The Inside-Out Church

Author: Mark Fenstermacher
May 20, 2022

As I walked down the sidewalk after having lunch with my brother, a construction worker on the other side of the street shouted my name. I stopped. “You got a minute?” he yelled. “You in a hurry?”

I had a minute.

My buddy (he doesn’t attend our church) and I talked about his work, a medical crisis in the family, and the baptism of a nephew. 

My day started with a conversation in the YMCA locker room. Another conversation took place in a coffee shop.

Acts says that Simon Peter went “here and there” around Joppa.

I like that. I think ministry and being human is a lot of moving “here and there.” I love connecting with people. I love listening to their stories. I love it that guys feel comfortable shouting my name as their crew finishes demolishing a building.

Only a little of ministry is about sitting in an office or inhabiting a pulpit: it’s also about moving “here and there.”

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The Christian community is—we sometimes forget this—a sent-out community.

Jesus didn’t invite the disciples to sit down where they were, but he invited them to follow (Matthew 4:19) him down the road. Talk about leaving your comfort zone! They left their businesses, their families and friends, and their neighborhood behind to go off down the road with Jesus.

After a period of time, sharing meals and lessons and travel together, after months of getting to know one another and learning the holy rhythms of truth-telling, serving, and loving, Jesus sent them out (Matthew 10:5) to God’s lost sheep and share good news, cure the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons.

Several weeks ago, during a staff meeting, I drew concentric circles on the board. At the center of the circles was one marked YOU. Then, the next ring was marked STAFF. The next ring was marked LEADERSHIP. The fourth ring was marked CONGREGATION. Finally, the outer ring was marked COMMUNITY. 

After we had read from Acts 8 about the Spirit leading Philip out to a wilderness road where he met/changed the life of the Ethiopian eunuch), I asked this question:  “How do you decide what amount of your time and energy will go to time with STAFF, time with inside LEADERS, the CONGREGATION, and—finally—the greater COMMUNITY?”

One of the things the pandemic did was push ministry teams inside the church. That was exactly the appropriate place to invest our resources as in-person meetings and conversations became nearly impossible. 

As the pandemic recedes (?), and the people God call us to reach out on a wilderness road, how will we determine what amount of our time, energy, and gifts will go beyond the STAFF, beyond the LEADERS, beyond the CONGREGATION out into the larger COMMUNITY?

Where does our time and energy go? Where are the people and what wilderness roads might they be traveling? What would it look like if First United Methodist Church wasn’t only about attracting people to come to church but the church going out to where the people are?

I am so thankful for you. I celebrate the way the Holy Spirit is helping us learn more and more how to be God’s sent out people.

Peace,
Pastor Mark

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