Participants did more than sit and listen to speakers.
One afternoon they visited other church or potential church sites. The goal was both educational and practical — experiential learning, but also research for the San Clemente church, which is seeking to plant new churches in the neighboring communities.
At each site, participants talked with people in these communities. They also spent time thinking, praying, and envisioning what a new church might look like in that context. “The whole reason we volunteered to host this conference is because I wanted to have all of you come to this community and see it with new eyes,” Bolsinger said.
San Clemente, a beachside community in Southern California, is financially affluent. Range Rovers are not uncommon. Planned communities with well-manicured medians are the norm. Participants said they were taken aback by what struck them as excessive wealth, going even so far as to wonder if they could be called to such a privileged place. Others were surprised at the negative reaction of residents when they asked a few questions at public places such as a local coffee house.
Conference co-host, Brian Clark, led the group debriefing after the site visits. “I find that the things that distress me most are our next new ministry opportunities,” Clark said. He is also a new church development coach and pastor of Riverside Church, Sterling, Va.
Bolsinger provided a mental image that turned the somewhat critical and strictly informational site visit reports into a wider vision for those gathered, to take forward.
He told participants about two men in his church, both older, both widowers. One of them, Hal, is blind. The other, Gus, is in a wheelchair. Hal cannot see and Gus cannot walk, but together, recounted Bolsinger, they can get somewhere, each providing an essential element to the other.
“How much do our ordinary local congregations need all of you to bring eyes that see,” said Bolsinger to the NCD conference participants. The local church, though it has resources to offer, can often become blind, he said. “But, how much you who are planting new churches also need us to help you get somewhere.”
Those with resources but little vision need those with vision but little to work with, the pastor pointed out. Both need to learn to work together. “We need to be having these kinds of conversations in more and more churches so that we can learn from each other,” said Bolsinger. “What we need is to let Hal and Gus lead the way.”
