If Your 'Sticky' is Community…You Might Be The City
During my time at the Gospel Coalition a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to chat with the guys who helped create and run something called “The City”. Adam Wygle, Graham Stinson and Pastor Zack Hubert all hopping in on the conversation. Actual creator Pastor Zack from Mars Hill Church in Seattle describes The City as “A tool to help transform lives through the Gospel.”
Essentially, it is a social networking client for churches to use within their congregation. Imagine the creators of Facebook gutting the feature set, design and purpose of Facebook and re-engineering it for churches.(Here is more on how Facebook and The City differ) Complete with real time prayer requests, a Marketplace where the hurting person can find a helping hand, a People Search for finding someone of the perfect skill set to help out with a project and much more The City is an excellent service to Christian communities.
Now I totally didn’t do any of those features justice with my descriptions so for a complete list (and description) of the features go here. And for a much better explanation of The City check out this video:
As you just witnessed, The City has the potential to be an amazing tool for bringing people in your church together to continue to love, serve and fellowship with one another throughout the week from the comfort of their own homes. The City is a spark for communities that already exist driving them toward an even more connected community.
During my talk with Pastor Zack he told me a story about a certain software company coming to visit to find out more about The City. During the discussion they asked what the “Sticky” for The City was. What made it stand out and kept people coming back? Pastor Zack’s answer was simple: Community. This is the heart of The City- helping spark existing communities through The City with the Gospel.
Being a Pastor’s son I’ve seen numerous sides of ministry, from the sound booth to the pulpit. But from my short time using The City, observing the effects and talking with Pastor Zack, there are several ways I see The City being essential for churches. Here’s just three of them:
Keep visitors engaged: Being a Pastor’s son I’ve witnessed the situations where someone comes for a while, begins to get engaged and then slowly fades back out of the church. The City is a way for that person’s small group, friends in the church or whatever keep the person informed and engaged about what’s going on at the church without spamming their email inbox or voicemail.
Open the lines of communication within a church: Being raised in the church I’ve witnessed how growth impacts a congregation. As one service turns into two and 500 people quickly makes its way to 1,000 it isn’t long before you stop seeing other members due to the the crowd, service times etc. The City keeps the church connected by giving those who attend a place to collectively come together, regardless of what service you go to, and discuss the sermon, keep up to date and stay informed as to what is going on in your church. Again, this doesn’t replace face to face contact and fellowship only supplements it.
Create opportunities to serve. Coming out of the first months of Mars Hill Church using The City are numerous stories where someone had a need, and because that need was registered on The City it was met quickly and diligently. I am certainly not saying that needs aren’t met if you don’t use The City. Only that this tool looks to be an excellent way to take service within the church and with the community around you to the next level. Via the Marketplace, People Search, Prayer Request options and more This just may be the next logical step for a church looking to expland their technical impact.
I realize I just gave The City an insane amount of praise in a massive wall of text but from the stories I’ve heard, Pastor’s I’ve talked to and short time I’ve had to use it, I genuinely feel like The City will make a huge impact on churches. As our culture changes, so should our means of communicating the Gospel. Pastor Zack and company realized that, took the appropriate steps and now find themselves in an excellent position to help others communicate the Gospel and spark existing Christian communities in new and more efficent ways.
Keep up the good work guys!
Great post. Thanks very much – I too have been excited about The City after hearing about it from the Gospel Coalition conference and from my limited use… I just look forward to it actually being available so I can use it here!