How micro churches are enlivening the Western church imagination
I’m the first to say there is no one right model for the church. As I have seen the rise in prominence of the micro church movement around Australia, I have noticed some really encouraging side effects for the predominant church model.
Not only is there missional energy rising; a desire to look outside of ourselves and move into our local communities, there is another crucial shift that is taking place. The church is beginning to imagine again.
Our imagination, the mental models we hold of the world, dictate our actions. We see it in the disciples. They had a particular mental model of what the Messiah was going to do, and they acted in line with that. They lacked an imagination for other possibilities beyond a political leader, which eventually lead to Jesus saying to Peter, ‘Get behind me Satan’!
Scott Cormode takes this idea and then suggests, “If you want to change how Christians act outside the church, change the mental models they carry with them as they go into the world.”[1] Our mental models, or perhaps our lack of them, have limited the imagination of the church. The old saying rings true – ‘When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.’ But what if the church had more tools in its toolkit?
One of the challenges the church has faced is that we had a single mental model of being church. A single picture of a single form. Yes, there are some differences in how we gather, but ultimately the model around the Western world looks pretty similar. And yet, we know we are invited as the people of God to participate in His incredible Kingdom mission in the world. To limit Him to a single model or way of gathering is ludicrous. God is a creative God. As we look throughout history, we can see that the church has existed in various forms, as has the way we participate in mission. Mike Frost does a great job to unpack this in his book Mission is the Shape of Water. He suggests that while the mission we are called to participate in never changes, the shape of it can and should:
“.. the words we use, and how we demonstrate God’s reign, are situation specific; the exact contours of the mission of God’s people are fluid. Just like water. Mission is determined by the container into which it is poured. It will take different shapes, depending on the culture in which it is presented. And throughout history, our mission has been shaped differently, depending on the challenges and interests of people in each epoch.”[2]
Mike suggests that by studying history we will free our imagination and see the many and varied possibilities of how God has worked in the past. While at times the micro church movement has argued for a ‘return’ to the ‘biblical model of church’, it’s far more complex and nuanced than that. There have been many models of mission and church; each with its own advantages and challenges; each which flourished in a particular time and place. The Western church needs to capture this broader imagination.
Jesus expanded people’s imaginations through stories and parables. In Australia, I have seen how micro churches are living parables to a watching church. They are demonstrating how we can think differently, and how the people of God can gather in different, creative ways aimed at reach particular networks and neighbourhoods. They are a living testimony that we have more than a hammer in our hands and there is in fact quite a broad ranging toolbelt and the predominant church model is beginning to catch this imagination.
I consulted with a small church who had heard of the micro church movement growing around them in their area. Their circumstances made turning into a micro church themselves near impossible, but it did help them to reimagine the possibilities for mission in their own area. They stopped running a range of programs that were draining their energy and they started moving out into their neighbourhood to serve in existing community groups. Over time, this led to disciples in a community photography group. Months later, the church held a series of creative worship gatherings using the work of the photographers as prompts for worship and prayer, engaging a range of people from the photography group.
God may not be calling you to lead a micro church (or maybe He is), but I’m sure he is calling you to make disciples in your local community context. May you have the imagination you need to trust and follow our creative God’s leading, however different it may be from your current experience.
[1] Scott Cormode, “Cultivating Missional Leaders: Mental Models and the Ecology of Vocation”, in Craig van Gelder (ed.) The Missional Church & Leadership Formation: Helping Congregations Develop Leadership Capacity, (Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009), 106.
[2] Mike Frost, Mission is the Shape of Water: Learning from the past to inform our role in the world today, (Wyoming: 100M Publishing, 2023), xiii.
Rev. Bree Mills
Bree is an ordained Anglican minister, about to start a new role as the Canon to the Archbishop for Church Planting in the Diocese of Melbourne. She is the founder of Micro Movements, and a doctoral student in the area of Missional Leadership, focusing on how we develop innovative missional leadership in the Australian context. Bree has a particular passion for raising up women for church planting and has partnered with women all over the world to launch Reimagine, a network to support women in church planting.
Resting, she loves to spend time with her husband and kids, exploring the outdoors, reading books, and wakeboarding when the Melbourne weather allows for it!