OPEN SPACES PROJECT

 

Open Spaces Project (OSP) is a non-profit organization designed to launch and empower new expressions of mission that engage the culture in order to make new disciples of Jesus, resulting in new expressions of simple church communities. We are intentionally teamed with others across the world with Novo Mission, seeking to make disciples of Jesus, using the same missional paradigm.

 

What follows are the OSP missional paradigm, leadership structure, core values, and statement of faith.

 

OSP Missional Paradigm

 

Jesus gave his followers the mission of making new disciples. Since then, the church has created many methods of accomplishing this mission. OSP is asking the question: how can we further advance the kingdom of Jesus? In the metaphor of the vine and the trellis, the vine represents the movement and advancement of Jesus’ kingdom while the trellis pictures the structures that support the move. Both are important, but the vine is the priority while the trellis should support the vine. We’ve identified two main modern trellises, or missional paradigms in the modern western church: the attractional model and the missional model. We will contrast these two models in order to understand the philosophy of OSP.

 

The attractional model starts with a group of believers who gather for church services. In order to see new believers, the goal of the church, whether stated directly or indirectly, is to invite or attract unbelievers to church services and activities through vibrant music, quality preaching, exciting kids ministries, and other activities. This method seeks to get unbelievers to move from their secular space and culture into the church’s space and culture, where they can discover Jesus in church services. In this model, the primary job of the Christian is to “invite unbelievers to church.”

 

The missional paradigm starts with a group of believers who leave their Christian space and culture to engage in the culture of the unbeliever. There is no invitation or attraction to an existing church service. Through engaging the culture, relationships with people who don’t know Jesus are formed in their space. Spiritual conversations and the discovery of Jesus happens in this space. Through this disciple making process, simple churches are born from the harvest. In this model, the primary job of the Christian is to invite unbelievers into friendship, discovering Jesus through their relationship with you. OSP uses this paradigm to make disciples and advance the kingdom of Jesus.

 

We have identified five major components in this missional paradigm that can lead to a movement of people following Jesus. Take note that the forming of churches is the last step rather than the first:

1. Activating Prayer
   While prayer permeates every aspect of the kingdom, activating prayer is a specific type of prayer intending to lay the groundwork for a move of the gospel. This prayer is aggressive, authoritative, in order to attack the gates of hell. This prayer is expectant for the supernatural and confronts demonic activity. This prayer is done in order to gain strategies, remove strongholds, set the table for healing, and bring freedom to a specific geographical area where new believers of Jesus will be found.
   Note: This paradigm not only embraces the reality of the spiritual realm, it is utterly dependent on the supernatural power of God to show up in order for new disciples to be made.
    

2. Engaging Culture
   Engaging the culture means wisely undertaking an array of activities and actions that provide value for a culture and community, and provide bridges to the kingdom of Jesus. This is the gospel lived out in deed. It involves loving action toward the people at the core of God’s heart. This is taking care of the sick, feeding the hungry, and much more. But more importantly, this is intentionally making friendships with people who don’t know Jesus. Engaging culture means WE engage the culture rather than simply giving money to someone else who engages the culture.
   Note: This paradigm believes the culture is not something to be separated from but rather actively engaged. Your neighbors who don’t Jesus will come to know Jesus through a friendship with you, more than a cold invitation to a church event.
    

3. Making Disciples
   By the design of Jesus, when we love people and manifest the gospel in deed, people become curious about Jesus. Making disciples is when a believer leads a curious unbeliever in a process of discovery about Jesus. It could involve spiritual conversations or experiments with prayer or reading the Bible together to see if it is useful. To be on mission with Jesus means we make disciples who make disciples.
   Note: This paradigm believes disciple making is not a class Christians take after getting saved. This paradigm also believes that part of being a disciple of Jesus is to make new disciples. This means, rather than finding strangers to invite to church services where preachers can lead them to Jesus, we make relationships with people who we can lead to Jesus. All disciples of Jesus are disciple makers.
    

