Change: Multiplication for Mission
May 15 08
If you have been tuned in for the past few months at liberti, you have probably noticed the changes in our community. This Spring marks a major season of change and transition—going from one church with three sites to become a movement of churches.
Why mess with a good thing?
liberti has been an ever-changing community. As we have grown, the Elders observed that we were clearly at the limit of what our model could accomplish. Our old paradigm, three sites that were entirely interconnected, was doable for a time. But model always should be the servant of mission. We outgrew our model and it began to threaten the future of our mission—to be a church-planting church in Philadelphia—to grow laterally, not simply up. The former model, three in one, became cumbersome administratively, made leadership feel more distant from the community, and most importantly, could not expand.
So here we are—a new day.
Over the course of the next few months, liberti church will become a movement of liberti churches:
- liberti: Fairmount will be lead by Geoff Bradford as Pastor and a team of their own elders and deacons.
- liberti: Fishtown will be lead by Steve Huber as Pastor and a team of their own elders and deacons.
- liberti: Roxborough, our youngest congregation, will be moving toward further independence. We plan to call a new pastor and to work for the development of leadership. It will have provisional oversight by liberti: Fairmount’s elders for a season.
- AND THEN: we look to see the development and launch of a new congregation in South Philadelphia in partnership with a guy named Jared Ayers, who will be relocating to Philadelphia over the summer to begin the work for this new church, under the oversight of liberti: Fishtown’s elders.
That is exactly what we want to see continue!
That is why we are Multiplying. For Mission. To continue to be able to answer God’s calling on us as a movement to be able to plant more and more gospel-centered churches that incarnate Jesus’ love in their neighborhood.
You will see further developments of our multiplication: A new re-vamp of our website this summer. New support staff members that are specific to each particular congregation. New offices that are separate. We celebrate these developments, and ask for the community’s support and encouragement as we learn what it means to be a movement together.
Some might be asking,
“What will be shared? Does this mean that everything is now separate? Not at all. We love the synergy that we experience in community-based leadership. Many things will be shared: a common vision and values, resources for church planting, resources for international ministries, training events, special retreats and seminars, and most importantly, a common mission that will continue. The elders from the liberti churches will continue to meet together periodically, the staffs will meet monthly for prayer and partnership. Don’t worry, the relationships and vision are intact.
We recognize that change always means challenge.
Change is hard and there will be some aspects of our community and our ministry that will simply be different. I know that you may experience some of this as a loss to be grieved. The elders also have experienced some of that—especially with the simultaneous and unrelated timing of some departures of key beloved staff people (Lutzes, Brauds). It is OK to grieve that. But we ask that the community both looks back and looks ahead. Back at what God has done with gratitude. Forward at what God is calling us to do and be for his fame in our city as we are on his mission.
Peace of Christ,
Geoff, for our Elders