We are a network of Microchurches

If you grew up in the 1990s like I did, you probably remember some controversy around euthanasia, the practice of ending human life in order to relieve pain and suffering. There were many opinions both in favor and against the practice. The president and many other leaders from around the country began to share their thoughts on people like Jack Kevorkian and others. I was an early teen during the time that this became so controversial, so I wasn't sure what the big deal was.

It wasn't that I didn't oppose the practice. I just didn't know what it was. In fact, it was more than that. I completely misunderstood the entire concept. Why? It was because I thought all the controversy was around something entirely different. "Why," I thought, "is everyone so upset about the youth in Asia?"

Now, you may be giggling right now at how ridiculous it was that I would be confused by such a thing, but I am convinced that I am not the only person to make this mistake. But there's an important lesson to be learned from my experience. The lesson is this:

Language matters.

The words we use make a huge difference in how people perceive our intentions and what we are trying to get across. My misunderstanding around euthanasia might be funny, but there are countless of misunderstandings and conflicts throughout history that are not so funny and hinge on the words people use (see the Arian Controversy and the conflict between homoousios and homoiosios). Lives, reputations, churches, and movements have risen and been destroyed by the words people have used.

I bring this point up because I am making a simple shift in language for ECHO. Over the past few months we have begun assembling a team of individuals and have been training around a groups model I have been calling "Echo Communities." Echo Communities are microchurches with mission fields, or "Communities with a Cause," as our literature has called them. You may have heard me say that our vision is to "launch 1,000 churches by 2025." This is a HUGE vision and our Echo Communities is our primary means for accomplishing it. As of this blog post, I am changing the name of Echo Communities to "MICROCHURCHES" to reflect this fact.

If you have questions about this change and maybe even have a few reservations, I totally understand. That said, here are a few questions you might be asking and my reasoning beneath each one:

Question: Why not keep calling them Echo Communities?
We have talked about how every Echo Community is a church in its own right and should always have the functions of the local church as described in Acts 2:42: "And all the believers devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching, to fellowship, to sharing in meals, and to prayer." 

The truth is that the word "microchurch" is simply more accurate. It also reflects our value for church planting in a more effective manner. We want every microchurch to be elevated and honored by our language as what we know they are: churches. They spend time in community, disciple people through small groups (DNA Groups), and have a mission field. They are churches.

In addition, the term Echo Community sometimes takes a lot of explanation and has made it difficult to describe quickly. When someone asks, "What is an Echo Community?" my response is usually something like this: "Well, it's not a small group, or a Sunday school class, and it's sort of like a House Church, but not really, and it's a church in its own right, but we also meet as a church together, so it's not really the whole church even though it is a church, and..." So by the time I'm done explaining, sometimes it seems like people are more confused than before I began. With the word "microchurch," people automatically know I'm referring to something other than a small group, but they also grasp the idea of a network of microchurches more quickly. Bottom line: It's just easier to explain the concept.

Question: Why make this change now?
This one is pretty simple: Timing. I have been wrestling with this language issue for a while. It is probably inevitable to rename our Echo Communities to Microchurches eventually, so it is important to make this shift now as opposed to later. It's simply better to make the change now while we're still finding our footing as a church, rather than a couple years in after a lot of people have become attached to the name. I realize that these are just words and probably don't matter too much to you, but they will matter more to people after we've launched.

Question: Is the vision for our church strategy changing?
Not at all. If you go to our church website, you will notice a "Next Steps" tab. Under this tab is a list of spiritual growth steps that people can take at our church, including such things as following Jesus, getting baptized, serving on a ministry team, etc. Why have these steps? You can find out about that on another blog post. But you will notice under that tab "Step #4: Join a Microchurch." You will notice that nothing has changed about the core vision, just the name. If any changes are made about the vision, they will be minor, but the broad vision for our microchurches as a part of our church strategy will remain the same.

Question: Will we make more changes?
Well, that depends on what you mean. While I don't see a lot of changes in our language coming soon, we will always experience change. Our mission statement, values, MARCS, etc. will remain the same with few exceptions. But remember that one of our core values is "Innovation," which means we will always embrace change as a part of our DNA as a church. What changes will we see? I honestly don't know at this time, but we are a church plant, which means we will likely experience incredible amounts of change over our first few years and it will likely never slow down.