Being in close proximity to Whistler, and hearing that in that village of 8000 permanent residents there were only 3 struggling churches (and one of them was a weird hybrid of Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans in the ame building), I wanted to study why that was.  What made resort communities so resistant to church planting and growth?

The abstract for the paper is this:

Church planting in the resort communities of Western Canada, with particular respect to the village of Whistler British Columbia and Canmore, Alberta face peculiar challenges. These communities share many characteristics of both typical urban and typical rural communities in their regions, but also share certain characteristics which are common between them. These create a unique planting context that is shared with other communities founded or experiencing growth through the expansion of the local tourism industry. Viewing the reported challenges and successes of local pastors provides some insight into what prospective church planters must prepare to face if they choose to pursue their vocation in such communities.

You can read the whole paper on my other blog, Confessions of a Shiftless Mind. I found the process of writing it to be really useful to my development as a one-day church planter, teaching me much about the realities of church planting, and giving me an opportunity to read a lot of books on church planting.

The paper ran about 40 pages, including title pages, contents, bibliography.  I switched the footnotes to endnotes for ease of use online.

After a time of testing, I arrived at my destination, UBC Campus.  The University of British Columbia had changed a lot since the last time I was there – I was surprised a the profusion of condos all over the place.  I had to meet someone for my paper there, and I hadn’t been there since the Carey Institute was connected to Regent College, so I assumed that was still the case.

Instead I discovered this stunning building.  It’s the new Vancouver School of Theology.   Turns out it is about 2 blocks away from Regent College, so I hiked on over there, a little late.

But this isn’t about the UBC campus.  It’s about a great pastor and a great vision in a church in Whistler.

What a wealth of information.  I almost regretted having questions to ask, because he more than indulged my flights of fancy and gave me a great picture of the challenge and the blessing of working for the Lord in that town.

Whistler is an extraordinary town.  It is a resort town in the truest sense – it has no reason for existence except to indulge people in highs of adrenaline, if it is not from skiing or snowboarding, it is from mountain biking, hiking, or other extreme sports.  And those who are too old for such excitement are sitting in their million dollar log cabin retreats surrounded by some of the most pristine mountains and bluest lakes on the continent.

Enter into this God’s Kingdom.  Imagine the task of bringing the good news of salvation to people whose main reason for being in town is pleasure.  They are there seeking something – a thrill, or a break, a respite, or fulfilment, in something the world offers.  In Whistler, that is provided by creation.  But Jesus offers fulfilment provided by the creator.

These people think they have what they want, but the job of the church in Whistler is to demonstrate what is missing.  The driven individual seeking a high of achievement lacks the joy of life itself and the fellowship of community.  The pastor and his church are living a life dedicated to reflecting God’s joy and life in community.

I found his story and his vision to be quite inspiring, and commented as we spoke that really, the only difference between Whistler and Surrey (or the Greater Vancouver area in general) is that there are less poor people in Whistler.  Whistler represents a distilled, idealized Vancouver without the problems caused by those who have fallen to life’s vices.  Oh, I am sure that there are drug users in Whistler, alcoholics, and people suffering from all kinds of abuse.  It is as they succumb to the consequences of those issues that they leave Whistler though.  They gravitate back to the big city.

My point is that their approach makes a lot of sense.  As Christians, we know that hedonism does not fill the hole that is inside us – though so many people insist on wasting their lives proving this to be true.  It is Jesus that fills that hole.  The first five minutes of my morning walk with my dog, as I just thank God for another day and for his love and mercy as I look upon the first glimmerings of light along the silhouette of the mountains to the west are the most soul-satisfying of my day.  But conveying this in tangible ways is something that he is working hard at through his community of believers.    It is definitely making me think about what kind of community I want to try and build when we head out on our endeavour.

