Support at the Table
"The truth is that the twenty-first century is turning out to be a highly complex phenomenon where terrorism, disruptive technological innovation, environmental crisis, rampant consumerism, discontinuous change, and perilous ideologies confront us at every point. In the face of this upheaval, even the most confident among us have to admit, in our more honest moments, that the church as we know faces a very significant adaptive challenge... As a result, the church is on a massive, long-trended decline in the west."
"If you were born between 1925 and 1945 there's a 60 percent change you're in church today. If you were born between 1946 and 1964 there's a 40 percent chance you're in church today. If you were born between 1965 and 1983 there's a 20 percent chance you're in a church today. If you were born after 1984 there is less than a 10 percent chance you're in church today. Ed Stetzer provides this additional insight, "In the country I live in, 70 percent of the population is completely unchurched, meaning they have little to no connection or interest in Christianity. We have already reached most of the people who are open to the "come and see" approach."
"The Forgotten Ways" by: Alan Hirsch
NEW CREATIVE MISSIONAL MOVEMENTS
If our dream is to build bigger churches, better stages, larger buildings, better programming, more Holy Spirit we’ve missed the purpose of the mission. According to the stats of church growth the only goal we reach is doing it bigger and better than the church down the street. How do we empower the ones among us? To help them slow down and see the mission everyday in front of them and to resource them. This isn’t a rant against the church. We love the church and all its different expressions. It’s an awakening to an opportunity. An opportunity to break off religious walls and barriers and to see the church be what all of us are dreaming of. It’s about being the light to the world. Living out what is actively empowering us each day. Creative missional communities give us the ability to reach people where they are. It allows us to take a concept like a church, with a restaurant in it, and reach people who otherwise would never enter the doors of church. Establishing a missional community simply allows us do life together. We effectively create community when we spend time together, sharing each others joys and pains, each others success and failure. Out of that community we are then able to raise up those who want to reach others in the gym, work, next door, and in the places where they do everyday life. Naturally growing the community and expanding the kingdom. We desire to create a place to eat at the table, gather around the table, and to extend the table. Jesus said to the Pharisees in Luke 7:34 that he came eating and drinking. He came to eat at the table with his followers, with the religious and with the broken. He gathered them, poured his life into them and then extended the table for others to join and for more tables to be created.
PRAY
As much as we can dream, plan, and work, this vision for At the Table Church will not become a reality unless we have others join us in praying. We are looking for individuals that will join us in faithfully praying for At the Table Church and its mission.
GIVE TO THE TABLE
We estimate that it will take three years to five years for At the Table to become self-sustaining. Therefore, we are asking potential partners to give a one-time launch gift, or recurring gifts spread over one to three years.
You can donate at www.atthetablechurch.com/give or by check to Church at the Gate memo line: At the Table Church
JOIN THE TABLE
Without people, this dream will never become a reality. You may have read this vision package and feel a burden to do more than just pray or give financially. If God is calling you to join us At the Table, we would love to connect with you around the table.
We estimate that it will take three to five years for At the Table to become self-supporting. We are seeking financial partners to give financially over the next one, three, and five years. Church at the Gate, along with the Foursquare Church, is providing financial oversight of our budget and finances. At the Table Church is a 501(c)3 under Church at the Gate being launched by The Foursquare Denomination. All donations are tax-deductible.