way or certain political party we end up missing the Gospel. The Gospel cannot be equated with specific rules and moral regulations. Christians side with Republicans because they claim that they do not support homosexual marriages or abortion; however in the same respect we end up choosing sides because of these issues and end up missing important issues that only "those liberals" care about. The church needs to be the conscience of the culture! Christians should not need laws to and rules put in place by governemtn and political parties to fulfill the Gospel of Jesus.

Shane Claiborne Irresistible Revolution
Greg Boyd Myth of a Christian Nation

How do these principles and these philosophies flesh themselves out in everday life and ministry?
Once this message of missional thinking began to be preached in the pulpit etc. DNA was reproduced in small groups by investing time and service for relay for life, meals on wheels, salvation army, etc. Students do missions projects not just missions trips. Giving people a taste of how the other world lives. Sending teams to Louisiana to help restore things. A fifth grade class bought Llamas to provide money and milk for other nations. When you do these things and it is a part of of regular service to the community and the paper catches wind of it and you end up in the news paper then the greater community begins to realize the makeup and DNA of the church...which is the body of Christ...which are individuals incarnated by Jesus Christ. When we do Jesus things (the stuff that Jesus did) people fall in love with Him!

For more info on Riverside Community Church see PEACE handout...from Rick Warrens PEACE plan. Also see RCC Missions Goal & Strategy

As a church what are the right questions to ask?

• Should we be asking "how can we get people to come to our church?" or "how can we get our people to engage our community?"
• What are ways we can engage and bless our communities beyond the walls of the church?
• If your church was removed from our community, who, besides our attendees, would miss it?
• How can we get people
• to down-size in order to make room for compassion in a super-size me culture?
  

Amazing! I can see how many people would be turned off by what he says...he does seem to be a little more liberal than many would want. I think he has some pretty incredible views that are definitely reflected by the Gospel of Jesus!