The Church Surfer's Wife

If you’ve been anywhere near the church scene over the last few years, I’m sure you have heard the term “church planting” on more than one occasion.  It’s a phrase that is used when a person and/or persons feels called to start a new church. It’s a fantastic analogy between planting a crop and starting a church. And it is a billion times better than the expression “birthing a new church”. TMI folks!! I do not enjoy sermons relating to childbearing. As amazing and miraculous as the birth process is, I do not want to discuss labor and delivery details in front of my children or my father-in-law. Can you say AWKWARD?!!

Other Christian buzzwords related to starting a new church include:
Multiplication, Cell-Celebration
Parachute, Launch, Satellite
Hive-off, Migration
Adoption

Here is a link to 16 Ways of Planting New Congregations:
https://www.rca.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=2137

Each catchphrase has its own interesting analogy associated with it. Cell/Multiplication has sort of an atomic, science sound to it. Parachute/Launch/Satellite has a militaristic, space thing going on. And the Hive/Migration terms conjures up images of bees flitting from flower to flower, gathering nectar as they go.

I’m guessing the “church planting” phrase is widely accepted because most people can relate to the process of growing things, even if they are not farmers. Everyone knows what seeds are. And the majority people understand that in order for a seed to grow it needs water, sunlight, and oxygen. Once a seed is planted, it takes time to grow and mature before it is ready for harvest. All of these planting procedures are great jumping off points when making analogies to starting a church. Our family just moved from the Central Valley of California (aka The Breadbasket of the World). In this setting, the farming analogy made complete sense. Our entire community was entrenched in an agricultural society. Even if you weren’t a farmer, you knew one.

Currently we live in Oceanside, CA, which has an entirely different community style and culture. Instead of being surrounded by corn, cows, and cotton, we are wading in surfboards, swimsuits, and Sex Wax.

As I was walking along the beach the other day, watching the surfers shred in the water, it occurred to me that starting a church is also a lot like surfing. The more I thought about it, the more stoked I got. So I decided it would be totally gnarly to share my thoughts with you via a few rad blog posts. I’ve also decided to stop calling my hubs a “church planter” and start calling him a church surfer. It suits him better anyway. Later dudes!  Remember… Surfing is life. The rest is just details.

The Church Surfer's Wife


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