Hey R3 Family!

I have BIG (but friendly) warning I have to share with you all today. 😉

Some people think of the R3 Network as a different way of doing church.

But thats not entirely true…

Here’s a clearer way of thinking about it:

R3 is NOT a different way of doing church. It is a different way of doing life.

What this means is, if we treat R3 as a different model of doing church, but we don’t change the way we do life, it simply will not work.

Because the truth is, no model of church will magically reach secular, unchurched people and root the gospel in a post-church city like Perth.

The enemy has cast a spell over the world. The power of darkness is everywhere.

You don’t beat that with a spreadsheet, website, and 10-year plan.

Those things are important, but in the spiritual war we overcome with three simple, but ancient paths:

1. Deep Consecration: We are sold out to Jesus and his cause. Its not merely the number 1 thing in our priority list. It is the thing that redefines the entire list and re-authors our lives toward the Kingdom. This doesn’t mean we become religious fanatics who can’t relax. (Jesus way is not fanatical). It simply means we embrace his story holistically, allowing it to nurture every part of who we are.

2. Intercessory Prayer: Prayer is hard for those of us who are go-getters, but without it, we don’t stand a chance. Stillness, silence, solutide, and submission to the way of Jesus will activate our mission way more than KPI’s, strategies, and goal-setting ever will.

3. Radical Obedience: Obedience gets a bad rap thanks to legalism and rules that make no sense. This isn’t what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about radical obedience to Christ’s commands. For example, over 50 times the NT commands, “love one another”. And then, of course, there’s the great comission and the rhythms of Jesus. If we allign the tempos of our lives with his, we will see radical things take place.

No matter how much the world changes, these three ancient paths remain the only way to wrestle with the kingdom of darkness and overcome it.

Strategies are good. 10-year plans are good. Goals are good.

But nothing can ever replace the simple, heart-felt prayer: “We need you Jesus.”

Today, take 5 minutes to pray this prayer over your home, your team, and our network.

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Hey everyone!

[NAME] here

In a recent presentation, SDA researchers pointed out that while our church is doing relatively well in many parts of the world, in the west the statistics are much worse. Just take a look at this image:

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These stats are measuring population size vs SDA church membership.

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Europe leads the charge with 1 SDA to every 2,049 people. As the leader in post-church, secular culture Europeans have very little interest in church or religion.

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Asia comes in second for other complex reasons which include a mixture of communism, criminalization of Christianity, (in some parts) de-colonization, secularization, and a very large population size.

The US is becoming more and more secular so no surprises that it comes in third.

And Oceania comes in fourth. However, if we measure Australian stats alone (which is 1 SDA for every 404 people) AUS would claim third place.

Just take a look at the following image. What do you notice here?

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Notice how the western world pales in comparison.

If this isn't evidence enough that our church is struggling in the west, maybe the next few stats will do the trick.

Barna tells us that 60% of young adults who attended church in their teens will ultimately become spiritually disengaged at some point in their twenties.

Thomas S. Rainer reports that 65% of churches (in the west) are in decline or plateauing.

The Australian Generation Z Report of 2019 revealed that 52% of Australian 13-18 year old’s identify themselves as ‘nones’ – no spiritual or religious beliefs.

In fact, take a look at this recent statement from a similar study:

In the UK, and Canada the stats are much the same. In the US, more progressive states with secular/ post-modern values are likewise. But even in the more religious states, we are not growing. We are either in plataeu or in decline.

And according to The Barna SDA Millennial Study 36% of surveyed Adventist youth reported they did not feel like they belonged at church.

33% did not feel like they could be themselves at church.

47% indicated that their church was an exclusive club.

And nearly 60% reported that while they used to be involved in church, they didn't fit in anymore.

According to pastor Adrian Zahid's reflection in Compass Magazine, "In 2013, the church held its first member retention summit. The results were sobering. The data revealed that from 1960 onwards 30 percent or 1 in 3 people were leaving the church after being baptized, in less than 3 years. The precise ratio was 43 people lost for every 100 new converts."

All this at a time in history where, religion is experiencing what researchers have termed "The Great Decline."

Tobin Grant, Religion News Service states that "Previous declines in religion pale in comparison. Over the past fifteen years, the drop in religiosity has been twice as great as the decline of the 1960s and 1970s."

Just take a look at these other stats:

Its no secret. Our church is struggling. The gospel is not taking root. In the secular west, the church appears to have lost.

Except we haven't lost. There is hope. But the hope requires change.

In his book, "Mission Shift: Multiplying Disciples in Your Community" Adventist professor Kayle de Waal says:

"We are living in one of the fastest periods of change in human history and the local Adventist church is in danger of becoming irrelevant… The local church is at the cross roads and needs to Biblically reinvent itself to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world.."

Kayle isn't the only one who things so. In the book Evangelism, Ellen White says:

"New methods must be introduced. God’s people must awake to the necessities of the time in which they are living. God has men whom He will call into His service,—men who will not carry forward the work in the lifeless way in which it has been carried forward in the past..." (p. 70)

In other words, what we need in Western Adventism is innovation, creativity, and a new way of being the church in the world.

If we do this consistently and effectively, I believe we will begin to reach our emerging secular communities with radical power and impact.

But what does this look like? And how do we do it?

Answering that question is what The Mission Collective online school of post-modern evangelism is all about.

With over 30 hours of training material, PDF and PPT downloads, as well as free ebooks, live Sunday sessions, and a global community of missional Adventists passionate about doing something new...

