What is Engine Room?

The Backstory

When new churches are born, often the leadership group grows organically. It depends on who God sends to be part of the setup. In the early days of this church, Rachael and Tom invited a group of people to share ideas, wisdom, and practical solutions as MCC emerged as a church. At first different combinations of people were brought together each month, but as we settled as a church and grew, a steady and consistent group of leaders also began to settle, and our attention moved from just planning the next month’s gathering, to what it means to be church. We shifted our focus and expanded our conversations to include a huge range of important topics to ensure MCC can be a flourishing and safe Christian community. Appreciating the real need to have a solid core of people at MCC’s centre, we longed for a gathering that was so much more than a dry meeting. And so, we launched the ‘Engine Room’.

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More than a meeting

Engine Room has never been just a meeting. As its name suggests, it’s the powerhouse of the church. It’s what fuels MCC and helps us step out into the unknown to serve God with faith and commitment, on this wild journey of growing a church out of nothing. For the church to lead from a healthy place, its leadership need to be spiritually fed and equipped. As such, Engine Room has always sought to be a gathering rooted in prayer, worship, the Bible, food and family. Our children are always welcome to attend, and whilst most prefer to play elsewhere during the meeting, they return when food is ready!

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Before we get into the agenda, one of the members leads us in some creative response to God, which variously includes music and prayer and verses from the Bible. Centring our hearts on Jesus and acknowledging we bring our whole messy selves to this gathering is important. We make space for each other; we encourage honesty and vulnerability and truth. We don’t shy away from difficult opinions and topics. There are often interruptions from our children. There are often tears because we’re choosing to be real. And there's always laughter and deep respect for one another. This is where we most live out our church’s values. Engine Room builds our faith.

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New Era

As baby churches grow into more mature churches, it is important that the leadership group continues to reflect the wider church, which will undoubtedly have changed since it began. A leader could handpick their favourite people, but there is inherent danger of intentional or unintentional abuse of power, and that leader ending up in an echo chamber of aggregable people, which has obvious limitations. We want to safeguard MCC for future generations, so we are adopting a system whereby each year elections take place, and the Engine Room is voted in by the wider church.

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Going forward, Engine Room will consist of the clergy plus 12 elected members. Of these, the clergy will ask 2, especially, to support the church and the clergy for that year. We call these two people “buttresses”, from the architectural element which strengthens and supports the building. Gathering a new Engine Room will formally take place between February and March this year, but throughout the year, vacant slots, as they arise, may be filled without having to wait until the following year. 
 

Who can nominate someone and who can vote?
Anyone aged 10 or older who is a regular at The Feast, Explore Sunday, Friday Prayers, Prayer Tent, Youth Group or Home Group can nominate someone and can vote in an election. To nominate someone, you will need their agreement and also someone else to second your nomination. 
 

Who can be a member of Engine Room? Anyone 18 or older who is a regular at The Feast, Explore Sunday, Friday Prayers, Prayer Tent or Home Group can be in Engine Room if they are able to agree to the Engine Room Code.

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Engine Room Code
Members Commit to:

• Following Jesus and putting Jesus and the centre

• MCC practising good safeguarding, including Engine Room members holding valid DBS certificate

• Good boundaries around confidentiality

• “Good disagreement”: being brave and vulnerable in sharing our thoughts and creating safe, respectful, spaces for others to do the same

• Living out MCC’s values

• Acknowledging that MCC exists within the structures of the Church of England

• Generally being at MCC events

• Generally attending Engine Room meetings
 

Why be a member of Engine Room?

It is an enormous privilege and responsibility to be part of leading MCC, because we have no doubt our unusual church is absolutely necessary for today. MCC is not only important for all of us who call it home, but for the many people near and far who are finding their way back to God and the church because of us. There must be a church out there that values inclusivity, children and the environment the way we do. There must be an alternative to mainstream churches that conform to inherited traditions. There must be a safe space for those who do not fit conventional standards. There must be a church that is deeply and inherently connected to nature. But it is not enough that we currently exist, we must also continue to thrive. For us to thrive we need visionaries, dreamers and doers. Ordinary people committed to doing extraordinary things through God.

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Being a member of Engine Room is an opportunity to invest in the life of our church, and safeguard our future.

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What does it cost?

One monthly in-person gathering, plus availability to provide input on our WhatsApp chat. Following Jesus generally, is costly. It should be. Being part of Engine Room is a way of following Jesus and will at times feel hard, but it is absolutely worth it. Serving MCC in this way will change you.