Another Beginning...

Here's a church planting update from Dave...

I’ve always loved the beginning of things. There’s something about the endless possibilities that intoxicates me. During my days with IV the fall was my favorite time of the year. Dreaming about new possibilities on campus, meeting new students, months of plans now ready to begin to take shape.

So it is with this same excitement that we mark the beginning of a new movement here in San Francisco: Underground:San Francisco.

As most of you know we are planting a campus-centered church at San Francisco State called Matrix. Matrix isn’t a traditional church but instead we envision a group of micro-churches planted in living spaces and by affinity groups. It is a slow process that will be built on relationships, planting one micro-church at a time. We have started meeting people on campus and have quite a few contacts that we are cultivating.

But the Underground is not a church - it’s a network of churches. The original Underground is located in Tampa and they planted a new network in St. Petersburg, FL. There are plans to start new networks in Germany, Haiti, Manilla and San Francisco. Find out more here…http://www.undergroundglobal.org/

Our working definition for Underground:San Francisco is as follows…

Underground:San Francisco is a network that encourages and equips ministries first and foremost. Our goal is to be a support system for SF ministries in every way possible. We offer our network to encourage, support, equip, relate and empathize. We desire to provide leadership, direction and resources for the network but exist to serve the micro-churches, not to be served.

San Francisco is a unique city. It’s divided into neighborhoods that each has their own unique culture. It’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of city. San Francisco requires relational time and effort. Because of this we believe that San Francisco is the perfect place for a web of micro-churches that are connected yet autonomous. San Francisco is a difficult place to do ministry and through the Underground we desire to create a community that equips, encourages and supports those who do mission here San Francisco.

The purpose of the Underground is both church planting and missional community. As a friend puts it, we long to find the cracks and crevices that have been missed in our city and release mission into those places while maintaining community with those that are sent out.

In other words, the Underground will inspire individuals to mission, connect individuals to missional communities, empower communities to discover and obey their God given mission and equip and release those communities into mission.

I am renewed by the idea of inspiring, connecting, empowering, equipping and releasing. For a while I felt a bit lost, not really knowing what my role was in the big picture. But today I am excited and motivated by this new challenge.

One of the things I love about the Underground is that its main purpose it to bless, not receive. There are no fees, dues or any sort of financial commitment from the micro-churches. With that comes the challenge sustaining a long-term director for the Underground. San Francisco is not a cheap place to live and we understand that sacrifices will be made in order for us to be here. But we believe the benefits of seeing missional communities released into this great city far outweigh the sacrifices we make to live here.

We have started a non-profit called the Church Network Hub which we launched a little over a year ago and is doing well. We believe the Hub will continue to grow and allow us some financial flexibility but we still need to supplement that income to make a livable wage in San Francisco.

So we are in search of partners that will support the work of both Matrix and the Underground here in San Francisco. All funds will go to cover salary and expenses and are tax deductible.

We are looking into other methods of giving, but for now checks can be mailed to…
Tampa Underground
Underground:San Francisco in the memo line
1300 E. 7th Ave
Tampa, FL. 33605

We are trusting God in this new endeavor and believe He is faithful.