The Mission Collective is already equipping the next generation of SDA missionaries, churches, and communities that are specifically designed for engaging western secular seekers.

This email is an invitation for you to join us. Because the time for wishing the church was different has ended. The time to cultivate a new future and culture is here.

How to Join The Mission Collective:

1. Tap this link: link

2. Once inside, become a part of our Discord community (link in the Nas portal). Please note, all email communication, links, updates, and information and community happen on our Discord so don't skip this! If you skip this, you won't receive any other communications going forward.

3. Links for the Sunday Live sessions are in the Discord announcements tab.

For those who can't attend live, the sessions are recorded and then uploaded to the Nas.io portal so you can watch them at your convenience.

Finally, if you don't want to join the online school but still want to support this vision/mission you can do so by becoming a Patron and supporting the online school with monthly donations. Tap here to learn more.

See you there!
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[NAME] here with a quick question:

How can we, the church, share the good news of the Kingdom in a world where less and less people have any interest in church or religion?

When asked, “How open are you to attend a religious service? 61% of Australians said “Not at all open”. (Only 3-6% said Extremely to Very Open)

When asked, “How frequently do you attend a religious service?” 54% said “I do not attend.”

And 35% identify themselves as religious “nones” (no spiritual or religious beliefs whatsoever.)

In fact, this survey (The Church Perception Study) found that 64% of Australians have no idea who Adventists even are.

Which makes sense because when we compare our church membership (63,400) to the population of Australia (25.69 mil)…

We find that there is only 1 SDA for every 405 Aussies.

But its not only SDA’s who have this problem. It’s all Christians.

According to a 2019 ABC report, “When given a list of eight attributes and asked which was most central to the respondent's sense of self and identity, Australians placed religion stone-cold, motherless last.”

So I want to ask again,

How can we, the church, share the good news of the Kingdom in a world where less and less people have any interest in church or religion?

As a Network we have one overwhelming Mission: To disciple Perth’s emerging, secular, post-church culture for Jesus.

And here’s what I believe: If religious programs are not connecting with secular Australians…

And God never personally asked for them either…

Then maybe instead of investing time, energy, and resources into running them we can focus on becoming the kind of people who can reach our Australian friends wherever they are.

In the park.

In the gym.

At work or school.

Through small, missional communities unencumbered by the weight and burdens of buildings and weekly programs we can learn the art of…

• Connecting with secular people in our city.

• Doing life with them.

• Including them in our personal and communal worlds.

• Discipling them relationally, going beyond “information exchange” and focusing instead on sharing God-moments.

• And empowering them to be a disciple who makes disciples rather than just a member on a pew.

This process is what R3 is all about. In fact, R3 stands for:

• REST (Experiencing the gospel in a way that brings rest to the soul.)

• RESIST (Embracing our prophetic identity which resists injustice and oppression in the world.)

• RESTORE (Celebrating the freedom we find in Jesus and becoming agents of restoration in the spaces we find ourselves in.)

Through these simple, relational rhythms, our goal is to connect with secular Australians and root the gospel in a world no longer interested in church.

But, there is a BIG warning I have to share with you all before closing this email.

R3 is NOT a different model of doing church. It is a different model of doing life.

If we treat R3 as a different model of doing church, but we don’t change the way we do life, it simply will not work.

No model will magically reach secular, unchurched people.

The enemy has cast a spell over the world. The power of darkness is everywhere.

You don’t beat that with a spreadsheet, website, and 10 year plan.

Those things are important, but in the spiritual war we overcome with three simple, but ancient paths:

1. Deep Consecration

2. Intercessory Prayer

3. Radical Obedience

Thats it! No matter how much the world changes, these three ancient paths remain the only way to wrestle with the kingdom of darkness and overcome it.

So this email is a welcome to 2024 message.

But its also an invitation to discuss three questions with yourself and your family:

1. Are we committed to R3’s mission enough to change the way we do life, not just the way we do church?

2. Are we driven by a passion to reach the secular culture that surrounds us, willing to intercede, pray, and wrestle for the gospel to be rooted in their world even if it means adjusting our calendars to make room for this?

3. Are we willing to learn, re-learn, and apply new habits and rhythms of missional living in order to reach our secular friends?

All this aside, here are some of the key rhythms to be aware of in 2024:

• Our Networks word for the year is “Prayer”. We want to cultivate a deeper culture of prayer, intercession, and stillness in God’s precense. Your facilitators will tell you more about what this looks like. It might involve changes for your team, or it might not. But prayer is our big focus this year.

• Moving forward on our Discipleship training. My personal goal as your pastor is to call every group forward in the discipleship training. This training is essential for all our groups to run smoothly, understand the mission, vision, culture, and movement of our network. And to remain unified and cohesive as we work to root the gospel in our secular city. Your facilitator will also update you on what will look like.

• Amplifying our Collectives. Collectives are a space we are currently working on reshaping for our overall mission and vision. They enable us to stay connected as a network, move in sync as we serve our city, and share what God is doing with one another.

Finally, don’t forget to use the BAND app for all our communication! This makes life easier for me because there is only one place where I need to go in order to share updates and information with you all (instead of having to use multiple platforms). So please make sure you have access to BAND and use it regularly.

Our R3 Network account is here: LINK

For specific groups, ask your facilitators to add you in.

With all this said, welcome to 2024! My prayer is that this year, we can deepen our commitment to the mission, vision, and calling Jesus has placed over our network.

Talk soon!
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