I've enjoyed this class so very much. It has pushed me and stretched my thinking in so many ways (which will be detailed in my final paper).
When I signed up for this class, I had certain expectations about what I'd end up writing about for my final paper. Writing that final paper is the reason I took this class actually. I wanted to be challenged to think through what kind of church I'd want to start. I have been so challenged this quarter, but I've also received so much more. I've been called to a more daring way to church plant. I've been called to dying and discernment. I've been called to a deeper understanding of what church is and how I can be a part of it.
This has been a wonderful class, and I am very sorry to see it end.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Class Reflection - 12/01/09
I get to miss two reflections, and I haven't missed any, so though I was in class on Tuesday and enjoyed it immensely, I will not be writing a reflection for December 1.
The New Conspirators by Tom Sine
Chapter 1 - Emerging, Missional, Mosaic, and Monastic
Sine identifies four areas of new, imaginative church growth in the Western world: emerging, missional, mosaic, and monastic communities.
Emerging communities, according to Sine, are groups offering a post-modern critique of both culture and church.
Missional communities are groups of people concerned with rethinking the way we do mission and with doing mission in the Western world. (This is the one I kind of like the most.)
Mosaic communities are groups with a distinct multiethnic makeup.
Monastic communities are groups participating in revised ancient monastic practices in current contexts.
Sine contends that we would do well to look at and celebrate what these "on the edge" communities are doing.
Chapter 2 - Coming Home to a Post-9/11 Global Neighborhood
9/11 changed our world, but the world was already moving that direction anyway. We live in a globally interactive and influenced society.
Chapter 3 - Coming Home to the Good Life of the Global Mall
The consumer culture is the dominant myth that shapes our world. As the world becomes more globally connected, the Western norms of individualism and consumption are being exported around the world. Christians need to realize that this is the empire we should be subverting.
Chapter 4 - Coming Home to the Good Life of God
The Good News is that the goodness of God is alive and growing now. Ours is not simply an ethereal, heavenly future away from here. Our prayer and our working is toward a kingdom coming on earth.
Chapter 5 - Another World that is Already Here
This view of the kingdom of God is Biblically based.
Chapter 6 - Coming Home to a Transformed Human Future
We need to take seriously the world we live in - the evil, the judgement, that God is active in this world, and the better way God has for us to live.
Chapter 7 - Taking the Future Seriously
We need to think with intention about the direction our communities and the world are heading.
Chapter 8 - Traveling Together on a Ship of Fools
There are three main economic strata of the people of the world - the rich, the vulnerable middle, and the poor - and each group faces particular challenges in this global society.
Chapter 9 - Challenges Facing the Global Rich
The wealthy are getting wealthier and need to be challenged to better care for the poor.
Chapter 10 - Challenges Facing the Vulnerable Middle
The middle class is facing increasing pressures to both become more wealthy and to not slip suddenly into poverty. Debt is rising, housing costs are rising, education costs are rising, health care costs are rising, and the general cost of living is rising.
This is particularly difficult for those just starting out. The cost of education and housing have risen forty times in the past forty years, while common salaries have only increased seven or eight times.
The middle class, and especially those just starting out, need to imagine new ways of living that don't necessarily coincide with the dominant cultural expectations of a single family house on its own piece of land. We need to live a bit more communally in a way that both better works in this world and that better reflects the values of the new reality of Christ.
Chapter 11 - Challenges Facing the Western Poor
As the wealthy are largely getting wealthier, the poor are falling further and further behind. We need to imagine ways to support and release the imaginations of the poor.
Chapter 12 - Challenges Facing the Global Poor
The global economy doesn't work well for those with no resources. We need to seek more just ways of dealing economically. We need to work to end poverty.
Chapter 13 - Challenges Facing an Endangered Church
People are more and more picking and choosing the elements of their faith, like making a playlist on iTunes, and the normal churches as a whole are losing people. (This is particularly likely to result in a great decrease in mission funding by the Western church.) The church is growing in the non-Western world, and we need to partner with it.
Chapter 14 - Reimagining the World that is Already Here
We need to constantly remember where our hope lies, what our story is, and we need to live into that story well. We need to think up new ways of announcing that new reality. We need to celebrate that new reality well as well, and we need to do all of this one person and one day at a time.
Chapter 15 - Reimagining Whole Life Stewardship
We need to look at our time and money and every decision as things to give to Christ. We need to be good stewards of our lives.
Chapter 16 - Reimagining Whole-Life Community
We need to think up better ways to let the church - God's people - define out lives.
Chapter 17 - Reimagining Whole-Life Mission
We need to orient our lives around proclaiming the new reality of Christ. We need to first ask how we get to be a part of what God is doing, and then we need to redefine our entire lives around that mission.
Chapter 18 - Joining the Entrepreneurial Edge
There are all sorts of people already living in this new reality. We need to listen to their stories and be inspired to join in.
