Fellowship Memphis | Memphis, TN

• John Bryson
• Sep 15, 2010
• Series: Church Profiles
• Categories: Church Planting Articles, Latest News

Briefly describe your story of your call to plant a church 

Fellowship Memphis started in 2003 in a living room with 30 people who had relocated to the city to proclaim and live out the gospel. We had a deep desire to become a gospel outpost in the urban core of the city that introduced people to Jesus, developed and matured people in their faith, equipped people to give their lives away and sought the welfare of the city.

We also prayed that God would not just establish a church...but begin a movement of Multi-Racial, Multi-Ethnic, Bible teaching, Disciple making, churches that loved their city well and had Jesus as their hero.

We constantly pray that God would allow us to be a God-honoring, Spirit led, Biblically functioning community with Jesus as the Hero.

Here is the rally call from 2003

What we are attempting to build:

The Church is many things. It is a family. It is a bride. But it is also an army. It is a battleship. And battleships operate much differently than say a Cruise ship. We will expound on family, bride and other analogies that scripture uses at a future time, but tonight I want us to focus on the missional / army analogy of the church.

The difference in a “Cruise Ship” and a “Battle Ship” mentality

(a great illustration from Watermark Community Church), staying on mission

If we were attempting to lead a Cruise Ship:

• We would navigate toward safe, wave-free waters.
• We would worry about keeping people busy and entertained, but not productive.
• We would put all of our efforts into making sure those on the ship were comfortable and that all our preferences were considered and all our internal needs met.

If you were choosing a Cruise ship:

• You would choose it based on the ports it was visiting, the quality of your room and the activities that we offered after dinner.
• You would choose it based on dinner and show quality.
• You would choose it based on whether or not you like the captains and their staff.
• You would continually ask, “Am I enjoying this experience enough to sail again with this ship?”
• We are attempting to build and lead a Battleship:
• Our ship has purpose, meaning and a mission.
• We may rarely have fun, or we may have a lot of fun along the way. But fun is not our mission.

Everybody has a job and regardless of how seemingly meaningless it may be (swabbing the deck or serving in the mess hall) it has ultimate amazing value because it serves the other soldiers and makes the larger mission possible. Every job is tied to the greater purpose.

The leaders of a battleship should be far more concerned with the accomplishment of the mission, regardless of the dangers and hard calls that must be made, than the comfort or the experience or the convenience of the soldiers.

The leaders of a battleship realize that they, too, are under authority and gladly submit to that higher authority.

The captains of the ship prepare the shipmates to succeed on their tour of duty.

If you were choosing a Battleship:

• You need to choose it based on the flag that flies above the ship and ask if it is worthy of your life.
• You need to choose it based on the mission of the ship, is it noble, and is it right.

Our church, if we remain on mission, is:

• A church that is about a relationship, not religion
• A culturally diverse church that looks like Memphis
• A church that measures success through transformation and influence, not attendance or square feet
• A church that is saturated by Grace and known by Love
• A church that equips its members to be ministers of the Gospel in their sphere of influence
• A church where radical acts of generosity are the norm, not the exception
• A church where the Bible is taught clearly, wholly, regularly, compellingly and applied to life
• A church where the members exist in deep and rich community and own their responsibilities to one another
• A church that cares for its city and longs to see it transformed
• A church that regularly engages in diverse worship experiences and appreciates a wide range of the arts
• A church that cares for what God is doing around the world and invests our time, talent and resources in effective leaders, churches, and movements around the world
• A church committed to equipping and unleashing
• A church that attracts, equips and unleashes next generation leaders to make a difference for Christ in churches, businesses, schools, hospitals, court rooms, the arts community, etc.
• A church that helps builds strong marriages and strong families
• A church that connects deeply with collegians and helps shape their worldview
• A church that connects deeply with the young adults and young professionals in our city
• A church that cares for the under-resourced, oppressed and disenfranchised in our city
• A church that sees itself as part of the larger body of Christ in Memphis and supports and partners with other new and existing churches and ministries in the area
• A church full of mature believes committed to discipleship and the “passing down” of life lessons, truth, wisdom and experience to younger Christ followers
• A church that strives to “Be the Church” not just “Do Church”
• A church that leads people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and equips them to give their lives away for the cause of Christ and the glory of God

Imagine……(These are dreams, not promises)

Imagine the day when we are far more than a church, but a part of a movement that helps re-church this city, the mid-south, our country and our world.

Imagine a city full of Fellowship worship services and expressions. Imagine a Fellowship Downtown, a Fellowship Midtown, a Fellowship 385, a Fellowship Binghampton, a Fellowship Olive Branch, a Fellowship Cordova, etc.

Imagine community groups that meet geographically, with area elders or pastors or overseers assigned to neighborhoods that shepherd people well and coordinate events and concentrate on neighborhood connections and make a potentially large church feel incredibly small and personal.

