Karis Church is about to make a radical change in how we handle community and outreach. In just one week we are dropping our current small group model and starting what is becoming known as Missional Communities (MCs).

Quite frankly, I’m freaked out.

Or rather I was, until a conversation with my friends, Kevin and Susan, in Virginia. Let me share their story with you:

For Valentine’s Day, their church usually has a nice dinner and invites all the church couples. They eat dinner, play the not-so-newlywed game, and generally have a good time. Not this year. No, this year they decided to have the same dinner but instead purposefully invite people who could not afford a Valentine’s Day dinner out. Everyone spread the word and a handful of people signed up to attend. Discouraged, they started asking around their city and got connected with a woman who had a relationship with people living in a lower-income neighborhood. (more…)