Sine identifies four areas of new, imaginative church growth in the Western world: emerging, missional, mosaic, and monastic communities.
Emerging communities, according to Sine, are groups offering a post-modern critique of both culture and church.
Missional communities are groups of people concerned with rethinking the way we do mission and with doing mission in the Western world. (This is the one I kind of like the most.)
Mosaic communities are groups with a distinct multiethnic makeup.
Monastic communities are groups participating in revised ancient monastic practices in current contexts.
Sine contends that we would do well to look at and celebrate what these "on the edge" communities are doing.
Chapter 2 - Coming Home to a Post-9/11 Global Neighborhood
9/11 changed our world, but the world was already moving that direction anyway. We live in a globally interactive and influenced society.
Chapter 3 - Coming Home to the Good Life of the Global Mall
The consumer culture is the dominant myth that shapes our world. As the world becomes more globally connected, the Western norms of individualism and consumption are being exported around the world. Christians need to realize that this is the empire we should be subverting.
Chapter 4 - Coming Home to the Good Life of God
The Good News is that the goodness of God is alive and growing now. Ours is not simply an ethereal, heavenly future away from here. Our prayer and our working is toward a kingdom coming on earth.
Chapter 5 - Another World that is Already Here
This view of the kingdom of God is Biblically based.
Chapter 6 - Coming Home to a Transformed Human Future
We need to take seriously the world we live in - the evil, the judgement, that God is active in this world, and the better way God has for us to live.
Chapter 7 - Taking the Future Seriously
We need to think with intention about the direction our communities and the world are heading.
Chapter 8 - Traveling Together on a Ship of Fools
There are three main economic strata of the people of the world - the rich, the vulnerable middle, and the poor - and each group faces particular challenges in this global society.
Chapter 9 - Challenges Facing the Global Rich
The wealthy are getting wealthier and need to be challenged to better care for the poor.
Chapter 10 - Challenges Facing the Vulnerable Middle
The middle class is facing increasing pressures to both become more wealthy and to not slip suddenly into poverty. Debt is rising, housing costs are rising, education costs are rising, health care costs are rising, and the general cost of living is rising.
This is particularly difficult for those just starting out. The cost of education and housing have risen forty times in the past forty years, while common salaries have only increased seven or eight times.
The middle class, and especially those just starting out, need to imagine new ways of living that don't necessarily coincide with the dominant cultural expectations of a single family house on its own piece of land. We need to live a bit more communally in a way that both better works in this world and that better reflects the values of the new reality of Christ.
Chapter 11 - Challenges Facing the Western Poor
As the wealthy are largely getting wealthier, the poor are falling further and further behind. We need to imagine ways to support and release the imaginations of the poor.
Chapter 12 - Challenges Facing the Global Poor
The global economy doesn't work well for those with no resources. We need to seek more just ways of dealing economically. We need to work to end poverty.
Chapter 13 - Challenges Facing an Endangered Church
People are more and more picking and choosing the elements of their faith, like making a playlist on iTunes, and the normal churches as a whole are losing people. (This is particularly likely to result in a great decrease in mission funding by the Western church.) The church is growing in the non-Western world, and we need to partner with it.
Chapter 14 - Reimagining the World that is Already Here
We need to constantly remember where our hope lies, what our story is, and we need to live into that story well. We need to think up new ways of announcing that new reality. We need to celebrate that new reality well as well, and we need to do all of this one person and one day at a time.
Chapter 15 - Reimagining Whole Life Stewardship
We need to look at our time and money and every decision as things to give to Christ. We need to be good stewards of our lives.
Chapter 16 - Reimagining Whole-Life Community
We need to think up better ways to let the church - God's people - define out lives.
Chapter 17 - Reimagining Whole-Life Mission
We need to orient our lives around proclaiming the new reality of Christ. We need to first ask how we get to be a part of what God is doing, and then we need to redefine our entire lives around that mission.
Chapter 18 - Joining the Entrepreneurial Edge
There are all sorts of people already living in this new reality. We need to listen to their stories and be inspired to join in.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Class Reflection - 11/24/09
Today our group tried to listen to the Spirit and hear one core word or phrase that was behind all of out core values. Our group's core values were: incarnation, hospitality, authenticity, listening, and continuity (of spiritual practice).
After listening and talking about these values, our group came up with this phrase to describe our group: "He is, therefore we are."
We decided that what we really want is just to "be." We don't want programs and pressures and outside things defining who we are and what we do. We want to be Christians continually. We don't like the question, "How is your walk with Christ?" as if our Christianity is some sectioned off piece of who we are. We want to simply be, and we want to be Christians.
But we also felt that was a bit reactionary. We also don't want to be reactionary.
We also talked about how Christ is the ultimate example of all of our values. He was ultimately incarnational, absolutely authentic, constantly listened, lived spirituality, and was overwhelmingly hospitable. We want to be like Christ.