I was trying to catch some rays and darken the skin a little before we head to Florida at the end of the month for a little iGo action and a round of Disney.  I made the mistake of leaving the book on my lawn chair.  The boys got out the sprinkler and turned it on full-blast, drenching my lawn chair and my book, borrowed from TWU.  Because of its saturation, I think I’ll be buying the library a new copy, so I’d better enjoy this one!

In that light, I’ll say this: the chapters do go by quickly, and Stetzer does a good job of listing references on each chapter so you can do further reading.  In a lot of ways, since I am 3/4 of the way through the book, I have been disappointed thus far.

I actually started to comment on this book before.  I initially like some of his insights, early on, but as the book moves along, it gets more ordinary.  Not a lot is new in fact.  It is more a synthesis-type book than a new approach.  I find myself in later chapters reading his words which openly rehash material from a variety of other resources.  Not plaigarism – he cites his sources clearly – but just disappointing.  Like if I had read something else I’d get more.

The most recent couple of chapters I read were on building launch teams and on small groups.  The small groups chapter was actually weak.  He only discussed small groups of one model type – and I am not even sure I agree that it’s a good type.  It’s a jack-of-all-trades small group – one that is designed to provide fellowship and community, but also worship, Bible study, and evangelism.  I have become convinced in my time in different small groups that it is impossible to do all these things well when you try to do them in a small group.  Stetzer himself points out all the pitfalls of bringing non-Christians into a group full of Christians – the Christianese that gets flung around, the discomfort of being the “new guy”, the culture shock are all not good things for someone you are trying to introduce to the Gospel.  Not only that, but it also hurts the relationships of the people already there.  To “go deep” and really open up your heart in the safety of Christians is hard enough.  What chance does your group have of real authentic community when strangers keep appearing and disappearing, who could do anything with your deep secrets and fears?

The chapter on building a core did hold some useful discussion, but I was at a loss as to understand how his description of various means of teambuilding reflected unique approaches specifically for the postmodern crowds.  Maybe it’s because I see a much more intensive variety of postmodern people in Canada – specifically in my workplace at a technology company, and also in my studies of Whistler’s church planting challenges.  These people are not just people who don’t believe in existential truth, but live according to that reality.  These are people who have not heard a single positive message about authority, church, or traditional structures like marriage in 30 years – which is the lifespan of the majority I work with.  These are hard-core people.  It’s almost easier to reach new immigrants with a completely foreign paradigm and religion, because at least they believe there is truth out there, and have a greater connection and understanding of family and structure.

For all of its weight, this book feels light.  Too light to be very useful but I will finish it out before passing final judgement.

Another thought by someone else:

• Matt Jones’s glowing review.  I’d actually agree there are lots of good points.  How many are original to Ed?  I don’t know.  Maybe I am being spoilt by how much reading on the internets and such on missional ideas and church planting methods.  Since I had already read these ideas, I wasn’t as blown away by Stetzer’s presentation.

As for how we ascertained God’s will with regards to church planting. There are two verses that stick out in my mind in this regard. One is “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) The second is “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) These two verses plus many more teach that when we are seeking to do God’s will, he will bless it. We got involved in our church plant in Newton because we could see that God was moving, and we wanted to be a part of it.

Were there other places we could have served and been in God’s will? Sure. Like picking a career, or picking where you are going to live, God can bless you in any of a multitude of situations. We acted knowing that God can and will do that, if the reason for our decision is to grow closer to him through it. With a God who foreknows all our lives and loves us in spite of our sin, we can trust that we don’t need to agonize over decisions as long as we are seeking to serve God in it. One more verse speaks to this: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

I am actually beginning to think that when people like me say upon being asked to do something, I respond with “I will pray about it”, I should really not be asking God, “Do you want me to do this?”  I should be asking God, “What are my motivations to do or not do this?  Am I resisting because of my own selfishness?  Am I wanting to do it for my own reasons, not yours?”  I think those are the questions God wants us to ask him, not begging to be led about by the nose.  He gave us free will and the power to choose for a reason.  If he wanted automatons, he wouldn’t have created us the way he did.