4. Growing Leaders
   When new disciples are born, leaders must be identified, empowered, and equipped in order for sustained growth. People must discover who they are in the five fold gifts (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, Teacher). A paradigm where the people are dependent on one gifted leader and are required to invite people to one body, will quickly reach its limit. But when multiple leaders are empowered to make multiple disciples with multiple leaders making multiple churches, limitless movement can occur.
   Note: The attractional paradigm usually consists of a senior leader who is a gifted teacher and visionary who sets up a building where they can attract people to their teaching gift. The missional paradigm wants to identify leaders in all five fold gifts in order to maximize kingdom expansion.
    

5. Forming Churches
   Pursuing disciple making and movement will inevitably produce churches, that is, groups of Jesus followers. The goal of this paradigm is to produce multiple expressions of church in the same geographical area, rather than pursuing one large church. Forming churches is the result rather than the starting point.
   Note: This paradigm believes more kingdom movement is possible with the forming of small microchurches, because more people are engaged with culture and making disciples, while in the attractional model, fewer people are involved missionally.
    

 

Preparation for working in the five components

 

We have discovered that an identification process is helpful for individual believers and for the spiritual community they are a part of, before jumping into the five components of mission:

1. Five fold identification

   • Ephesians 4 teaches that though there is one Lord and one faith and one baptism, Jesus actually gives varying measures of different gifts to the church for the training of saints for ministry. Five unique areas are mentioned (‘five-fold”): apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. These five areas are modes or methods by which we represent the kingdom in our world. Jesus carried the fullnes of the five-fold, and when He ascended into heaven He gave these gifts back to us so we can be “Jesus” around the world.

   • As a community on mission, we want an environment where we can identify, develop, and commission all five unique callings into the realm of the culture where Jesus has us. For example, we don’t want to create a culture where teachers thrive, but evangelists and prophets have a hard time finding their way. So as a community we will identify in all people, both the gift and the desired expression of the gift, and then formally commision them for ministry.
      

2. Sphere of influence

   • Each person needs to identify the missional space where they have influence. This is a place where a believer can have meaningful relationships with unbelievers. Sometimes we call this “third space.” (First space would be a place where believers exist, second space would be a place where unbelievers exist, third space would be a place where both exist together.)

   • Many believers don’t have any missional space and need to intentionally discover where this can be. For others, their neighborhood or workplace or local gym is a great place to have friendships with unbelievers.

   • It is within this sphere, that your five fold dna can be applied missionally.
      

3. Needed empowerment

   • After Jesus rose from the dead, He met His disciples and breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This was the moment the disciples received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Later Jesus commissioned His disciples to go into the world and make more disciples. However, they were not ready to go just yet. He told them to remain in Jerusalem until they were endued with power. Even with the indwelling Holy Spirit and a commission by Jesus to go minister, the disciples were not equipped to be successful. They needed to be filled with power.

   • And so it is that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is for us as individuals – He regenerates us, convicts us, and more. But our filling with the Holy Spirit is ultimately for them – it is the rivers of living water flowing out of us for ministry. We all need this empowerment to be successful at our mission. This empowerment is usually received through our pursuit of Jesus. We should not metaphorically “go into the world and make disciples” without “remaining in Jerusalem” for empowerment.

   • The most important aspect is that we receive the fruit of this empowerment. The means by which we receive power is up to Jesus. We must have a culture where everyone is allowed to receive in the way Jesus wants to give. Remember, Jesus is filling us uniquely for different purposes and roles, so it is assumed He has different ways of giving.
      

4. Equipping for mission

   • Our training and equipping is more for the purpose of being successful for ministry rather than simply gaining Bible knowledge. It should look more like a science lab than a lecture hall.

   • A little bit of mess is OK. We need to try out what we learn. We want to minister out of the position of a prosperous soul. We want teaching to lead us into an encounter with Jesus.
      

5. Doing the mission

   • Individually: How we do the mission will depend on each person’s life set up, five fold gifting, and sphere of influence. The common thread is that everyone in the community is making it a priority to develop relationships with those who don’t know Jesus. Some will need to redesign the flow of their life to do this. We do not want to manipulate our friendships in order to get a “convert”; no, the genuine friendship IS the thing.

   • Corporately: While each person has a sphere of influence, it may be that the missional community as a group has a sphere of influence, where all in the group participate in the same mission.

 

Differing groups within the five components

 

As a part of Open Spaces Project, you’ll see different types of relational meetings and conversations, usually falling into one of these types:

1. One on one relationships

   • This the most common sight within OSP. We intentionally want to develop acquaintances and friendships within a sphere of influence.

