Our Mission Field: Central Redwood City

After gathering for six months and exegeting four Redwood City neighborhoods, our learning community has chosen to focus on central Redwood City--a diverse (in terms of age, ethnicity, and socioeconomics)neighborhood that is a mix of urb and burb, encompassing the downtown area and several suburban blocks. I've walked this neighborhood many times, including just the other day. Here's what it looks like on a weekday afternoon in late February.

Why Mainline/Oldline Denominations Should Focus on Church Planting

Pastor Carol Howard Merritt explains why mainline/oldline denominations should "[f]ocus on urban church planting," supporting faith communities that are "innovative" and that have "a strong sense of social justice and mission": http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/tribal-church.

Street Church Redwood City

On November 7, we launched Street Church Redwood City, feeding a hot meal to eight friends who live outside downtown. Last night (Monday, January 23), we fed forty-three people. These friends ranged in age from a child in a stroller to folks old enough to have been the child's grandparents.

Every Monday night from 7:30 to 9ish, we gather outside in a gravel parking lot in downtown Redwood City to do church. Acts 2:42 describes the practices of the early church: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." Street Church is a community that does all these things.

Street Church RWC is an ecumenical effort--faith communities of various shapes and sizes have been participating. I'm thankful for everyone who has been involved in this work of the Spirit. To get involved, send an email to Vicky@streetlifeministries.org (to volunteer to cook food) or to megan@streetlifeministries.org (to volunteer to serve food).

Summary of 14 Redwood City Church Visits

Over the past several months, I have visited the worship services of almost all of Redwood City's English-speaking Protestant churches (I might have missed one or two). Without exception, my fourteen visits were interesting experiences--at times even fascinating. The purpose of my visits was twofold: (1) I hoped to assess the need for a new faith community in Redwood City, and (2) I hoped to discern who is currently under-served by existing churches. Here's what I learned:

1. On a typical weekend, about 1500 people attend the worship services of Redwood City's English-speaking Protestant churches. This number represents only about 2% of Redwood City's approximately 80,000 residents! Of course, a substantial number of people worship with Redwood City's four Roman Catholic and several Spanish-speaking Protestant churches. Still, there is clearly room for more churches in this community.
2. Only two of the fourteen churches I visited had a majority ethnicity numbering no more than 80%. Of these two churches, one had no more than three dozen worshipers. Ten of the more monoethnic churches were Anglo, one was Asian, and one was Tongan.
3. Most of the churches were multigenerational, but few had large numbers of Gen Xers and Millennials.
4. Eleven of the churches showed evidence of decline--their worshiping communities were far too small to fill their worship spaces.
5. There are just four mainline/oldline Protestant churches in Redwood City (two Methodist, one Lutheran, and one Episcopalian). All of these churches showed evidence of decline, and all of them had under one hundred worshipers present the Sundays I visited. Two of them had under fifty worshipers present.
6. The theological house of eight or nine of the fourteen churches I visited was conservative; rooms in this house included evangelical, Pentecostal, and Lutheran. All of these churches had plenty of space for more people. Redwood City doesn't seem to need any more conservative churches.
7. Only one church occupied a progressive theological house. This church also verbalized a low Christology, and its worship was undercontextualized. It was not clear to me that any of the churches occupied a progressive evangelical theological house--that is, I did not see and hear the thoughtfulness about faith, on the one hand, and the passion for Jesus, on the other hand, that is exhibited in the combination of a strong social conscience (advocating creation care, economic justice, gender equality, multiculturalism, nonviolence, peacemaking, and racial reconciliation) and a high Christology (affirming both the incarnation and the resurrection). For examples of progressive evangelical theology, see here and here.

In summary, Redwood City has room for new faith communities. Few of its existing faith communities are both multigenerational and multiethnic; some are neither. The mainline/oldline Protestant presence is small and declining, and there is no Presbyterian presence. The city suffers from a dearth of moderate to progressive Christian voices. One hue of the Christian mosaic that is largely absent from Redwood City's life is the progressive evangelical hue.

Redwood City Church Visit #14

I am worshiping with established Redwood City churches in order to learn what they are already doing. My hope is to imagine a faith community that is different from these churches in order to engage people in God's mission who are not already so engaged (the unchurched or dechurched); I don't want to cannibalize existing churches. My posts on my local church visits will be descriptions, not evaluations.

Redwood City Church #14

Denomination: United Methodist Church
Facility: Traditional church building
Location: Central Redwood City
Pew Bible: ?
Theological House: Moderate Protestant
Worship Services: 1 on Sunday mornings; 1 on Sunday afternoons (Tongan)
Worship Style: Traditional

On a drizzly Sunday morning, I joined about 30 others to worship God in a traditional (and somewhat dilapidated) church building. The worship space had room for hundreds more. Four of us were Anglo (the other three elderly women), the rest Tongan (including several teens and children). The Tongan pastor's English was better than my Tongan. In-between traditional songs and prayers, he gave a brief message that I struggled to understand.