We felt that this was a much more proactive stance to take.
Combining the two thoughts, we discussed Descarte's "I think, therefore I am." We discussed how we want our identity as individuals and as a group to be rooted in Christ. We talked about how God calls Himself "I AM." Like we want to be, He is. So, we joined the two into "He is, therefore we are," establishing ourselves in Christ, following His example of a lifestyle of righteousness, and highlighting our community.
He is, therefore we are.
After listening and talking about these values, our group came up with this phrase to describe our group: "He is, therefore we are."
We decided that what we really want is just to "be." We don't want programs and pressures and outside things defining who we are and what we do. We want to be Christians continually. We don't like the question, "How is your walk with Christ?" as if our Christianity is some sectioned off piece of who we are. We want to simply be, and we want to be Christians.
But we also felt that was a bit reactionary. We also don't want to be reactionary.
We also talked about how Christ is the ultimate example of all of our values. He was ultimately incarnational, absolutely authentic, constantly listened, lived spirituality, and was overwhelmingly hospitable. We want to be like Christ.
We felt that this was a much more proactive stance to take.
Combining the two thoughts, we discussed Descarte's "I think, therefore I am." We discussed how we want our identity as individuals and as a group to be rooted in Christ. We talked about how God calls Himself "I AM." Like we want to be, He is. So, we joined the two into "He is, therefore we are," establishing ourselves in Christ, following His example of a lifestyle of righteousness, and highlighting our community.
He is, therefore we are.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Class Reflection - 11/19/09
On Thursday in class, we discussed our final papers and aggregated our different groups' core values.
Talking about the paper was a good thing to do. I have a lot more direction now, and am looking forward to writing it.
It was also very interesting to see what things the different groups brought as core values. I honestly expected the lists to be largely the same. They were not. I guess that's why it's important to go through the process with your team - everyone brings different expectations to the church.
Talking about the paper was a good thing to do. I have a lot more direction now, and am looking forward to writing it.
It was also very interesting to see what things the different groups brought as core values. I honestly expected the lists to be largely the same. They were not. I guess that's why it's important to go through the process with your team - everyone brings different expectations to the church.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Sky Is Falling!?! by Alan Roxburgh
Chapter 1
Roxburgh describes two different tribes of people in today's forward-thinking church leadership world: liminals and emergents. Liminals are people who don't want to jettison the traditional church modes. They recognize a change is taking place in society, but they feel ill equipped to handle it.
Emergents don't know anything but change. They are frustrated with the structures they know, and so they have done away with them, but this has left them without a framework for effecting change.
This book is about finding a way for the two groups to work together. They each have the same goals; they're just going about it in different ways, and they both have something to offer one another.
The emergents only know change, and so they lack the discernment to know which changes to heed and which ones to disregard. When change is constant, it is easiest to shrug everything off rather than be blown every which way.
The liminals lack the imagination to see ways to address the changes taking place. They've learned to trust their tools, and they're the only tools they know how to use.
We need common ground.
Chapter 2
Roxburgh contends that we are living in a period of discontinuous change. Discontinuous change is change without a discernible pattern. It comes from all directions at all times. For instance, we face the pressures of postmodernism, rapid technological development, globalization, pluralism, staggering need, the democratization of information, pluralism, and the end of Christendom. Discontinuous change leaves us feeling bewildered, and established patterns don't seem to work anymore.
Chapter 3
People react one of two ways to this sort of change - they try to regain the past or they jump to some unknown future. Instead, Roxburgh advises, we should learn to live together and help one another in the present situation we find ourselves in.
We have to realize that the outside pressures aren't our main concern. In times of transition, people feel the change within themselves, and this is more disconcerting than what is changing in the world. People feel unsettled about the change, and leaders need to be aware of this in those they lead and in themselves.
Chapter 4
There are 5 phases to change:
1) Stability and Equilibrium - We are not here anymore. In times of stability, leaders can maintain the status quo.
2) Discontinuity - This is the onset of change. Leaders tend to try to maintain the stability through these periods while they figure out what is changing in the world around them.
3) Disembedding - The former power structures no longer hold. Leaders need to be able to adapt and revise their institutional cultures. This is very difficult, because people still don't want the world to change.
4) Stability predictability, and control within the former world are gone. People don't know where to turn or what to do. They latch on the most popular current system, but systems keep letting them down further highlighting their lack of control of the world around them. In this situation (the one we are in now) leaders need to listen to God and let Him define what the new future will be.
5) Reformation - The people have negotiated the changes and are restructuring their lives accordingly. Leaders help people adapt their ancient stories to the new context. Roxburgh doesn't think we are anywhere this phase currently.
Chapter 5
Discontinuous change is common to the Biblical narrative. The israelites went through all the stages of change.
Chapter 6
We are living in a time of transition, and it is important for leaders to recognize and empathize with those they lead and to understand the stress discontinuous change is bring to their lives. We also need to have the patience and courage to live in transition and listen to God as to how to proceed instead of retreating into the past or jumping into the future.
Chapter 7
In this time of transition, it is important for people to support one another. Both liminals and emergents need one another. If we can't come together around anything else, then we must come together around our felt need for change. We need to learn from each other. Roxburgh calls this togetherness "communitas."
Chapter 8
Communitas to support one another in periods of transition is a pattern that runs through scripture. The Israelites in the wilderness, the period of the judges, the Babylonian exhile, and the first century Christians including Paul's ministry team are pictures of people supporting one another in periods of great transition.
Chapter 9
Transition isn't just happening in the church. It's happening in the wider culture as well. Core traits are changing, and we need to change too to interact with the changes. According to Roxburgh, we need to:
1) Create a common language
2) Redefine group boundaries and criteria for inclusion and exclusion
3) Learn to dialogue outside system of power and status
4) Get past ideologies
Chapter 10
The leader's main job is to create environments where "missional imagination" is possible amongst the people he or she leads. Missional imagination is simply the freedom to imagine and pursue the things God may be laying on people's hearts to do.
Chapter 11
We need a more communal form of leadership. We need a concert of leaders.
We need some people gifted at expressing the current emotional, mental, and sociological state of the people. (We need poets.)
We need people gifted at calling us into a new future. (We need prophets.)
We need people gifted with the ability to concretely work that future out on the ground now. (We need apostles.)
We need people gifted to care for people in the midst of transition. (We need pastors.)
Chapter 12
And we need people to bring all these divergent leadership styles together. We need what Roxburgh calls at abbot or abbess. This is a person who can organize the competing voices of leadership in times of transition. We need to be brought together to lead the church and each other during this time of transition in the world and in the church.
Roxburgh describes two different tribes of people in today's forward-thinking church leadership world: liminals and emergents. Liminals are people who don't want to jettison the traditional church modes. They recognize a change is taking place in society, but they feel ill equipped to handle it.
Emergents don't know anything but change. They are frustrated with the structures they know, and so they have done away with them, but this has left them without a framework for effecting change.
This book is about finding a way for the two groups to work together. They each have the same goals; they're just going about it in different ways, and they both have something to offer one another.
The emergents only know change, and so they lack the discernment to know which changes to heed and which ones to disregard. When change is constant, it is easiest to shrug everything off rather than be blown every which way.
The liminals lack the imagination to see ways to address the changes taking place. They've learned to trust their tools, and they're the only tools they know how to use.
We need common ground.
Chapter 2
Roxburgh contends that we are living in a period of discontinuous change. Discontinuous change is change without a discernible pattern. It comes from all directions at all times. For instance, we face the pressures of postmodernism, rapid technological development, globalization, pluralism, staggering need, the democratization of information, pluralism, and the end of Christendom. Discontinuous change leaves us feeling bewildered, and established patterns don't seem to work anymore.
Chapter 3
People react one of two ways to this sort of change - they try to regain the past or they jump to some unknown future. Instead, Roxburgh advises, we should learn to live together and help one another in the present situation we find ourselves in.
We have to realize that the outside pressures aren't our main concern. In times of transition, people feel the change within themselves, and this is more disconcerting than what is changing in the world. People feel unsettled about the change, and leaders need to be aware of this in those they lead and in themselves.
Chapter 4
There are 5 phases to change:
1) Stability and Equilibrium - We are not here anymore. In times of stability, leaders can maintain the status quo.
2) Discontinuity - This is the onset of change. Leaders tend to try to maintain the stability through these periods while they figure out what is changing in the world around them.
3) Disembedding - The former power structures no longer hold. Leaders need to be able to adapt and revise their institutional cultures. This is very difficult, because people still don't want the world to change.
4) Stability predictability, and control within the former world are gone. People don't know where to turn or what to do. They latch on the most popular current system, but systems keep letting them down further highlighting their lack of control of the world around them. In this situation (the one we are in now) leaders need to listen to God and let Him define what the new future will be.
5) Reformation - The people have negotiated the changes and are restructuring their lives accordingly. Leaders help people adapt their ancient stories to the new context. Roxburgh doesn't think we are anywhere this phase currently.
Chapter 5
Discontinuous change is common to the Biblical narrative. The israelites went through all the stages of change.
Chapter 6
We are living in a time of transition, and it is important for leaders to recognize and empathize with those they lead and to understand the stress discontinuous change is bring to their lives. We also need to have the patience and courage to live in transition and listen to God as to how to proceed instead of retreating into the past or jumping into the future.
Chapter 7
In this time of transition, it is important for people to support one another. Both liminals and emergents need one another. If we can't come together around anything else, then we must come together around our felt need for change. We need to learn from each other. Roxburgh calls this togetherness "communitas."
Chapter 8
Communitas to support one another in periods of transition is a pattern that runs through scripture. The Israelites in the wilderness, the period of the judges, the Babylonian exhile, and the first century Christians including Paul's ministry team are pictures of people supporting one another in periods of great transition.
Chapter 9
Transition isn't just happening in the church. It's happening in the wider culture as well. Core traits are changing, and we need to change too to interact with the changes. According to Roxburgh, we need to:
1) Create a common language
2) Redefine group boundaries and criteria for inclusion and exclusion
3) Learn to dialogue outside system of power and status
4) Get past ideologies
Chapter 10
The leader's main job is to create environments where "missional imagination" is possible amongst the people he or she leads. Missional imagination is simply the freedom to imagine and pursue the things God may be laying on people's hearts to do.
Chapter 11
We need a more communal form of leadership. We need a concert of leaders.
We need some people gifted at expressing the current emotional, mental, and sociological state of the people. (We need poets.)
We need people gifted at calling us into a new future. (We need prophets.)
We need people gifted with the ability to concretely work that future out on the ground now. (We need apostles.)
We need people gifted to care for people in the midst of transition. (We need pastors.)
Chapter 12
And we need people to bring all these divergent leadership styles together. We need what Roxburgh calls at abbot or abbess. This is a person who can organize the competing voices of leadership in times of transition. We need to be brought together to lead the church and each other during this time of transition in the world and in the church.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Class Reflection - 11/17/09
Today in class we mainly discussed the missiology lectures last week and our reflections on them. We also discussed our common desire for a civil dialogue between the traditional and emerging church mindsets. It seems no one wants to fight.
At the end of class we broke up into our groups to talk about what core values would guide our (fake) church plant. After our weeks of discussion, these values came out quickly, though we realize that there is still a wide gulf between these values and putting these values into practice.
At the end of class we broke up into our groups to talk about what core values would guide our (fake) church plant. After our weeks of discussion, these values came out quickly, though we realize that there is still a wide gulf between these values and putting these values into practice.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Class Reflection - 11/12/09
I think what Bishop Cray adds to the mix is extremely helpful for me.
His sequence, which is essentially the same as Ryan's church planting procedure, is great. I need to let go of all my preconceived ideas about what I need to be doing. I know God wants me to live missionally. I know I need to align myself with God's mission in the world. I now need to let God show me how I am to be involved.
I'm a bit hesitant, honestly. I fear God will send me to a culture I do not fit in, but why would He do that? Why would He make me a certain way, with certain interests and talents, and then put me in a place where those interests and talents are worthless? I don't believe God will do that. I trust Him to send me to an appropriate place. I trust the life He wants for me to be better than the life I want for myself.
And now it's time to begin to listen.
His sequence, which is essentially the same as Ryan's church planting procedure, is great. I need to let go of all my preconceived ideas about what I need to be doing. I know God wants me to live missionally. I know I need to align myself with God's mission in the world. I now need to let God show me how I am to be involved.
I'm a bit hesitant, honestly. I fear God will send me to a culture I do not fit in, but why would He do that? Why would He make me a certain way, with certain interests and talents, and then put me in a place where those interests and talents are worthless? I don't believe God will do that. I trust Him to send me to an appropriate place. I trust the life He wants for me to be better than the life I want for myself.
And now it's time to begin to listen.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Class Reflection - 11/12/09
I suppose I should post on the Missiology Lectures.
The day actually began with chapel. Bishop Cray spoke on the importance of "dying to live." In essence, he said that church planters need to lay down all their preconceived notions about how church works if they want to be be part of what God is doing amongst a people group. I see myself as being deeply rooted in a Christian subculture, so this touches me deeply.
Later, Bishop Cray spoke again at the Missiology Lecture. He basically explained in a little bit more detail everything that Ryan told us on Tuesday. It was good to hear it from the bishop's mouth though.
Then the panel responded to his comments.
I found this to be hugely encouraging. I really appreciated the differing critiques offered by Barry Taylor and Mark Lau Branson especially. As I looked listened to the panel, I thought to myself, "That is the degree I want to get here."
The day actually began with chapel. Bishop Cray spoke on the importance of "dying to live." In essence, he said that church planters need to lay down all their preconceived notions about how church works if they want to be be part of what God is doing amongst a people group. I see myself as being deeply rooted in a Christian subculture, so this touches me deeply.
Later, Bishop Cray spoke again at the Missiology Lecture. He basically explained in a little bit more detail everything that Ryan told us on Tuesday. It was good to hear it from the bishop's mouth though.
Then the panel responded to his comments.
I found this to be hugely encouraging. I really appreciated the differing critiques offered by Barry Taylor and Mark Lau Branson especially. As I looked listened to the panel, I thought to myself, "That is the degree I want to get here."
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Class Reflection - 11/10/09
Ryan gave an overview of Mission Shaped Church, the report put out by the Church of England about how they should proceed in the future.
What they are saying really resonates with me. Christians need to think seriously about how to reach people who have no natural inclination toward the church.
What they are saying really resonates with me. Christians need to think seriously about how to reach people who have no natural inclination toward the church.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The Sky Is Falling!?! by Alan Roxburgh - Ch 1
Roxburgh describes two different tribes of people in today's forward-thinking church leadership world: liminals and emergents. Liminals are people who don't want to jettison the traditional church modes. They recognize a change is taking place in society, but they feel ill equipped to handle it.
Emergents don't know anything but change. They are frustrated with the structures they know, and so they have done away with them, but this has left them without a framework for effecting change.
This book is about finding a way for the two groups to work together. They each have the same goals; they're just going about it in different ways, and they both have something to offer one another.
The emergents only know change, and so they lack the discernment to know which changes to heed and which ones to disregard. When change is constant, it is easiest to shrug everything off rather than be blown every which way.
The liminals lack the imagination to see ways to address the changes taking place. They've learned to trust their tools, and they're the only tools they know how to use.
We need common ground.
Emergents don't know anything but change. They are frustrated with the structures they know, and so they have done away with them, but this has left them without a framework for effecting change.
This book is about finding a way for the two groups to work together. They each have the same goals; they're just going about it in different ways, and they both have something to offer one another.
The emergents only know change, and so they lack the discernment to know which changes to heed and which ones to disregard. When change is constant, it is easiest to shrug everything off rather than be blown every which way.
The liminals lack the imagination to see ways to address the changes taking place. They've learned to trust their tools, and they're the only tools they know how to use.
We need common ground.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Class Reflection - 11/05/09
For so long I've thought of church as event and/or organization.
Could we make a movie and call it church?
Could we fix a dinner and call it church?
Can we watch a football game, host a house concert, carve pumpkins and call it church?
Is church not just people in Christ's name gathered together. Can we embody Kingdom values as we do the things we do best? Can all our talents be gifts to God?
Church must become "living as citizens of a new world." It must pervade our lives.
If that becomes true, how does the weekly event fit into the mix? I'm not sure, but I'd rather concern myself with making the Kingdom reign in my life. We can worry about the event later.
Could we make a movie and call it church?
Could we fix a dinner and call it church?
Can we watch a football game, host a house concert, carve pumpkins and call it church?
Is church not just people in Christ's name gathered together. Can we embody Kingdom values as we do the things we do best? Can all our talents be gifts to God?
Church must become "living as citizens of a new world." It must pervade our lives.
If that becomes true, how does the weekly event fit into the mix? I'm not sure, but I'd rather concern myself with making the Kingdom reign in my life. We can worry about the event later.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch - Ch 8
True community forms when a group of people find themselves in an unsettled place, when they are faced with a challenge greater than their individual abilities. It is then that they are untied around a common purpose outside of themselves. They cease to become a self-centered group and instead become a true community.
God's future for everything is such a common purpose. His mission, when embraced by a group of people, unsettles and drives them forward. As they move, they are drawn together.
Leaders must articulate that future and remind everyone constantly why we are together, lest we become self-focused, stop moving, and die.
With this mindset, the church becomes an all encompassing part of life, not just a once a week event. We have a group identity not because we congregate but because we are on the move together striving after "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Church happens and must happen everywhere, not just in buildings set aside for worship.
Our aim should not be to arrive; our aim is to journey.
God's future for everything is such a common purpose. His mission, when embraced by a group of people, unsettles and drives them forward. As they move, they are drawn together.
Leaders must articulate that future and remind everyone constantly why we are together, lest we become self-focused, stop moving, and die.
With this mindset, the church becomes an all encompassing part of life, not just a once a week event. We have a group identity not because we congregate but because we are on the move together striving after "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Church happens and must happen everywhere, not just in buildings set aside for worship.
Our aim should not be to arrive; our aim is to journey.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch - Ch 7
Instead of mechanistic, hierarchical leadership structures, perhaps the church should be organically organized, like everything else in creation. Perhaps we should be a billion parts with the same basic mission communicating constantly and working together to be more than we are on our own.
Institutions tend to focus on maintaining what they have. Organisms are preoccupied with growth. We need a structure that allows us to spread like bacteria. We need to be adaptable to every possible situation. We need to be a network of cells and not a chain of command. Finally, we also need to be all about reproduction, not duplication. Church planting is sex, not synthesis. Only new organisms are strong enough to live successfully in their worlds.
Institutions tend to focus on maintaining what they have. Organisms are preoccupied with growth. We need a structure that allows us to spread like bacteria. We need to be adaptable to every possible situation. We need to be a network of cells and not a chain of command. Finally, we also need to be all about reproduction, not duplication. Church planting is sex, not synthesis. Only new organisms are strong enough to live successfully in their worlds.
The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch - Ch 6
Apostolic ministry is vital to the church. It was vital to the early church (it wouldn't have existed without it), and it is vital to the church today (we won't progress without it). Apostles instill people with the mission of God. They strike the flint that sparks the fire. Then, once the fire is kindled, apostles assure that it burns pure. They keep the church concerned with the mission it was called to.
The other leadership functions are vital as well.
Prophets act as the voice of God, calling the new converts to pure devotion to the mission the apostles instilled and questioning everything for the sake of holiness and justice. Prophets speak to believers calling them to faithfulness.
Evangelists voice the call of God that the prophet opens our ears to. They introduce people to Jesus through the gospel.
Pastors shepherd the people captured by Jesus. He or she cares for the people and creates an environment of discipleship.
Teachers disciple. They train and define what it means to be a Christian.
In an organization, when all five functions are functioning, this necessarily creates conflict because each type of person is focused on a very different task, but the goal is the same, or at least it should be - to advance the kingdom of God.
The other leadership functions are vital as well.
Prophets act as the voice of God, calling the new converts to pure devotion to the mission the apostles instilled and questioning everything for the sake of holiness and justice. Prophets speak to believers calling them to faithfulness.
Evangelists voice the call of God that the prophet opens our ears to. They introduce people to Jesus through the gospel.
Pastors shepherd the people captured by Jesus. He or she cares for the people and creates an environment of discipleship.
Teachers disciple. They train and define what it means to be a Christian.
In an organization, when all five functions are functioning, this necessarily creates conflict because each type of person is focused on a very different task, but the goal is the same, or at least it should be - to advance the kingdom of God.
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch - Ch 5
The people of God (the church) must be missional and incarnational as opposed to attractional. Our aim shouldn't be to pull people into our world; our aim should be to be in their world.
We must start to see the church not as primarily an even that happens once a week, but as a group of people united behind a common goal - to see God's kingdom established on earth. We are the church not because we gather but because we are part of God's mission in the world today.
This missional ethic must define both our individual lives and our communal life. Mission must be done by me and by my community. When people are living for the same ends, they naturally seek to work together for those ends. At its core, a church must be a community in mission.
We must start to see the church not as primarily an even that happens once a week, but as a group of people united behind a common goal - to see God's kingdom established on earth. We are the church not because we gather but because we are part of God's mission in the world today.
This missional ethic must define both our individual lives and our communal life. Mission must be done by me and by my community. When people are living for the same ends, they naturally seek to work together for those ends. At its core, a church must be a community in mission.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch - Ch 4
For a missional church to thrive it must be founded on discipleship. We must be training people to live like Jesus, to be Jesus in the world. Discipleship is the journey and the destination of the Christian.
Discipleship is about adherence to Christ, and as such, it is always against something else. In our society, that something else is consumerism. We must be trained and train others to live markedly different lives in our culture dominated by marketing. We must offer the truth of the gospel in the face of the lies of advertising. We must be disciples of Christ, not Steve Jobs.
Leadership and leadership training is an extension of discipleship. We don't need to train people to lead organizations. We need to train them to live like Christ. Leadership will follow. Discipling is leading.
Finally, if we're not creating disciple, what are we doing?
Discipleship is about adherence to Christ, and as such, it is always against something else. In our society, that something else is consumerism. We must be trained and train others to live markedly different lives in our culture dominated by marketing. We must offer the truth of the gospel in the face of the lies of advertising. We must be disciples of Christ, not Steve Jobs.
Leadership and leadership training is an extension of discipleship. We don't need to train people to lead organizations. We need to train them to live like Christ. Leadership will follow. Discipling is leading.
Finally, if we're not creating disciple, what are we doing?
Saturday, October 31, 2009
The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch - Ch 3
"Jesus is Lord."
This was the statement that got the early church in so much trouble with the Roman government. This was the statement that got the Chinese church in so much trouble with the Communists. This is the statement that will get us in trouble if we really believe it and act it out.
Jesus is Lord of all. There is no sacred/secular split. All of life is under His authority, and anything we do which obscures that truth does harm to our witness. It's muddies our claim that Jesus is Lord of all.
I want to operate with a persecuted mindset. I want to see myself as an insurgent in a hostile system. I want to need my brother and sisters in the faith. I want dynamic relationships. I want to be co-conspirators in a movement to establish Christ's reign underneath a hostile system.
I want to be part of a better story. The story we've been told - Christ died on the cross for your sins to save you from hell, so give your life to Him - is a poor story. I want to be part of the story that says Christ is Lord of everything, and He's redeeming everything, and we all get to be a part of His universal takeover of the realm of sin and death.
Jesus is Lord.
This was the statement that got the early church in so much trouble with the Roman government. This was the statement that got the Chinese church in so much trouble with the Communists. This is the statement that will get us in trouble if we really believe it and act it out.
Jesus is Lord of all. There is no sacred/secular split. All of life is under His authority, and anything we do which obscures that truth does harm to our witness. It's muddies our claim that Jesus is Lord of all.
