Rewilding Churches And Neighbourhoods

 Last week I recorded a You Tube interview by Scott Brennan on the App we shall shortly launch for millennials on The Way.

Click  https://youtu.be/W5KdEqu1vsg

My attention was arrested this week by this tweet from a church planter: 'I struggle with the language of "planting", with its implication of something introduced from outside. I am more drawn to the image of "rewilding"; what might church growth look like if it takes place naturally from seeds and spores already in the soil of a particular place?'

This week Climate Crisis meant parts of England and Wales were ravaged by floods so I tweeted this prayer:  

 'God establish our towns and cities with surrounding farms and wetlands that soak up flood water, with homes and shops that are far-sighted and with inhabitants who are brothers and sisters to one another.' 

 Great news that Ash Barker's Winson Green Fresh Expression has secured permission to run Green  House as a place of retreat.

Alan Scott, a leader in the Vineyard Movement, draws upon his years of experience to share inspiring stories of cities transformed by scattered servants. He shares practical ways for church leaders to move beyond the building walls and take the kingdom to those who need it most. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Scott argues that every believer, not just the leaders, can fill their city, workplace, and family with the beauty and power of Christ.
 
When believers become scattered servants, the Holy Spirit will equip them to advance the kingdom and change lives through their hearts and hands.  See his book Scattered Servants: Unleashing the Church to Bring Life to the City

1. Assess its assets and unmet needs.

Asset-based community development (ABCD) is a methodology for the sustainable development of communities based on their strengths and potentials. It involves assessing the resources, skills, and experience available in a community; organizing the community around issues that move its members into action; and then determining and taking appropriate action. This method uses the community's own assets and resources as the basis for development; it empowers the people of the community by encouraging them to utilize what they already possess.  

The ABCD approach was developed by John L. McKnight and John P. Kretzmann at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. They co-authored a book in 1993, Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing A Community’s Assets, which outlined their asset-based approach to community development. The Community Development Program at Northwestern University’s Institute for Policy Research established the Asset-Based Community Development Institute based on three decades of research and community work by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight.