Hello Friends of The Restoration Project –
A few weeks ago TRP leaders from California, Nebraska and Indiana gathered for a few days of prayerful reflection on where we are and where we’re going. This is the first of two emails that share the fruit of that time together. Tomorrow I will send another email with a link to a very brief survey that will give us all a sense of where we are as a movement. How many Discipleship Groups are there? How did they come into being? What work are they actually doing?
But first, today, I want to share with you three things that have become particularly clear to us this year, which is the fifth year of the TRP movement. These three are that we are a movement, not a program, that we are differently centered and that our most visible fruit is loving community with the poor.
We are a Movement, not a Program. We are used to having programs in the church that we try for a season and then we move on to the next thing. There is no next thing after TRP. We are proposing a permanent shift in both the practices and the structure of the church. We propose that people actually practice the practices Jesus taught and then support each other in structured small groups. I’ve had many conversations with colleagues proposing marketing efforts that, if we were a program, would make sense. I’ve had others tell me that people try Discipleship Groups for a season and then say “OK, what’s next?” There is no next! It’s only growing deeper in these seven Gospel practices.
We Are Differently Centered. When you follow the TRP practices you end up in a creative tension with your church. Almost all of our churches have three paths available to spiritual seekers; Christian Old School, Christian Spiritually Inclusive and Christian Core. Old School is the way we faithfully worship on Sundays, lovingly attend to the transitions in life and care for each other when we are weak. Spiritually Inclusive is the way we host 12 step programs, have speaker series and try new things like labyrinths and yoga. Core includes TRP and it is a more difficult and demanding path. It is eccentric, which is a word that means differently centered. But, we have faith that committing to these Core practices produces fruit that will last.
The Most Visible Fruit of TRP is Loving Community With the Poor. We are slowly building up a beautiful collection of stories of people whose lives have changed because of TRP. We know people are praying, worshipping, tithing, learning scripture and discerning call thanks to Discipleship Groups. But the most public impact of TRP is, and always will be, the poor who are befriended thanks to Jesus’ disciples (that’s us!) following the TRP path. Churches with a growing center of TRP practices have a strong and loving impact on their local communities.
I recently read some biographies of our American founders. A description of three of our most important people, Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards and George Washington, can equally apply to TRP. Like them, we are pursuing radical ends by conservative means. Our radical end is to shift both the practices and the structure of the church. But our means are conservative. I tell people repeatedly that if you can’t find one of our practices or our teachings in the scriptures, ignore it!
Thank you for being a part of this TRP movement. Tomorrow you can expect a brief email with a link to a brief survey. Please follow the link and take the survey, regardless of your current level of involvement.
Faithfully,
Christopher Martin, Founder