   • Strangers become acquaintances when you get to the point that if you saw them in public, it would be awkward if you didn’t say hello.

   • Acquaintances become friends when a party has occurred and life stories have been shared.

2. Discovery groups

   • It is natural for new friendships to give birth to spiritual conversations. Some of those conversations can turn into intentional meet ups for a person to discover who Jesus is, what the Bible teaches, or how prayer can be effective.

   • Discovery groups come in all shapes and sizes. The common theme is an unbeliever who wants to discover who Jesus is – to see if Jesus is worth following.

3. Simple churches or Missional Communities

   • A simple church is a small group of believers with four basic attributes: 1) a commitment to follow and worship Jesus, 2) a commitment to fellowship with one another in community, 3) a commitment to live life on mission with Jesus, 4) a commitment to be cared for by appointed shepherd leaders.

   • Sometimes we call these simple churches Missional Communities, a community of believers living life together on mission with Jesus.

   • These churches are designed to be simple and outwardly multiplying rather than complex institutions designed to become as big as possible.

 

The center point of Open Spaces Project simple churches

 

The center points of our churches are Jesus, fellowship, and mission. Everything else is good, but of secondary importance. In the attractional church model, the Sunday service is the center point with preaching in the center of that. In this model, the majority of church resources are invested in the Sunday service, including building costs and the salaries of those leading the church services. However, Open Spaces Project is not designed to produce church services. While we love gathering together, this is not the center point but rather something secondary to serve the priority of community and mission with Jesus.

 

As a result of this philosophy, we do not invest financial resources into our gatherings, such as building costs or salaries for local preachers, shepherds, or worship leaders. Our finances are invested into the needs of the local community as well as supporting the apostolic work of the five components. In this way, the people who give generously to Open Spaces Project are sowing into the expansion of the kingdom rather than receiving a direct benefit within their microchurch.

 

Leadership Structure

 

Relationship with Novo Mission

 

Open Spaces Project is part of a larger network of teams across the world with Novo Mission. We lean into the leaders of Novo for help and guidance in multiple areas, including prayer, shepherding, and strategy. 

 

Open Spaces Project local leadership structure

 

Open Spaces Project is a 501 c3 non profit corporation, designed as a network organization to start multiple new expressions of mission, based in the central coast of California. We have four areas of leadership:

 

1. Directors: providing general accountability and wisdom for the spiritual, ethical, and financial integrity of OSP. The directors give stewardship to the staff for day-to-day leadership and decision making of the organization.

2. Staff: administrating the work of OSP by building and maintaining the organizational structure (“trellis”) for the missional expressions to flourish. (Staff members may receive partial income from the offerings within the organization.)

3. Simple church / missional community (MC) leaders: responsible for the shepherding and organization of his or her simple church.

4. Five Fold Leaders: function as helpers and equippers for their area of giftedness across all of the simple churches.

 

 

Current Core Values

 

These are vitally important values that could have varying seasons of priority.

 

1. We want to see the Kingdom of Heaven expressed on earth.

   • “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” - The Father’s desire is to see the expression of His will in Heaven, be expressed on earth as well.

   • We offer the same gospel Jesus offered to the same people in the same way, offering salvation for the body, soul, and spirit; healing, deliverance, and resurrection; manifesting in power, word, and deed.

2. Jesus is our example and model for all ministry.

   • It was always the desire of Jesus to give salvation, healing, and life to all people. He did not deny anyone who came to Him nor did He give anyone a disease.

   • Jesus is the perfect expression of His Father. Everything Jesus did was because His Father wanted it done.

   • The devil’s works are to steal, kill, and destroy; while Jesus came to set people free of this bondage.

   • Everything is possible through authority, faith, and power.

3. We equip all people to operate in five-fold ministry (apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, teacher)

   • We will have lifeline connections up, down, and across the family tree.

   • We will pave highways in the church for all five folds.

   • We won’t gather around one person’s gifts, but rather around the participation of multiple people.

4. We empower all people regardless of gender, race, or class.

   • Because in His kingdom, Jesus eliminated positional distinctions of gender, race, and class, there will be no restrictions based on gender, race, or class on any of the five-fold ministry positions.

