“...In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Acts 20:35
"Why are we doing a working bee anyway?!"
Maybe you’ve been wondering the same thing!
Years ago I read a book about anthropology and social behaviours called 'The Search to Belong’. The author talked about 4 spaces of human belonging (i.e. Public, Social, Personal, Intimate), and something about this resonated with me. Considering these spaces of belonging can impact how we as Church for the City engage our city. For example, if we only offer interaction in the personal and intimate spaces in the form of Worship, Bible Study, and Prayer, etc newcomers will often find it too high of a barrier of entry to overcome.
The little graphic above is an attempt to adapt these Spaces of Belonging that we as a church can exist, within our city.
Notice that 2 of these spaces involve people coming to us (i.e. Fellowship and Hospitality)…often in the form of Sunday Services and Smaller and more Social Settings. That’s not necessarily bad, we just need to recognise that some will still find these spaces intimidating. The other 2 spaces (i.e. Service and Participation) require us to go, to be active, and to be seen. In order to be active in the mission of God, we need a balance of both Inward and Outward activities.
This coming weekend we have the opportunity to go…to both Serve alongside and Participate in the work of Women & Children First to help rescue and house women and children fleeing unsafe homes. Whilst we wish they didn’t need to exist, we want to partner with and serve them in their mission as long as they do…it’s part of what it means to be a Church for the City.
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