No, it’s not named Zera.
This blog is helping lay the groundwork for a Seattle church plant, lead by two pastors fresh out of seminary.
We’re not sure what the church will be named yet. We’re waiting for a few more people to joining the team, and we want everyone to be part of that decision.
The Zera Project (zeh-RAH being Hebrew for seed) is the part where we’re putting together the team who will lead this new church. And that’s what this blog is about. We’d like you to think about being a part of this little new church that doesn’t even have a name yet.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
who we are.
Jen Grabarcyzk is a current MDiv student at Mars Hill Graduate School. She is a working artist (primarily a painter), spending time with both her own artwork, and connecting artists to community (within MHGS and the greater Seattle area). She is passionate about reconciling creativity/imagination (the arts and artists) with the Church, and longs to explore ways of expression and worship in church life that do not rely solely, or primarily, on the spoken word.
Paul Belk is a Texas native and graduate of Mars Hill Graduate School where received his Master of Divinity. Previous to living in Seattle, Paul was the director of an arts ministry in Texas. Most recently, he was on staff with a local, inner-city, urban church here in Seattle. He is married to Anne and they enjoy raising their black lab Hannah together.
Tucker FitzGerald is a graduate from Mars Hill Graduate School with his Master of Divinity. He has seven years of experience youth pastoring at Pentecostal and Presbyterian churches. He grew up in Montana, and is happily married to Jen. They are in the midst of adopting their first child.
Paul Belk is a Texas native and graduate of Mars Hill Graduate School where received his Master of Divinity. Previous to living in Seattle, Paul was the director of an arts ministry in Texas. Most recently, he was on staff with a local, inner-city, urban church here in Seattle. He is married to Anne and they enjoy raising their black lab Hannah together.
Tucker FitzGerald is a graduate from Mars Hill Graduate School with his Master of Divinity. He has seven years of experience youth pastoring at Pentecostal and Presbyterian churches. He grew up in Montana, and is happily married to Jen. They are in the midst of adopting their first child.
what we're proposing.
In the long run we want to form a Christian community with 3 parts:
Abbey. We want a community abbey in the Celtic tradition that is a literal, physical place that is open to our entire community, regardless of religion, beliefs, or background. After-school programs, job training, a great coffee shop, local concerts, a farmer’s market or whatever the neighborhood needs.
Church. We want a hybrid home/building church that primarily meets in small groups in people’s living rooms on a weekly basis for dinner, conversation, and worship, but with monthly large gatherings of the whole church in a more traditional worship setting.
Order. We want a neo-monastic order where people can spend a season or longer living together in a thoughtful, intentional way. Somewhere between a commune and a school, the order would provide a place for people to explore vocation, ministry training, and personal call.
For now though, we’re starting with just the church part.
marked.
what is distinctive about the faith community we’re beginning?
Christian
We are first and foremost an orthodox (i.e. conforming to historical Christian beliefs), catholic (i.e. part of the one, historical Christian Church), Christian community. We believe that we are called together by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the son of the God of all creation, to be reconciled to our Maker, ourselves, and one another.
canonical + creedal
We actively adhere to the boundaries of the trajectory of faith that has been held by millions of Christians for thousands of years, the Christianity recorded in Scripture and agreed upon in the Nicene and Apostles creeds.
a generous orthodoxy
We will regard the full spectrum of orthodox Christianity with humility and curiosity, looking to nurture a diverse theological and methodological community around a shared mission of living into the Gospel. We will look for ways that God is at work in traditions outside of orthodox Christianity and in other places that seem alien to our faith. "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity."
team pastoring
We will approach pastoring as a team and not in isolation, with our first hope being that we can care well for our fellow pastors and nurture their ministry while allowing them to minister to us. The care we offer church members and our neighborhood would be an outpouring of the care we receive, and the life we are inviting them into would be a life that we are first invited into by our fellow pastors.
pastors will facilitate and invite rather than do
Our pastor’s role in the church will be to invite and facilitate church members in carrying out the mission of the church, rather than attempting to carry out the work of the church themselves. Pastors will not play a central role in weekly meetings, but rather will be responsible to create a safe space for church members to minister to each other, their neighborhood, and their world.
low ratio of pastors to church members
We aren’t interested in the industrial efficiency of hundreds of church members per pastor, but plan on keeping the ratio around 1:10 to 1:15. This sets the pastors up to shepherd through relationship rather than through broadcasting information.
asking for a deep commitment
We are looking to create a space for Christians wanting to make a deep commitment to a faith community. Our financial model will rely on members tithing, and our small groups will be built around specific groups of people committed to gathering regularly for a set season. We hope our monthly service will be a safe, inviting place for people to casually visit us and explore our community, but our weekly small groups will be a place for people who have made a deep commitment of their time, resources, and heart.