5. We pursue ongoing, fresh empowerments for ministry.

   • Understanding that the filling with the Holy Spirit (HS upon us for ministry empowerment) is separate from indwelling of the Holy Spirit (HS in us for salvation), we will pursue ongoing empowerment.

6. Our desire is to see supernatural events more normal.

   • While being fully divine, Jesus laid aside the advantages of divinity and lived fully human. In the appropriate time He was baptized in water as a prophetic means to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. It was through this Holy Spirit empowerment by which He did miracles. And in an amazing gift to His followers, He left earth so that they could receive the same power source as He received, in order to minister in the same way He ministered and beyond. In this way, we can “normalize” the supernatural by living in the fullness of of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

7. We advance a culture that honors everyone and demonstrates the honor through kindness.

8. We trust in the reliability of the Bible but will not elevate the Bible in a position greater than its author.

   • We live with the reality that the Bible is trustworthy, authoritative, and contains revelation of God. We are intentional to keep the Bible in a position below its Author. Reading and studying the Bible cannot save us. We do not desire a relationship or encounter with the Bible, but rather a relationship and encounter with the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Through this intimacy we desire the Godhead to reveal the Bible to us. Pursuing the Bible outside of an encounter with Jesus produces legalisitic religion.
      

 

Statement of Faith
 

1. We believe in God the Father.
   Yahweh is the personal name of God the Father as revealed to Moses. He is perfectly holy and cannot be in the presence of sinful people without a special provision. He created a provision for people to be in His presence by sending His perfect son Jesus to die in their place, taking away the sin punishment for them and giving them His righteousness. In this way, believers in Jesus are actually seen as righteous in Yahweh's eyes and can therefore be in His presence, both in heaven and on earth.

2. We believe in Jesus the Son.
   Jesus was sent to earth to accomplish His Father's plan for the redemption of people. Although Jesus is divine, He set aside the privileges of divinity to live the life of a man. At His baptism, Jesus received the Holy Spirit by which He performed many miracles. Jesus died on a cross to take the sin punishment for people and then rose from the dead and ascended into heaven where He remains alive today.

3. We believe in the Holy Spirit.
   The coming of the Holy Spirit fulfills the promise Yahweh made that He would one day reside in His people. When Jesus was on earth, He received the baptism with the Holy Spirit and then He told His followers that He would baptize them with the Holy Spirit as well. After Jesus returned to Heaven, He fulfilled His promise by sending the Holy Spirit, enabling His followers to be empowered and gifted for life and ministry.

4. We believe people need to be reconciled to God.
   God created the first humans to be without sin and in perfect relationship with Him. The first couple, Adam and Eve, chose to sin, breaking off that perfect relationship. Every person since this time is born into the world with this same deathly, broken relationship. Jesus came and died and rose to life in order for people to have a new birth and a reconciled relationship with Yahweh. Those who believe in Jesus receive this new birth.

5. We believe in the presence of the kingdom of heaven.
   The purpose of God’s redemption and reconciliation plan for humanity was not simply to get humans from earth to heaven after they die, but rather to get heaven to humans on earth right now.

6. We believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
   Because people are sinful and Yahweh is just, a punishment is necessary for sin. Jesus died on the cross in order to be the substitute punishment for people. Anyone who believes in Jesus no longer has to receive the punishment for their sin because Jesus is their substitute. Jesus came back to life as a sign of what will happen for all who believe in Him.

7. We believe in the return of Jesus.
   At some point in the future, Jesus will return to earth in a similar way that He departed, in order to gather up His followers.

8. We believe in the resurrection of the dead.
   Even though our current bodies will one day die and turn into dust, Jesus said after He returns, He will give us new resurrection bodies, designed never to die again.

9. We believe in the existence of angels and demons.
   Yahweh created angels for many purposes, one of which is to minister to the needs of people. Demons, and their chief called Satan, are angels who have rebelled against Yahweh and are enemies with Him, aimed at devouring His people. The kingdom of Jesus has complete authority over the kingdom of Satan.

10. We believe in the authority the Bible.
    The Bible contains the truth about Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, along with the principles in which we believe. The Bible is the authoritative revelation of God, given to His people and is the trustworthy source of teaching for all ministry. The authors of the Bible have truthfully and authoritatively testified about the events they witnessed.