The Indispensable Citywide Church Paradigm

How many churches are there in your city? In the Kansas City metro area, I have heard it estimated that there may be more than 2,000 churches, but wait a minute! There is really only one Church in our city! This is not to minimize the importance of each local church congregation, but this paradigm that sees multitudes of churches (rather than one Church) in a city has helped support what I believe is a flawed perspective. 

Many local churches are independent these days, and many are very much connected to their denomination. (God is still doing great ministry through denominations!) I contend, however, that He is doing a new (yet ancient) thing in our midst. He is bringing back awareness of this citywide Church reality among His followers. 

References of the citywide Church are prevalent in the Bible: The Church of Jerusalem, the Church of Antioch, and the Church of Ephesus…just to name a few of them. (Read: Acts 11:22; Acts 13:1; and Revelation 2:1)  Over and over again, the Church is referred to and structured in the context of a city. Of course, each citywide Church is a part of the global Body of Christ (Church).

Here’s what is tremendously exciting and encouraging: more and more churches in our city (the KC metro area) are operating within this beautiful paradigm of the citywide Church. And many of these churches are also very much engaged with and supportive of their denominational connection. I am not promoting an either/or approach with this. It is both/and!

City-reaching is clearly a move of God in our day. It is a movement that the Lord has been revitalizing in the United States and beyond for many years now. I believe that city-reaching (and community transformation) will be most realized in cities (metro areas) that are experiencing an increasing unity among the Body of Christ in that city. I refer to this as “missional unity.” We are united in Christ. We simply don’t act like it most of the time. This “missional unity” is active. It isn’t only about experiencing unity as we worship the Lord together around a campfire (which is great!), but it is also pragmatic as we (the citywide Body of Christ) work together strategically to reach the city and even the ends of the earth with the Gospel of Jesus.

We, as Christ followers, really are all on the same team. Some have said it this way regarding the Church in our city: One Church, many congregations. I love that phrase! I think this is more than just semantics. The more we can emphasize the citywide Church in communications, the more we will live out our faith in that reality and experience the fruit of it.

That’s really what is at stake here: the missional fruitfulness of our city’s Body of Christ. Our enemy, the Devil, would love it if we only focus on praying and working against anything that would cause more division in the Church. That’s an important prayer, but it is incomplete without also praying for advancement in missional unity! Let’s pray for protection from anything that would keep us from experiencing greater and greater unity in the citywide Church as we work together to advance God’s Kingdom! (Read Jesus’ prayer in John 17:11, as he prayed for protection for the sake of unity.)

My good friend, Dave Putthoff, pastor and church planter, said something like this (I’m not sure if he was quoting someone or if it was originally from him), as said to pastors: “Are you the pastor of a church, or are you a pastor of the Church?” Profound! I have said and paraphrased that quote many times, saying something like: “Are you the pastor of a local church, or are you a pastor of the citywide Church?” This also applies to ministries and businesses: “Are you the leader of a ministry, or are you a leader of the ministry of the citywide Church?” “Are you the leader of a business, or are you a leader of the business of the citywide Church?” Of course, both are true! And more and more people are operating in a way that reflects their commitment and role with the citywide Church! This is so encouraging!

This is a new paradigm for us, yet it has been around since the days of the early Church. This doesn’t diminish the importance of local churches in our city. There are mega churches, community churches, house churches, etc, and all of those sizes/types of churches are an important part of how the Lord is working in our city. But as we operate more and more as one citywide Church we will see greater advancement of God’s Kingdom.

Imagine not only the Church gathered on Sunday mornings among local churches around our city, but also imagine the Church scattered into workplaces and the Church scattered into neighborhoods. There are pockets of the metro area where this kind of thing is already being experienced. Let’s keep praying and working until this citywide Church paradigm is the new normal, not only cognitively but practically!

What is your role within the citywide Church of Kansas City? I’m envisioning the day when every Christ follower in our city can answer that question with clarity.