Paris and New York share a lot of similarities as Mega-Cities in the world. They are both very dense, drive culture, and have their own quirks/nuances. This video points out some of the differences in a fun way. For those of you who’ve supported us so far these illustrations might look a bit familiar. We found this artists illustrations about a year ago, but just today I found a video animating them.

Via: Fubiz

Before we graduated in fall 2007 we talked about what it would look like to get to Paris to plant this church. I had already raised roughly $40,000 to spend a year in France with Campus Crusade, so we knew that if needed we could go that route again. From watching friends of ours raise support for Europe we saw two general trends. It could take up to 2 years to get the money raised after you start, and monthly support goal were often lower then they realistically should have been (likely to help them get back overseas faster).

As we talked about options before us we saw a path that was not available to most, to start and run a software company that would become our primary funding vehicle. We would have the 4 years it would take to get through seminary, and then the two years following that we would otherwise have spent raising support to build the company. After doing research and consulting mentors of ours we chose to go this route.

There are two primary reasons for this choice. It will help us with our visas, and will go a long way in helping us establish ourselves in our future neighborhood and community. We both have proven tangible skills that we can offer to France, and to our future networks. Finally it will allow us to afford to live in a city as expensive as Paris right away. Many missionaries and church plants end up starting far outside of the city center because of the high cost of living that is 30% higher than Minneapolis (rent being 75% higher – view comparison here).

We know that Europe is often overlooked for mission work because of cost and a perceived lack of need. In the future we’ll discuss these points in more detail.

We are missionaries, we are church planters, and we are also blessed to be able to launch a software company as well. If you know anyone looking for church software tell them to check out Fresh Vine and help us get to Paris.

Photo Credit: malias

Several years ago, we began seriously looking into organizations to partner with in our church-plant. There were several specific things we were looking for, that, at the time were proving difficult to find. In France, in order to be ‘legit’ in people’s eyes, you need to have recognition from the French government. It is different from the US in that if you are doing anything ‘religious’ and don’t have formal recognition, you’re instantly labeled a cult. “Home-Churches” don’t really exist in the same way over there as they do here. People literally think the worst of you and what you’re doing, and don’t trust you. However, if you get recognition and legitimacy from the government, most of that ‘cult’ stigma goes away. The easiest way to get that stamp of approval from the government is to join with an organization that already has that recognition, and we’re happy to say that Christian Associates has that approval!

The second thing we were looking for was a group to mentor us and keep us accountable in certain areas. We knew we couldn’t do this alone, and realized very quickly that if we were going to take on such a huge undertaking as planting a church in a city as closed off as Paris is to the Gospel, we would definitely need some help doing it. CA not only provides a network of other pastors and individuals doing the same type of work we are, but it gives us opportunity within that network to be mentored by some incredible men and women of God, who understand our drive and passion for the French. Christian Associates also supplies us with the tools we need, spiritually and administratively through training – both before we “launch” our church, and after. There is a natural accountability system set up within the organization that allows for continual check-ups on us – spiritually, financially, how our family is doing, and how our team dynamics are playing out. We are so excited and grateful that CA provides this. We know we can’t do it alone.

Finally, the third big reason we saw Christian Associates being a good fit was that it was not only a good fit for us, but for the people of France. It’s their methodology that really drew us in. In America you see churches sprouting up all over the place with big flashy services, mailings promoting the service or sermon series, and loud music to get people in the door. I’ll admit – there’s a part of us that really loves that. But the people of France? Not as much. The culture is different. The people are different. CA’s approach is one of listening to what the culture is in need of. Not imparting our American ideas of what we think would be best for them. Each project starts with a period of time (several months to a couple years) ‘embedding’ into the culture, and really taking the time and being intentional about hearing and seeing how God is already moving in little ways within the community. From here, you’re able to start joining in with what the community is doing, inviting others to join with you, and eventually meeting as a church before starting the whole process over in planting a new church or sending others out to do it. We are so thrilled to be a part of an organization that is so intentional about loving on and joining in life with the people they’re living around.

This just scratches the surface of why we chose Christian Associates. If you would like to hear more from us, let us know! We’d love to share more with you!

