Missing Graphics (Stibbe, M., & Williams, A. (2008). Breakout)
How do I report missing graphics in this book? 2 graphics missing in chapter 4. (Disclaimer, I led one of the mid-sixed communities. Hence my interest.)
It is really important at this point to say two things about these mid-sized communities. First of all, MSCs are not the same as what are sometimes referred to as ‘clusters’. As we understand it, clusters are often just that – clusters. They are groups of small groups that form together into a larger group of anything up to one hundred people. In the cluster model, very often it is the small groups that form first and then these cells cluster together into a larger grouping. Diagrammatically this looks as follows:
In the cluster model, the small groups come first and the medium-size group comes second, arising out of the small groups.
In the MSC model, the mid-sized community is the starting point. A group of twenty to thirty people get together with a shared vision for outreach and form an MSC. As they begin that work, they recognise the need to meet in smaller groups that meet different needs – needs for pastoral care, prayer ministry, deeper study of the Word, and so on. Diagrammatically this looks as follows:
The difference between MSCs and clusters is quite marked. In the cluster model, the cell or small group is the primary building block for mission. In the MSC model, the MSC is the primary building block for mission. The MSC is built first, and then small groups flow naturally out of it.
A second point to make is that there is a big difference between MSCs and church plants. Our MSCs were never designed as independent church plants but rather as interdependent missional communities. In fact, we were convinced from the start that church planting was not the way for us to go. We had three church plants already at St Andrew’s and we could see from their experience that they were very different from what we were creating. In many ways our church plants were clones of the sending church, imitating almost exactly the worship style and patterns of St Andrew’s Church. In addition, they required paid staff and were expensive to run and – with the exception of our church plant at Soul Survivor Watford – had not grown significantly in a decade. For Drew and me, there were therefore big question marks over conventional church planting. We knew from the start that this was not the way the Holy Spirit was leading us to go.
Stibbe, M., & Williams, A. (2008). Breakout: our church’s story of mission and growth in the holy spirit. Authentic Media.