PATTERN OF LIFE
As a congregation, we gather for worship every Sunday to encounter God’s grace in Word and Sacrament, to celebrate our redemption, and to pray for the church and for the world.
As individuals, we pray and read Scripture every day throughout the day using forms of Common Prayer that unite us spiritually throughout the week.
As a congregation, we collaborate at least twice a year on outreach projects designed to show Christian love to our neighbors and to bear witness to the Gospel.
As individuals, we meet regularly in small groups throughout the city to foster love for each other, to grow together in our faith, and to pray for one another and for our neighbors.
As a congregation, we host culture-shaping events inspired by the liturgical calendar at least twice a year to spark creativity, generate conversation, and cultivate spiritual growth.
As individuals, encouraged by the community of Jonah’s Call, we offer our daily work intentionally to help our world take the shape of the kingdom of God.
Jonah’s Call Pattern of Life FAQ
What’s this “Pattern of Life” thing all about?
At Jonah’s Call our vision is to join in a Gospel movement that brings flourishing to our city as we worship God, love our neighbors, and shape culture. Our Pattern of Life is how we do that together.
Let me stop you there. What’s a “gospel movement”?
“The Gospel”—just a churchy phrase meaning “the good news”—is that that the God who created us loves us unconditionally and sent Jesus of Nazareth to save our broken lives. Human history culminated in God becoming incarnate in the man Jesus, who gave his life to ransom us from captivity to corruption and death. When Jesus rose from the dead, we were reconciled to God and to each other once and for all, and creation began anew.
A “Gospel movement” is simply what happens when people come to believe this good news and it begins to shape their lives corporately and individually.
Amen. So back to this “Pattern of Life” – how does it work?
Jonah’s Call has a distinctive way of doing church. We don’t offer lots of programs to attract people or seek to supply the demands of church shoppers. Instead we have a focused, positive vision of what a Gospel-shaped life together might look like, and we invite people to participate with us in the rhythm of that life. Our Pattern of Life is the concrete description of that invitation. It’s the specific set of shared practices that we commit to in order to make our vision a reality.
The way it works is simple: for each of the three main parts of our Gospel vision—to worship God, to love our neighbors, and to shape culture—we have a corporate practice that we do as a gathered congregation and an individual practice that we each do individually. The rhythm of those six practices is our Pattern of Life.
So everybody at Jonah’s Call does everything in the Pattern of Life?
Yep! That’s our hope at least. We know that everyone goes through different seasons in life, some more stressful than others, so not all of these practices will be feasible for everyone all the time. But as we prayed and dreamed about the life of our church, we deliberately tried to picture a rhythm that would be realistically practicable for most people—families with children, retirees, students, professionals, and everyone in between. We have worked hard to produce a Pattern of Life that is vibrant and substantial, but also one where everyone can do everything without feeling overwhelmed or burned out.
Is participation required?
No. We understand the Christian life to be a voluntary response to the Gospel of God’s absolutely unconditional love for us poured out in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Your place at Jonah’s Call is not at all conditioned on whether or not you choose to “do the stuff.”
Sharing in the life of Jonah’s Call almost by definition involves participating in some aspects of our Pattern of Life simply because this is who we are and what we do as a community. But one of the encouraging things about being part of our church community is knowing that we as a congregation maintain our Pattern of Life even when we as individuals don’t.
So why should I?
We really have experienced this way of life to help us flourish as individuals and families, and as a congregation. These practices have been life-giving for us, and we think they might be for you too. When taken as a whole, our Pattern of Life deliberately integrates different aspects of spirituality and everyday life—work, art, service, prayer, friendship—in a way that we find more inspiring(and frankly more fun) than other, less focused ways might be.
If God is leading you to pursue a deeper relationship with him at Jonah’s Call, then we trust you’ll find our Pattern of Life to be an instrument of his grace. If the vision of Jonah’s Call is compelling to you and you want to join us in this Gospel movement, this is how you can help us bring flourishing to our city.
How can I try it out, where do I start?
Just jump right in! If you hang around Jonah’s Call long enough, you’ll sense the rhythm of our life together. Part of the beauty of our Pattern of Life is that it provides multiple inroads for people to be a part of what God is doing among us.
Bring a friend to the next culture-shaping event we host. Join a small group if that seems the most natural place for you to start. If participating in an outreach project sounds most exciting to you, see when the next one’s scheduled and start there. If you’ve been looking for a simple, structured way to engage in daily prayer, take home one of our Daily Office booklets and join with us in the common prayers we pray each day throughout the day. Keep doing the work you do in your daily life, and let the conversations you’ll enjoy at Jonah’s Call encourage you to offer that work intentionally to help the world look a little bit more like the kingdom of God.
Of course the most definitive practice of any church’s rhythm of life is gathering on the Lord’s Day to worship God in Word and Sacrament, so we’d really love to see you Sunday!
That all makes sense, except what’s a “culture-shaping event”?
Culture-shaping events at Jonah’s Call are seasonal programs focused on some expression of human culture—visual art, cuisine, music, film, fashion, etc. Our aim is to put a piece of culture in dialogue with the Gospel to see how it might spark creativity among us, generate conversation, and cultivate deeper spirituality. We take our inspiration for these events from the themes of the liturgical calendar—themes like the hope of Advent, the wonder of Christmas, the barrenness of Lent, the joy of Easter.
With the Gospel as our guide, we want culture to help shape us to look more like Jesus, and we want to help shape culture to look more like the kingdom of God.