ACTS Open Mic Church.
Because church SHOULD be fun!
www.myspace.com/actsopenmicchurch
Dear friends and supporters of ACTS Open Mic Church,
Thank you for supporting me in my vision of an open mic church. However you have supported me in my dissertation writing or at any of the events I have called open mic church, thank you. I write firstly to express my gratitude to you but also to tell you some things that perhaps you didn’t know about ACTS, and things that have encouraged me thus far. The vision came to me about sixteen months ago now. Paul writes in Romans 12 that whatever our gifts should be, we should be encouraged to use them. In a nutshell, I believe in a church where everyone should be allowed to use their God-given gifts. If this is in an open mic context and secular setting, those who enjoy open mic events but who are unlikely to enter your average church would likely enjoy an open mic church, and even participate in some way. Whilst there, if a gospel message is given and the Holy Spirit is invited to have His way with this...I truly believe lives will be changed for Jesus. I believe open mics can be risky, but the amount of ways in which people can hear the gospel and which God can work in people’s lives truly excites me. I’ve hosted two open mic churches so far in my research, and below are brief summaries of what happened and what I learned, but more importantly what God did! I wanted to be able to justify ACTS as church in order to use the name (instead of just ACTS Open Mic), so I had short postcard questionnaires scattered around the venues to collect information.
Sheffield, Showroom Cafe, 20th February 2008
This was the first one. About 100 people came. Feedback was mixed but largely positive, with over two-thirds saying that to them ACTS was definitely church. Some of the acts were brilliant. We had rap, poetry, song, music, Scripture readings, mini sermons, dance, prayer drama and testimony. Most were Christians but some non-Christians performed. There were technological problems and some acts were given too much time, resulting in a very late night and even people leaving. I was nervous and put a LOT into the event, leaving myself completely drained and vulnerable to all sorts of spiritual rubbish. No wonder I was largely disappointed. The vision took quite a battering after this event for several months, both in conversations with people but also largely in my mind. Still, after Sheffield I believed another one should happen and in a totally different venue. Where better than in my home town?
Yeadon Cricket Club, Leeds, 20th August 2008
I was much more relaxed about this event. I did far less in terms of preparation because I was determined to just ‘let go and let God’ (bar the all-important spiritual preparation of course). I truly knew His peace. I was really encouraged by the degree of local support. There were around 50 people there, aged from 9 to 90(!), and we had puppets, music, testimony, story, poetry, drama and a word. All bar one respondent said it was church, and people commented on the open, friendly atmosphere.
What God did
I’d love to say every non-Christian at each venue came to Christ there and then, but I can’t. Obviously a lot of what the Holy Spirit does in people’s lives can be unseen, at least initially, but some awesome things happened at both events. In Sheffield, one of my non-Christian friends travelled some distance to support me. Since ACTS she has been reading one of the gospels. She said it’s opened her eyes to a new world but isn’t sure what she believes yet. But still, she’s reading the Word of God! Also in Sheffield, a homeless man turned up who didn’t know about the event and didn’t know anybody there. He said he ‘felt drawn to the place.’ Once inside, he heard the gospel. One of the pastoral team prayed with him, gave him a Bible and even paid for him to stay in a hostel that night. He said he felt all warm-not unlike John Wesley’s heart-being-strangely-warmed experience at Aldersgate! At Yeadon, there were only two non-Christians present excluding the bar staff. I know this because I knew almost everyone in the room. One is thinking more and more about the things she has heard and the day after ACTS prayed the first prayer of her life, and the other wants to come on an Alpha Course my home church is running shortly. Praise God! So it seems thus far that ACTS seems to be a time of spiritual reawakening, which can lead to some fantastic things such as nurture groups and the relational evangelism around the tables, and a good number of Christians have been encouraged in their faith also.
The future activity of ACTS Open Mic Church
Several people have said to me that ACTS should happen again, including the cricket club bar staff. As I’m now living in Yeadon for the next two years, I feel it’s time to take a bigger step out of the boat. What the heck, let’s leap out of it. ACTS will happen again on Monday 27th October this year, and again on a date in December which is yet to be arranged, both at 7pm. The October date is to-be-confirmed but I will inform you of any changes should they occur. Unless God says no, I’m looking at a once monthly open mic church happening from January. A couple of people said to me that more people would feel comfortable about speaking at the mic or having an ‘act’ when they get used to the people, place and setup. So we’ll keep doing it, especially because God is at work within it. He is so faithful. On the advice of a learned friend I’m learning not to assess each event in terms of success or failure but just to invite God to have His way.
