It all started with an epiphany.
If you’ve heard stories from Newsong history, you probably know: a lot of crazy stuff has come from an epiphany. Once upon a time, Dave G was visiting Orange County and felt like he heard God saying, “Psalm 40” – from there, Newsong Church was born.
Now, it’s happening again.
This time, the phrase was “Public Square.” Over the past few months, we’ve been talking about how we engage in spaces beyond Sunday service – out of that, we believe something is emerging that could change how church is done.
Havens.
Newsong is “Home of the Misfits.” That’s the core of our identity, so it might be a bit surprising to see it written as “Home of the Misfits…” with an ellipsis after – what could possibly be added to this fundamental definition of who we are???
That’s how monumental this moment is – I think going forward, this added phrase will define us just as much:
“…a Haven everywhere we go” – it means that we carry this home to wherever we are throughout the week. Which is good news for a lot of people who might never come to church on Sunday.
Think about the neighbors, co-workers, and “normal people” you know outside of church. What percent of them do you think would ever attend on a Sunday?
50%? 25%? 10%
Sadly, it’s probably less than 5%. Which means 19 out of 20 of those people in your life won’t be reached by this current model of church. In the past, the typical response has been to just do more of the same: keep planting new churches, keep inviting new people, keep reaching a very small percentage, and keep reshuffling the deck – filling new churches with transfers from the old ones.
Something’s gotta change.
We really believe Havens could be the answer.
Those two statements sum up why – it’s a movement by regular people, for regular people. It doesn’t require a superstar pastor to create, which actually makes it more appealing to a non-religious person.
Crazy how so few church initiatives actually tick both of these boxes, but Havens do.
HOW?
HAVENS are groups committed to doing life together using three key ingredients:
At Newsong, there’s gotta be food. It’s how intimate connection happens – just look at the life of Jesus.
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” –Revelation 3:20
We believe in the power of meaningful conversation, going back to when everything in existence was created with a word. We gottabe brave enough to ask questions, listen, and not run when it gets real – “even in the midst of pain and discomfort.”
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. –Genesis 1:3
What do normal people do? That’s a real question for church folks to consider. Let’s not just talk about stuff – let’s get moving! Get active, doing things we love as a community and launching each person into what they were made to do.
“For you are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do.” –Ephesians 2:10
These INGREDIENTS are not new; they’re the commonalities we see in all the best things that Newsong has done over the years.
Havens allows these Ingredients to be brought into the contexts where we live and work. Only one other thing is needed:
Intentionality
1 Peter 3 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer when people ask about the hope you have.” I hope this takes some of the pressure off you – it means you don’t have to do a huge PowerPoint presentation like this when you invite people in (we strongly recommend you don’t). Actually people that you’re with won’t know they’re in a Haven – all you have to do is LIVE SO THAT THEY ASK.
Imagine after a year of pulling people together, being approached by someone who says, “This BBQ we’ve been doing every week has changed my life – what inspired you to start this?” Now you’ve earned the right to tell them that we believe in a God who wants church to happen outside of Sunday with regular people.
Church: coming soon to a Haven near you.
