Sub*Text Forum

I just got back form the Sub*Text forum in St. Charles, IL. Al Hsu who is the author of The Suburban Christian was the keynote speaker. I also had the privilege of meeting Steve McCoy and Joe Thorn, whose blogs that I follow.

Anyway, here are a few of the things that Al shared which stuck out to me as we thought about and discussed missional living in Suburbia.

Suburbia

• Multi-faceted and complex
• Suburbia is a significant mission field
• USA is third largest mission field in the world.
• 150,000,000 live in Suburbia (This is equivalent to the size of 7th largest country in the world)
• Suburbia is now the center of technology, factories and major employment companies
  
• More people in the USA live and shop in the suburbs than in the cities.
• Reverse commuting is very common phenomenon.
• The suburbs are rapidly diversifying.
• The world is coming to Suburbia.
• The suburban life is a spiritual quest. People move to Suburbia for the promise of what will be.

Some questions for Churches to ask themselves

• How can you church be a gift to your community?
• When we practice hospitality what does that look like?
• What is our church called to do in our community? What is our niche?
• What first drew members to this church?

Ministry in Suburbia

Suburbia is a relatively new way of living within the context of world history with the advent of the personal automobile and with it has brought many challenges to ministry. Here are some of the most obvious challenges I have observed after living in a more urban context:

Lack of Proximity- People are far from everything. Far from neighbors, work, jobs etc... This lack of proximity reduces the amount of chance encounters with others or even just repetitive contacts.

Lack of Time- The suburbs have developed a culture of business and activities which is often seen as a kind of social capital while the sabbath has been rendered obsolete.

Lack of Community- The first two challenges contribute to this. As people have to work extra hard to connect with others (you don't just drop by if someone is a half an hour drive away) most social events must be planned well in advance. Because of the combination of distances and activities if people are able to get together then their time is often highly limited.

Ideas for combating these cultural barriers:

Location- Be very intentional and picky when choosing where you will live. Choose a location that will reduce you travel to the places that you will spend most of your time. This will allow you to spend more time in the places that matter to you and will free up much of the time that you would normally be sitting in traffic.

If you are locked into your current location, then look for ways to spend more time in your immediate area. Choose activities with a closer proximity to were you are as much as possible.

Time- Don't be stingy with you time but make sure to plan times of pause, rest, holy leisure and silence into your day. Avoid over-scheduling with activities that will leave you physically spent and unavailable to connect with others.

Community- You will have to work within the social norms of planning and preparation in order to connect with others. However, try not to cast the nets too wide, start with a small group. A deep and healthy community requires time, energy and repetition.