Imagine Memphis, 20 years from now, being an “exalted city” in a Proverbs 11:11 way, “By the deeds of the righteous, a city is exalted”.

Imagine 20-something year olds, recent college graduates, flocking to our city and our church to experience programs we have created that shape their hearts and minds and hands for a lifetime of service and significance and prepare them to take acts of initiative for the benefit of others.

Imagine us being able to train and unleash trained change agents into medical schools, law schools, high schools, inner-cities, the political system, Hollywood, etc to give their lives away for the cause of Christ.

Imagine us being a church that helps every member reach over and connect with people across racial, socio-economic, generational, educational, and other boundaries to experience Body Life in an Acts 2 way.

Imagine groups of families and singles within our church being sent out together to create churches in new parts of the world, as a team, and take on various roles within the church and within the community to launch new works, new businesses and new churches.

Imagine our church training and unleashing new paradigm, socially responsible entrepreneurs with a kingdom mindset that help create jobs, re-claim neighborhoods, fund church plants, and do social good.

Eight years into our Journey, we are evidence and a testimony of God's grace and provision. Our battlefronts.

How did you build up your core? What advice would you give to guys in the core-stage? 

Two things...we rallied people within Memphis, shook trees, networked, etc and did all we could the year before arriving in Memphis to let the city know we were coming and find out who might be interested in being apart. Secondly, we ask friends, family, those formally apart of ministries we had let to consider relocating with us. 28 people did just that...sold homes, left jobs, relocated to help us plant the church. That was an amazing gift to our initial DNA that serves us well to this day.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in planting your church (and/or currently facing)? 

Our biggest challenges were Religion and planting a multi-racial, multi-cultural church in the second most racially segregated city in the world and a couple of miles from where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Also, church planting was still relatively unheard of in 2002.

How did you become involved with Acts 29? What have been the biggest benefits of being in the network? 

Friendships with men I love and respect, such as Eric Mason, Kevin Cawley, Hunter Beaumont, Darrin Patrick, Daniel Montgomery and others made the brotherhood compelling. Also, there was a deep resonation with the theology and missiology of A29 along with the selfish desire to learn deeply from the movement.

What advice do you have for men who are wrestling with the decision to plant? 

Pray like crazy. Church planting will peak every emotion and you will face spiritual warfare like never before....heightened temptation, relational tensions, life nuisances and irrational fear will be categories for what the evil one throws at you.

Prepare like crazy. Every minute spent in preparation will return itself to you 100 fold. Get great coaching and plan well.

Go with a team. Going alone is borderline suicide.

Let Awareness drive your vision, then let strategy flow out of vision.

Love your wife and kids. Have a hobby. Keep a life. Don't be a psyco, weirdo work-a-holic who is to enmeshed in his church. Give your church the gift of you having a life.

Work like an Arminian, sleep like a Calvinist.

How do you pastor your family? 

I seek to love and encourage my wife and kids, well. Also to model to them a love for Jesus and life like Jesus.

Specifically, I try to create an environment in my home conducive to know and worship Jesus. I seek to pour my life into my wife and kids as my primary ministry. I invest in resources that glorify and magnify Jesus that are available to them. I try to create space and opportunities for them to learn, grow and serve. I try to be the lead repenter of my home.

Outside of the Bible, what is the most helpful book you have read for church planting?

Good to Great, The War of Art, Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Humility, Tim Keller's Galatians study and Church Planting Workbook.

How can we pray for you?

Pray that God would continue to pound the gospel into my head and heart, the head and heart of our team, that God would protect us from the evil one, his works and effects and guard us. Pray for continued unity among our elders. God's grace for our future.

Church Profile: Fellowship Memphis
Launch Date: November 2, 2003
Location: Memphis, TN

Mission, Vision, Values of Church 

Fellowship Memphis is a multi-cultural church ministering to the evolving community of the city of Memphis.

We long to be a Biblically functioning community that:

• Proclaims, demonstrates and lives out the gospel.
• Reflects the racial, socio-economic and generational diversity of our city.
• Equips Christ followers to give their lives away.
• Teaches God’s word in a clear and compelling way
• Leads people from individualism and isolation into Biblical community.
• Prays aggressively and fervently.
• Looks to bless our city and seek it’s peace and welfare.
• Seeks to make God’s fame great among the nations.

What are some examples of God's grace that you have seen in your life and/or the life of your church? 

Too many to count. His grace to me and our church is astonishing. He has always provided, rarely early, but never late.

What is your philosophy of community in your church and what does that look like practically in your church? Of evangelism? 

We believe every believer is wired by God for community, grows and develops in community and should be sent on mission by the community.

We also use smaller communities to orient people to our vision and mission as a church and disciple them to know Jesus, love Jesus, live like Jesus and train others about Jesus.

We see our Body as a priesthood of believers and our role as equippers to equip them to live out the gospel in their spheres of influence.

Also, Check out Fellowship Associates here