Redwood City Church Visit #13

I am worshiping with established Redwood City churches in order to learn what they are already doing. My hope is to imagine a faith community that is different from these churches in order to engage people in God's mission who are not already so engaged (the unchurched or dechurched); I don't want to cannibalize existing churches. My posts on my local church visits will be descriptions, not evaluations.

Redwood City Church #13

Denomination: Non-denominational
Facility: Traditional church building
Location: North Redwood City
Pew Bible: English Standard Version
Theological House: Moderate Evangelical
Worship Services: 1 on Sunday mornings
Worship Style: Contemporary/Emerging

On a sunny and warm Sunday morning in January (ah, California!), I worshiped with approximately 120 others--a multigenerational mix that was mostly Anglo and about 10 percent Asian--in a dimly lit sanctuary. Candles and coffee tables gave the worship space an emerging feel, although the only station was for Communion at the end of the service. The space had been updated with a screen, on which song lyrics and (just before the message) a video were projected. The guitar-driven music was rock, with an opening set of songs that moved from loud and fast to softer and slower. Prayer transitioned us from sung word to spoken word, the latter of which was offered by a fortysomething man (he had also played guitar) who wore jeans and spoke conversationally. Skillfully mixing an informal tone with cerebral insights, the preacher made use of a number of slides in his exegesis and application of Acts 1:1-8. (Appropriately, the first chapter of Acts describes about 120 Jesus-followers gathering together.) The hour-long gathering closed with the Lord's Supper, which was introduced simply and taken by semi-intinction (the elements were picked up at stations and consumed in our chairs).

Redwood City in Pictures

Wrestling with Revelation 4:1-5:14

Wrestling with Revelation

Round Four: Revelation 4:1-5:14

“Revelation is not to be likened to an ‘apricot with a hard core’ but more to an ‘onion’ consisting of layers and layers of meaning.”

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza

First Impressions

1. Pray.
2. Read Revelation 4:1-5:14 twice slowly, using different translations and noting significant variations.
3. Initial questions:

·         What do these two chapters record?

·         Who receives praise (worship) in this passage?

·         How would you subtitle this section of Revelation?

·         As the passage was read, which phrase(s) or verse(s) caused you to pause or stop? Paraphrase this phrase or verse.

Dwelling in the Text

1. Why do you think you paused or stopped where you did?
2. In general, what does a throne symbolize? In the first-century Roman Empire, who would it have called to mind? How might this person have responded to literature that presents God as “one seated on [a] throne” (4:2)?
3. Is there anything in this passage that points toward a doctrine of the Trinity? 
4. The word worship is derived from the Old English word worthship. John hears a heavenly chorus sing, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power” (4:11a). According to this song, what makes God worth praise? Who is offering the praise? To which contemporary concern is this relevant?
5. What contrasting images—both representing Jesus—are juxtaposed in 5:5-6? What does the image in verse 5 convey about what Jesus has done? What does the image in verse 6 convey about how he has done this?
6. What does the “new song” of 5:9 say about the death of Jesus and the kingdom of God?

The Text in Context

1. Wrestling with Revelation 4:3:

·         Read Genesis 9:8-17 and put it in conversation with Revelation 4:3.

·         Describe the characteristics of the covenant symbolized by the rainbow.

2. Wrestling with Revelation 4:4:

·         Read Revelation 21:12-14 and put it in conversation with Revelation 4:4.

·         What does the number twenty-four suggest about the relationship between Judaism and Christianity?

3. Wrestling with Revelation 4:6a:

·         Read Genesis 1:1-2 and put it in conversation with Revelation 4:6a.

·         How is the sea of heaven different from the waters of the original creation? What is Revelation here saying about God?

Wrestling with Revelation 3:1-22

Wrestling with Revelation

Round Three: Revelation 3:1-22

“The seven messages tell us that there is a wide spectrum within the churches, from the highly accommodating to those who are persecuted—undoubtedly for not accommodating.”

Michael Gorman

First Impressions

1. Pray.
2. Read Revelation 3:1-22 twice slowly, using different translations and noting significant variations.
3. Initial questions:

·         Who is speaking in this passage? Who are the addressees?

·         Who receives the most criticism in this passage? Who receives the most praise?

·         As the passage was read, which phrase(s) or verse(s) caused you to pause or stop? Paraphrase this phrase or verse.

Dwelling in the Text

1. Why do you think you paused or stopped where you did?
2. With which of the three churches does the church in America have the least in common? Explain. With which of the three churches does Trinity Presbyterian Church have the least in common? Again, explain.
3. With which of the three churches does the church in America have the most in common? Explain. With which of the three churches does Trinity Presbyterian Church have the most in common? Again, explain.
   

The Text in Context

1. Wrestling with Revelation 3:1-6:

·         The church in Sardis is known for “being alive” but is in fact “dead” (3:1). What might characterize a church that looks alive but in reality is dead?

·         The church in Sardis is diagnosed as “dead” or “on the point of death” (3:2). What prescription is offered?