Prayer points
- For those who were spiritually awakened, that they will come to faith in Jesus Christ
-That I can get my dissertation finished and passed, and apply all I’ve learned to the future of ACTS
-That I and the others who are involved (including you?) will hear God’s voice and direction regarding all the above
-The most important one: That God has His way with ACTS Open Mic Church
Thanks and God bless,
Matt Wright:)
<><
Because church SHOULD be fun!
www.myspace.com/actsopenmicchurch
Dear friends and supporters of ACTS Open Mic Church,
Thank you for supporting me in my vision of an open mic church. However you have supported me in my dissertation writing or at any of the events I have called open mic church, thank you. I write firstly to express my gratitude to you but also to tell you some things that perhaps you didn’t know about ACTS, and things that have encouraged me thus far. The vision came to me about sixteen months ago now. Paul writes in Romans 12 that whatever our gifts should be, we should be encouraged to use them. In a nutshell, I believe in a church where everyone should be allowed to use their God-given gifts. If this is in an open mic context and secular setting, those who enjoy open mic events but who are unlikely to enter your average church would likely enjoy an open mic church, and even participate in some way. Whilst there, if a gospel message is given and the Holy Spirit is invited to have His way with this...I truly believe lives will be changed for Jesus. I believe open mics can be risky, but the amount of ways in which people can hear the gospel and which God can work in people’s lives truly excites me. I’ve hosted two open mic churches so far in my research, and below are brief summaries of what happened and what I learned, but more importantly what God did! I wanted to be able to justify ACTS as church in order to use the name (instead of just ACTS Open Mic), so I had short postcard questionnaires scattered around the venues to collect information.
Sheffield, Showroom Cafe, 20th February 2008
This was the first one. About 100 people came. Feedback was mixed but largely positive, with over two-thirds saying that to them ACTS was definitely church. Some of the acts were brilliant. We had rap, poetry, song, music, Scripture readings, mini sermons, dance, prayer drama and testimony. Most were Christians but some non-Christians performed. There were technological problems and some acts were given too much time, resulting in a very late night and even people leaving. I was nervous and put a LOT into the event, leaving myself completely drained and vulnerable to all sorts of spiritual rubbish. No wonder I was largely disappointed. The vision took quite a battering after this event for several months, both in conversations with people but also largely in my mind. Still, after Sheffield I believed another one should happen and in a totally different venue. Where better than in my home town?
Yeadon Cricket Club, Leeds, 20th August 2008
I was much more relaxed about this event. I did far less in terms of preparation because I was determined to just ‘let go and let God’ (bar the all-important spiritual preparation of course). I truly knew His peace. I was really encouraged by the degree of local support. There were around 50 people there, aged from 9 to 90(!), and we had puppets, music, testimony, story, poetry, drama and a word. All bar one respondent said it was church, and people commented on the open, friendly atmosphere.
What God did
I’d love to say every non-Christian at each venue came to Christ there and then, but I can’t. Obviously a lot of what the Holy Spirit does in people’s lives can be unseen, at least initially, but some awesome things happened at both events. In Sheffield, one of my non-Christian friends travelled some distance to support me. Since ACTS she has been reading one of the gospels. She said it’s opened her eyes to a new world but isn’t sure what she believes yet. But still, she’s reading the Word of God! Also in Sheffield, a homeless man turned up who didn’t know about the event and didn’t know anybody there. He said he ‘felt drawn to the place.’ Once inside, he heard the gospel. One of the pastoral team prayed with him, gave him a Bible and even paid for him to stay in a hostel that night. He said he felt all warm-not unlike John Wesley’s heart-being-strangely-warmed experience at Aldersgate! At Yeadon, there were only two non-Christians present excluding the bar staff. I know this because I knew almost everyone in the room. One is thinking more and more about the things she has heard and the day after ACTS prayed the first prayer of her life, and the other wants to come on an Alpha Course my home church is running shortly. Praise God! So it seems thus far that ACTS seems to be a time of spiritual reawakening, which can lead to some fantastic things such as nurture groups and the relational evangelism around the tables, and a good number of Christians have been encouraged in their faith also.
The future activity of ACTS Open Mic Church
Several people have said to me that ACTS should happen again, including the cricket club bar staff. As I’m now living in Yeadon for the next two years, I feel it’s time to take a bigger step out of the boat. What the heck, let’s leap out of it. ACTS will happen again on Monday 27th October this year, and again on a date in December which is yet to be arranged, both at 7pm. The October date is to-be-confirmed but I will inform you of any changes should they occur. Unless God says no, I’m looking at a once monthly open mic church happening from January. A couple of people said to me that more people would feel comfortable about speaking at the mic or having an ‘act’ when they get used to the people, place and setup. So we’ll keep doing it, especially because God is at work within it. He is so faithful. On the advice of a learned friend I’m learning not to assess each event in terms of success or failure but just to invite God to have His way.
Prayer points
- For those who were spiritually awakened, that they will come to faith in Jesus Christ
-That I can get my dissertation finished and passed, and apply all I’ve learned to the future of ACTS
-That I and the others who are involved (including you?) will hear God’s voice and direction regarding all the above
-The most important one: That God has His way with ACTS Open Mic Church
Thanks and God bless,
Matt Wright:)
<><
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