1 – Paul to Finish Seminary

Done on June 2, 2012

Originally we were not sure about even having Paul attend seminary, but in reflection this has been a huge step forward for us. Yet every trusted spiritual mentor in our life strongly encouraged us in this direction. At the time of writing this Paul is close to being finished and we have already both experienced a richer depth of understanding our faith, history of the church, and where we fit into all of this ministry/church stuff. This is very exciting, and we are so grateful to those mentors who encouraged us, and to Paul’s parents who helped us through seminary.

2 – Find a Ministry Organization

Done on May 30, 2012

Having an organization that shares your passions for ministry coming along side you and helping you is critical to your long-term ability to stay in the field. We hope to be overseas for the foreseeable future. Our goal is to find an organization/denomination that helps us in the following ways: mentorship and accountability, ability to raise support, legal church status in France (a very important piece), and freedom to minister in unique ways for a post-christian society.

3 – Get Fresh Vine sustainable

In Progress

Being called to a city like Paris is exciting and overwhelming. Part of the overwhelm is the high cost of living. While we intend on raising a couple thousand in monthly support to pay for ministry expenses, our intentions are to cover the majority of our personal expenses. To accomplish this we have founded a company - Fresh Vine – that provides world-class online church management. As we grow our subscriber base we will be able to build out teams to maintain the product, and be free to move abroad while still providing leadership. This is a huge area of prayer for us.

The natural question one is asked as they graduate from Seminary is: What is next for you/Where is God calling you? With only 82 days between me and my Masters of Divinity this question is looming in the bushes (or shrubbery if you will). For my wife and I we will be bi-vocational pastors.

Choosing Bi-Vocational

This does not mean part-time pastors. This does not mean that don’t believe we could secure employment at a church full-time. We have chosen this because of the call we have on our life (to minister in France – more on this in the future). As we sat down 4 years ago looking into the fog of our future we were faced with one primary question – How will we go back to France?

There were several immediate paths we could have chosen from (going back with Agape, plant an independent church, or others) but we also had the opportunity for me to go to seminary with the support of my parents. The long-term the benefits of having my divinity degree in a country with more than 70% of pastors retiring in the next decade were quite obvious.

Accepting the reality that we would be here for at least another three to four years while I did my schooling our gaze turned to supporting our work in France. When I was short-term I was exclusively supported by a personal support network. I do like this approach, but to raise enough money to live in Paris proper, do ministry, and afford to rent space to meet in would take at minimum $14k a month for the two of us, more as our family grows. The reality that it would take at least a year to raise this support we looked to what we could do to offset this cost.

The Other Vocation

This is the hard part. My past business experience has involved event production, film production, writing for magazines, and web development (software engineering). As Jordan and I put our heads together an opportunity presented itself (it actually had the summer of 2007 prior to our graduation in december of that year) to develop software for the Church. We clumsily fell into this market, and slowly found our footing. By 2009 we had landed in a definite direction and were receiving confirmation from the market. We were onto something.

The company we founded is Fresh Vine and it helps churches better understand their communities. This fits the bill for becoming bi-vocational as the monthly subscriptions churches pay to use the service provide an even revenue for projections, and building our team.

I wish I could write the next section on ‘Being a Bi-Vocational Pastor’ but it will have to wait for now. Our plan is to cover 90-95% of our monthly expenses for ourselves and our church through our ongoing leadership role with Fresh Vine. Then supplement our income with monthly support of family and friends. As our community in Paris grows we will be able to take on French leaders into paid positions and develop them as pastors and leaders within the church much more rapidly than if we required it for our own sustenance. For now we are still at least 18 months away from moving.

Important Caviate: We do not believe what we are doing to be normative, or the biblical expectation for leaders in the church. It just happens that I have a highly desirable set of skills we have been blessed to use in a strategic way. This won’t work for everyone, and shouldn’t be expected of many. We are just excited this is the path before us.

We are just starting to fill out the basic information on this site, and hope to have somewhat regular updates in the future. Our goal is to be able to keep you informed and up to date on the milestones, steps, and stages along our path to Paris and of our life once there.

Currently we are feeling like those the winds and forces have us focusing more time and energy on this call. Business is slowly starting to pick up, Paul is almost done with seminary (less than 3 months!), and we’ve begun our assessment process with Christian Associates.