·         Read Matthew 24:42-44 and put it in conversation with Revelation 3:3.

2. Wrestling with Revelation 3:7-13:

·         For what is the church in Philadelphia praised? Does it receive any criticism?

·         Do Revelation 3:3 and 3:11 contradict each other? Why or why not?

·         What do you make of Revelation’s rewards language (3:12, for example)? Is it compatible with the Pauline conviction that salvation is by grace—God’s free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9)? Explain.

3. Wrestling with Revelation 3:14-22:

·         The church in Laodicea is famously criticized for being “neither cold nor hot” but “lukewarm” (3:15-16). Biblical scholars Eugene Boring and Michael Gorman disagree on how best to interpret this criticism. Boring thinks the terms in question “were used in the sense of ‘against me’ and ‘for me.’ The Laodiceans attempted to be neither for nor against [Jesus Christ].”[1] Gorman argues:

The text…does not present a spectrum with two extremes—hot (for Jesus) and cold (against Jesus)—and a wishy-washy middle. Rather, it presents two antithetical points, the first of which is illustrated with…hot water and cold water. Both of these are pleasing and beneficial, while lukewarm water is precisely the opposite, disgusting to taste…. “Lukewarm” here means so prosperous and supposedly self-sufficient (3:17) as to be completely out of fellowship with Jesus.[2]

Which of these two interpretations do you find most compelling? Why?

·         The seven messages all end with an exhortation to conquer (3:21, for example). What is to be conquered?

[1] M. Eugene Boring, The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 2219.

[2] Michael J. Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011), 96.

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Wrestling with Revelation 2:1-29

Wrestling with Revelation

Round Two: Revelation 2:1-29

“Comfort…is only one side of Revelation’s story. Of John’s seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor (Rev. 2:1-3:22), only half are comforting.”

Harry Maier

First Impressions

1. Pray.
2. Read Revelation 2:1-29 twice slowly, using different translations and noting significant variations.
3. Initial questions:

·         Who is speaking in this passage? Who are the addressees?

·         With what tone do you imagine these words were spoken?

·         As the passage was read, which phrase(s) or verse(s) caused you to pause or stop? Paraphrase this phrase or verse. 

Dwelling in the Text

1. Why do you think you paused or stopped where you did?
2. With which of the four churches does the church in America have the least in common? Explain. With which of the four churches does Trinity Presbyterian Church have the least in common? Again, explain.
3. With which of the four churches does the church in America have the most in common? Explain. With which of the four churches does Trinity Presbyterian Church have the most in common? Again, explain.
   

The Text in Context

1. Wrestling with Revelation 2:1-7:

·         The message to the church in Ephesus begins with “I know your works” (2:2) and later makes the survival of the church there conditional—“I will…remove your lampstand [“lampstand” = church] from its place, unless you repent [literally translated, ‘change your mind’]” (2:5). Does this message convey grace—that is, unmerited favor? If not, does this absence trouble you? Why or why not? (Recall Luther’s quote from last week in which he claims that “Christ is not taught or known in [Revelation].” Might Luther have meant that the book was missing an emphasis on grace?)

·         Is this first message a pastoral (comforting) word or a prophetic (convicting) word? Explain.

·         Read James 2:14-19 and put it in conversation with Revelation 2:2-5.

2. Wrestling with Revelation 2:8-11:

·         How can people be both in “poverty” and “rich” (2:9)? New Testament scholar Eugene Boring thinks that “here poverty is meant literally. Christians have suffered economic discrimination and sanctions, but they are nonetheless spiritually rich.”[1] Revelation 2:9 might be paraphrased, “I know your affliction and your physical poverty, even though you are spiritually rich.” Can you think of a better explanation?

·         Christians in Smyrna are about to suffer persecution in the form of imprisonment. Who are the implied accomplices to this persecution? (Who in the Roman Empire has the power to imprison?)

·         Note that the message to the church in Smyrna is all praise, no criticism. Why might this be?

·         Read James 2:1-7 and put it in conversation with Revelation 2:9-10.

3. Wrestling with Revelation 2:12-17:

·         What about the church in Pergamum is appreciated? (“Satan’s throne” probably refers to the acropolis in Pergamum, where both a temple of the imperial cult [for worship of Caesar] and an altar to Zeus were located.)

·         What about the church in Pergamum is criticized?

·         Read Romans 8:4-13 and put it in conversation with Revelation 2:14.

4. Wrestling with Revelation 2:18-29:

·         What works of the church in Thyatira are commended?

·         “‘Jezebel’…is a literal false prophet or a symbol of accommodation.”[2] In what ways are some in the church in Thyatira accommodating to Roman culture?

·         Read Romans 12:1-2 and put it in conversation with Revelation 2:20.

[1] M. Eugene Boring, The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 2217.

[2] Michael J. Gorman Reading Revelation Responsibly (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011), 94. Gorman also comments that “children” refers to Jezebel’s followers.

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