One Night in Bangkok: Discovering The Verge
written by Lance Ford
Imagine yourself—walking along the bustling commotion that is downtown Bangkok’s Time Square on a Saturday evening. Sights and sounds that clearly echo her Manhattan namesake are the backdrop for the youth and music that fills the air, as this fun city enjoys the weekend. You’ve been invited to “church”.
Playing follow the leader through the maze of people, peddlers, and zipping vehicles, you screech to a sudden stop at a small restaurant among dozens of others and within eyeshot of the Hard Rock Bangkok. As you are about to enter, a tall, gangly American, freshly unshaven, shod in flip-flops and shorts greets you with a big and welcoming, “Hey bros, welcome to the wedding feast!” It’s Dave Brubaker, the guy that leads this gathering. Us old guys would call him Pastor. He, along with the other team members call themselves The Misfits.
Three flights of stairs later and my group is in a not-so-big room, filled with smiling teens and twenty-somethings, a buffet of great Asian cousine, and some really good vibes flowing from the in-house DJ. Welcome to one quadrant of The Verge, a multi-site ministry led by Dave Gibbons, lead pastor of Newsong Church in Irvine, California.
The formula for this church is simple, echoing Acts 2:42 description of food, prayer, the word, and fellowship. A continual stream of people filled the place as the buffet style meal began the evening. Shortly after eating, a small band led the crowd in worship before a quick but solid message from “pastor” Dave. A feeling of genuine worship and authentic longing for the real Jesus seemed evident. The sermon was parlayed into small group discussions that offered an even deeper sense of intimacy and authenticity. Many of these people were strangers an hour earlier, but were now huddled, listening to one another’s story of how it intersected with Dave’s message. A few minutes later and they would be praying for one another.
My group had experienced what The Misfits call, the underground meeting. It’s not really underground. It is very public in fact. What it is not is “churchy”. This is the streamlined version of church. Word of mouth advertising via the conventional and email method is the primary marketing strategy for this emerging fellowship that has grown in just a few weeks from a couple of dozen to well over ninety attendees. Dave Gibbons leads another underground meeting in his home for the “older” crowd. Once a month the underground groups gather in one location for an above ground meeting. This rallying of the troops is the platform for the whole church to see and hear the larger vision and enjoy the dynamic experience that a larger crowd yields.
Dave Gibbons explains on his blog, “We wanted everyone to know this is church. Church is not a building or a large group in one location. It can be small, in a park or an apartment, and in multiple locations. This is something that could even be done in America. We could have these VERGE groups as multi-sites meeting any day of the week. It could be "church." The strength of this size is that it fosters intimacy, interaction, and more involvement from the participants. People aren't just spectators.”
As my group gathered for a cup of Joe later that evening, to the man, each guy expressed his sense of having been to church that evening, and his longing to be a part of something like it in his own life in the future.
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