With those words, someone looking to be engaged in a new church plant summed up what they thought the role required. Being in the local cafés and the places people are found and becoming someone the locals feel comfortable, and have relationship, with. A long period of eating, drinking and being amongst the people until, relationships developed, they can be brought into dialogue and perhaps a housegroup like reality of 'church'.
Now to some this sounds like a bit of a doss. After all if it was really as simple as just putting a few people out there and funding their Costa bills for five years until they can bring a few lost sheep 'back' it would indeed combine an enjoyable (funded) lifestyle with (some degree of) church growth.
The reality is nothing like as enticing. Church Planting is a time and life consuming, slow fix. It needs people to be working with the pioneer minister and these people need to be committed and mature. It needs the prayer and support of the local churches, especially if the fledgling church will be one that crosses traditional parish boundaries, and it needs understanding.
Understanding that such a work will take time to bring people in and see them becoming believers. For regardless of how long it takes, there needs to be a realisation that it most likely will not result in the 'sending church' adding to its numbers, but it will see believers elsewhere. (Missionary congregations is a costly reality - you give time, money, people and have to expect that you'll never see any of them back with you!).
We need to be sending people out rather than trying to 'bring them back' to a place they have never been.
A hard concept, but one which we need to catch if we're going to see growth and find more people to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with.
Now, how do we do this where we are? Might not be popular.
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