relational + active
We are approaching human growth and spiritual formation from an understanding that change takes place first in relationships, second in action, and lastly is only supplemented by information and ideas. We will work to integrate Theology, Psychology, and Art in both our methods and our pastoral training. We will rely on regular group and 1:1 relational counseling as well as group and 1:1 spiritual direction as a central part of our ministry for all church members.
conversation over monologue
We believe that humble interaction with God, ourselves, each other, and our neighbors will produce surprising and beautiful results that premeditated monologues could never offer.
holistic
We will approach whole people and whole lives in the context of community as we look to shepherd our fellow pastors, our members, and our community well. We will work to integrate Theology, Psychology, Art, nutrition, economics, spirituality, relationships, sexuality, ethics, and religion in a way that emphasizes the connectedness of our families, neighborhoods, and world. We will seek to order our year around both the lunar / solar calendar and as the traditional Christian calendar, observing the seasons and holidays as a way of pacing our lives.
intentionally diverse / egalitarian
We will seek out leadership and members of diverse ethnic and theological backgrounds, with a particular attention to sharing power equally between women and men. We believe that diversity is more than acceptable, but is in fact deeply needed. We believe that we are in greater need of a diverse leadership than diverse leaders are in need of invitations to lead.
Christian
We are first and foremost an orthodox (i.e. conforming to historical Christian beliefs), catholic (i.e. part of the one, historical Christian Church), Christian community. We believe that we are called together by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the son of the God of all creation, to be reconciled to our Maker, ourselves, and one another.
canonical + creedal
We actively adhere to the boundaries of the trajectory of faith that has been held by millions of Christians for thousands of years, the Christianity recorded in Scripture and agreed upon in the Nicene and Apostles creeds.
a generous orthodoxy
We will regard the full spectrum of orthodox Christianity with humility and curiosity, looking to nurture a diverse theological and methodological community around a shared mission of living into the Gospel. We will look for ways that God is at work in traditions outside of orthodox Christianity and in other places that seem alien to our faith. "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity."
team pastoring
We will approach pastoring as a team and not in isolation, with our first hope being that we can care well for our fellow pastors and nurture their ministry while allowing them to minister to us. The care we offer church members and our neighborhood would be an outpouring of the care we receive, and the life we are inviting them into would be a life that we are first invited into by our fellow pastors.
pastors will facilitate and invite rather than do
Our pastor’s role in the church will be to invite and facilitate church members in carrying out the mission of the church, rather than attempting to carry out the work of the church themselves. Pastors will not play a central role in weekly meetings, but rather will be responsible to create a safe space for church members to minister to each other, their neighborhood, and their world.
low ratio of pastors to church members
We aren’t interested in the industrial efficiency of hundreds of church members per pastor, but plan on keeping the ratio around 1:10 to 1:15. This sets the pastors up to shepherd through relationship rather than through broadcasting information.
asking for a deep commitment
We are looking to create a space for Christians wanting to make a deep commitment to a faith community. Our financial model will rely on members tithing, and our small groups will be built around specific groups of people committed to gathering regularly for a set season. We hope our monthly service will be a safe, inviting place for people to casually visit us and explore our community, but our weekly small groups will be a place for people who have made a deep commitment of their time, resources, and heart.
relational + active
We are approaching human growth and spiritual formation from an understanding that change takes place first in relationships, second in action, and lastly is only supplemented by information and ideas. We will work to integrate Theology, Psychology, and Art in both our methods and our pastoral training. We will rely on regular group and 1:1 relational counseling as well as group and 1:1 spiritual direction as a central part of our ministry for all church members.
conversation over monologue
We believe that humble interaction with God, ourselves, each other, and our neighbors will produce surprising and beautiful results that premeditated monologues could never offer.
holistic
We will approach whole people and whole lives in the context of community as we look to shepherd our fellow pastors, our members, and our community well. We will work to integrate Theology, Psychology, Art, nutrition, economics, spirituality, relationships, sexuality, ethics, and religion in a way that emphasizes the connectedness of our families, neighborhoods, and world. We will seek to order our year around both the lunar / solar calendar and as the traditional Christian calendar, observing the seasons and holidays as a way of pacing our lives.
intentionally diverse / egalitarian
We will seek out leadership and members of diverse ethnic and theological backgrounds, with a particular attention to sharing power equally between women and men. We believe that diversity is more than acceptable, but is in fact deeply needed. We believe that we are in greater need of a diverse leadership than diverse leaders are in need of invitations to lead.
weekly small group gatherings.
Our weekly small group gatherings would be a time for dinner, reflection on our lives, and worship, in a small, committed group. These would occur in a host's home, and would be organized and shepherded by a pastor and an elder.
monthly large worship gatherings.
Our monthly large worship gathering would bring together the entire church once a month in a coffee shop or in a sanctuary. We would have music, poetry, art, and sometimes even a speaker. These would be more open, public gatherings, where people would be invited to casually check out our community.
spiritual formation.
Traditionally, large group gatherings with a stage and audience have been the centerpiece of spiritual formation, while small group discussion is used to supplement. We would work with an inversion of those two settings.
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