As 2020 approached I had such an expectation in my spirit about the impending 12 months ahead. It felt like I was bubbling with a prophetic sense that something ‘new’ was about to happen in the church and this theme was reinforced by a number of respected and trusted guest speakers we had invited. I must admit, so far this year hasn’t worked out like I was anticipating.

See I Am Doing A New Thing…

On reflection I see that my expectations of the ‘new’ were more like improved versions of the ‘old’. I guess I was hoping that 2020 would be an upgraded version of 2019 rather than a completely different experience. My limited imagination and past experience had conspired to frame a limited understanding of what ‘new’ would look like.

How wrong I was.

So far, much of this year has felt the opposite of an upgrade – if we could I’m sure many of us would like to go back to the previous working version of life and church. But as I reflect on the deep sense of expectation I carried at the sound of Auld Lang Syne, I’m beginning to think that the promise of ‘new’ was right but my interpretation was way off the mark.

Caterpillar > Chrysalis > Butterfly

We all know that caterpillars become butterflies after a transitionary process of being enclosed in a chrysalis. I’ve been musing around this image and suspect I was stuck in caterpillar thinking. I hoped this year to learn some new caterpillar moves, enjoy new caterpillar resources, make new caterpillar friends and enjoy some new caterpillar horizons. This is the sort of new I had expected. I hoped to have a better experience of what was familiar – but then UNPRECEDENTED happened. NEW arrived and it came packaged in a new paradigm.

I believe the new is more ‘butterfly’ than ‘caterpillar’ and right now I sense we are in a ‘chrysalis’ of transition. Things are not as they were and they are not as they will be so could this be a time of key transformation? Could this be a preparation period for the church to emerge in new ways and ‘fly’?

A New Day

I love the church – I love the people – I love the activities we get to do together and I was loving January! But the reality is something has been missing for some time.

There has been much to celebrate. For example at Rediscover Church we have seen people give their lives to Jesus most weeks of the year for many years and we’ve grown, not just numerically, but in depth and maturity. Praise God for these and many other good things, but I still think some things have been missing…

• A lack of bible engagement – research by the bible society on millennials revealed that only 9% of millennial Christians read the bible daily and just 13% engage with it at least once a week. We have an emerging generation of spiritually starved young adults and they are not alone. Maybe their older role models have largely passed on a pattern of enjoying a single prepared spiritual meal at gathered services on Sundays and this has passed on such a culture?

• Prayer – Can I broaden a famous quote by Robert Murray M’Cheyne which says ‘What a man is on his knees before God, that he is, and nothing more’. Can I amend it to say this? ‘What a church is on its knees before God, that it is, and nothing more’. There is definitely more prayer rising in the UK church and it’s been wonderful to see the emergence of movements like 24/7 prayer – but I think it is probably true to say that the vast majority of churches in the west would get more people attending a social event than a prayer gathering. It’s sobering but ‘who we are on our knees is who we are.’

• Tame Adventures – I realise I’m generalising when I say that churches are often filled with people on tame adventures. I know there are many amazing people stepping out and doing amazing things fuelled by the hope of the gospel. But they are probably the minority. Such adventurers were never meant to be the exception – they were meant to be the norm. The gospel calls us to a life of sacrificial adventure but so often we’ve settled for a tamer, more comfortable version.

If this is what ‘caterpillar’ church looks like then bring on the ‘butterfly’.

The Chrysalis

I find myself in the strange place of not being who I was and not yet who I am becoming. I think I’m in a chrysalis stage and it feels like this is reflected in the church. I sense it is a period of transition where I have much to learn, much to review, much to obey, much to let go of and much to embrace.

I feel an inner wrestle – my muscle memory wants to go back to doing caterpillar church but I sense the rising strength of something new. The familiar ground feels less attractive than the fresh breeze of the open skies. This transition is a battle of the familiar and the prophetic – the old and the new – the past and the future – what was and what will be.

Daily Rhythms

During our time of lockdown we have stumbled into developing community rhythms. It started with daily communion (live online). After doing this for almost 2 months (at the time of writing this blog) we are hearing many stories of how it is impacting people’s days. It’s proving to be such a significant 5 minutes investment each morning and a particular joy has been that of seeing new believers coming to Christ and joining us the next morning for communion – it is helping disciple them on their new journey. It has been so precious to gather around the cross together each day.

We’ve also just added another daily rhythm moment which focusses on being filled with the Holy Spirit. It is so encouraging to hear testimonies already of the impact this is having.

In the months ahead there will be other rhythms spread throughout the day. I believe it will help our church community be more defined by a Christ-centred lifestyle than simply our attendance at Sunday gatherings. We look forward to gathering, but we believe that so much of what we tried to achieve in our gatherings will now be achieved daily in people’s lives.

We are discovering that ‘New Means New’ rather than ‘New Means Slightly Improved’!

The New

But this is not the only new change. I believe there will be much transition taking place in the days ahead. I believe there are a few hallmarks of the ‘NEW’ as churches:

• Emphasise rhythms more than programmes

• Develop more kingdom partnerships to impact entire areas

• Place a greater emphasis on releasing people to adventures than on recruiting them for ministry teams

• Be postured on our knees in sacrificial service and prayerful authority

Our communities need the church like never before.

I pray we will rise up and allow God to do His NEW THING in and through us.