About us
An advocate and champion for movements of gospel-centered Missional Communities, Verge Network exists for church leaders, students, entrepreneurs, artists, urban innovators, business leaders, community development specialists, non-profit leaders, church planters and everyday leaders - anyone pursuing the mission of God, in community, whatever the context, for the sake of the Gospel.
Verge leaders and churches are engaged in the mission of God, centered around the gospel, in community, and understand the value of staying current on issues surrounding the mission of God. Verge Network has a passionate and engaged audience of leaders who want to see the Gospel change them, change their communities, change the neighbors and change the world.
Verge Conference was launched in 2010 as a gathering for people engaged in the mission of God with the gospel in their every day context. Our first year we sold out three weeks in advance with more than 2,000 attendees and nearly 3,000 people from 11 countries engaged online via live stream.
The conference prompted Verge Network which champions movements of gospel-centered missional communities and missional leaders by offering timely and topical information, video, interviews, articles and on-going dialog about living on mission, in community, centered around the gospel.
In 2011 Verge partnered with Exponential, the largest church planting conference in the U.S., to equip 4000+ leaders to learn what it means to live out the gospel on mission in community.
Verge is for everyday people and leaders who are pursuing the mission of God with the gospel in their context. Verge leaders and churches are engaged in the mission of God, centered around the gospel, in community, and understand the value of staying connected.
Check out these ways to stay connected and share VERGE with others:
Tim Chester: 10 Simple Ways To Be Missional
10 Simple Ways To Be Missional
…without adding anything to your schedule
by Tim Chester
1. Eat with other people
We all eat 3 meals a day. That’s 21 opportunities for church and mission each week without adding anything new to your schedule. And meals are a powerful expression of welcome and community.
2. Work in public places
Hold meetings, prepare talks, read in public spaces like cafes, pubs and parks. It will naturally help you engage with the culture as work or plan. For example, whose questions do you want to address in your Bible studies – those of professional exegetes or those of the culture?
3. Be a regular
Adopt a local café, pub, park and shops so you regularly visit and become known as a local. Imagine if everyone in your gospel community did this!
4. Join in with what’s going on
Churches often start their own thing like a coffee shop or homeless program. Instead, join existing initiatives – you don’t have the burden of running it and you get opportunities with co-workers.
5. Leave the house in the evenings
It’s so easy after a long day on a dark evening to slump in front of the television or surf the internet. Get out! Visit a friend. Take a cake to a neighbor. Attend a local group. Go to the cinema. Hang out in a café. Go for a walk with a friend. It doesn’t matter where as long as you go with gospel intentionality.
6. Serve your neighbors
Weed a neighbor’s garden. Help someone move. Put up a shelf. Volunteer with a local group. It could be one evening a week or one day a month. Try to do it with other members of your gospel community so it becomes a common project. Then people will see your love for one another and it will be easier to talk about Jesus.
7. Share your passion
What do you enjoy? Find a local group that shares your passion. Be missional and have fun at the same time!
8. Hang out with your work colleagues
Spend your lunch break with colleagues. Go for a drink after work. Share the journey to work.
9. Walk
Walking enables you to engage with your neighborhood at street level. You notice things you don’t in a car. You are seen and known in the neighborhood.
10. Prayer walk
Walk around your neighborhood using what you see as fuel for prayer. Pray for people, homes, businesses, community groups and community needs. Ask God to open your eyes to where He is at work and to fill your heart with love for your neighborhood.
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Tim Chester is director of The Porterbrook Institute; a church planter with The Crowded House in Sheffield, UK; and the author of over a dozen books including Total Church and You Can Change.
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Join the conversation!
What are some simple ways that you have been able to be missional in your context? Comment below:
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