A healthy church is not just a preaching church or a hub for social justice; a God-honouring gospel-loving church is one where the Word of God is the primary motivator for doing the work of God, according to Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter in their book For the City: Proclaiming and Living Out the Gospel. The book tells the stories of Matt’s The Austin Stone church in Texas, and Darrin’s The Journey church in St Louis, Missouri.
Matt’s first experience of Austin involved a drive-by shooting and a street brawl, but his friend Chris Tomlin talked him into starting a church there. It was to be a church for the city, in the urban centre of Austin. Attenders are organized into missional communities rather than traditional small groups. The For The City Network helps to co-ordinate the good work already being done by non-profit organizations and deploys people from the church to help the activities of those organizations.
Darrin’s desire to plant a church grew out of the frustration of not being able to find a church that would connect with his athletic friends or his girlfriend’s artistic friends. He arrived in St Louis in 2001 to plant The Journey, welcomed by gunshots and his car being stolen. The church has three main ministries for serving the city: a community development ministry called Mission: St Louis, a ministry aimed at repairing the church’s relationship with artists called The Luminary Center, and a Christian counselling ministry called Karis House.
Both authors are gifted writers, and I found the relatively short book highly engaging throughout. The authors’ failures are mentioned alongside their successes, helping the reader to believe that planting a gospel-centred mission-focused church for the city really is possible, and inspiring others to follow in their footsteps. I highly recommend the book to all church leaders.