Chatting with Church Planters

Nate and I sharing about our strengths and goals

 Last Monday, we attended a cookout with a group of missionaries, internationals and Austrians interested in church planting on the northeast side of the city. It was an exciting time to meet others with a passion for church planting in Vienna and an opportunity to discuss vision, strategy and goals.

There was one other American missionary couple there, one Austrian/Australian couple and many Austrian couples who already live in the northeastern district of the city. They are excited and eager to start something new and passionate about thinking outside of the box. They want to ask questions like, "what should church look like and what does it need to look like? How do we create a church environment that is welcoming to non-believers?" They want to limit the amount of church programs and activities, so that Christians are freed up and have enough time to actually meet and socialize with non-Christians outside the church. They expressed a desire for practical Bible teaching and creating a place where it's less about the music and style and more about community and doing life together.

Chatting about vision over coffee and dessert

At this point, Nate and I are unsure what all of this means for us. We are still very early in our journey and not ready yet to join a church planting team. We need to set aside more dedicated time for language and culture study, as well as some time serving in an existing church. We have a lot to learn still. But we are excited about where God is leading this group of people and curious to see where they are in their journey when the time comes for us to switch our focus to church planting. A few years down the road, this could be the team for us. We're not sure, but we want to keep communicating and praying.

Please pray for this passionate group of church planters. Pray for unified wisdom and vision. Pray that God would be preparing the way for them in the Aspern neighborhood. Pray for the Holy Spirit to lead them in what steps to take and when.