I want to operate with a persecuted mindset. I want to see myself as an insurgent in a hostile system. I want to need my brother and sisters in the faith. I want dynamic relationships. I want to be co-conspirators in a movement to establish Christ's reign underneath a hostile system.
I want to be part of a better story. The story we've been told - Christ died on the cross for your sins to save you from hell, so give your life to Him - is a poor story. I want to be part of the story that says Christ is Lord of everything, and He's redeeming everything, and we all get to be a part of His universal takeover of the realm of sin and death.
Jesus is Lord.
The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch - Ch 2
We no longer live under Christendom.
The time has passed in which Christianity is the major formational force of society. Neither is the state at the helm of culture's ship. Largely, we identify ourselves in subcultures - vocational fields, sports teams, sexualities, causes, food preferences, etc. Christianity has become just another subculture, and we so often seek to pull people out of their subculture and adhere to ours. That's not what Jesus did. That's not the incarnation.
The post-Christendom church must embrace the way of the early church, not out of nostalgia, but out of a realization that the world we live in is ideologically much like the early church's world. Christianity isn't in power anymore. We need to:
1. Let go of our infatuation with buildings as churches.
2. Embrace five-fold church leadership (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers)
3. Become grassroots movements without centralized leadership.
4. Re-sacramentalize the sacraments (baptism and communion)
5. Admit we are on the margins, and embrace our situation.
6. Be incarnational in our culture.
The time has passed in which Christianity is the major formational force of society. Neither is the state at the helm of culture's ship. Largely, we identify ourselves in subcultures - vocational fields, sports teams, sexualities, causes, food preferences, etc. Christianity has become just another subculture, and we so often seek to pull people out of their subculture and adhere to ours. That's not what Jesus did. That's not the incarnation.
The post-Christendom church must embrace the way of the early church, not out of nostalgia, but out of a realization that the world we live in is ideologically much like the early church's world. Christianity isn't in power anymore. We need to:
1. Let go of our infatuation with buildings as churches.
2. Embrace five-fold church leadership (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers)
3. Become grassroots movements without centralized leadership.
4. Re-sacramentalize the sacraments (baptism and communion)
5. Admit we are on the margins, and embrace our situation.
6. Be incarnational in our culture.
The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch - Ch 1
This book is an examination of the ways the Church does mission in the (post)modern world. It is a book on post(modern) missiology. Missiology is simply the study of the ways we extend the Gospel to those who don't know it.
In chapter one, Hirsch details his own journey from coming to faith and beginning church work during the Jesus Movement of the 70s to coming to grips with the failure of their work in their church in Melbourne to truly effect change in people's lives and then to how what they have come to now that they think is the best way to do mission now.
Hirsch details three things a church must do:
1. Engage missionally in the world - be involved with what God is doing
2. Develop deep, broad, and authentic worship
3. Make disciples, which are people who are learning how to live Christ-like lives
Hirsch says that if you succeed on the last point the other two will follow.
In chapter one, Hirsch details his own journey from coming to faith and beginning church work during the Jesus Movement of the 70s to coming to grips with the failure of their work in their church in Melbourne to truly effect change in people's lives and then to how what they have come to now that they think is the best way to do mission now.
Hirsch details three things a church must do:
1. Engage missionally in the world - be involved with what God is doing
2. Develop deep, broad, and authentic worship
3. Make disciples, which are people who are learning how to live Christ-like lives
Hirsch says that if you succeed on the last point the other two will follow.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Class Reflection - 10/29/09
Today we discussed in groups our dream for a church plant - what it would look like and what it would accomplish. Then we talked about why we want a church to look that way and why we want the church to accomplish that.
I need to do a lot more talking and writing and thinking about these things. The more I listed to others' dreams and motivations, and the more I try to express my own, the more I recognize the nuances and driving forces behind my own dreams. Now it's just a matter of figuring out which of those are good and which need to be left behind.
I need to do a lot more talking and writing and thinking about these things. The more I listed to others' dreams and motivations, and the more I try to express my own, the more I recognize the nuances and driving forces behind my own dreams. Now it's just a matter of figuring out which of those are good and which need to be left behind.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Class Reflection - 10/27/09
We talked a lot today about the context of the early church, and why they lived the way they lived. We discussed Christendom - the time when Christianity was the dominant culture-shaping force in the West - and whether or not we are living in a post-Christendom West. We also talked about the powers that the early churches stood in opposition of. I realized today that the Roman Empire-like power in our world isn't the state. It may be Capitalism. It may be consumerism. It may be greed. In any case, that's the power we need to make angry. That's the power we need to be persecuted for defying.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Class Reflection - 10/22/09
Today in class, we were visited by Nick Warnes who is part of a church planting team in the North East LA area.
I really appreciated hearing Nick's story today in class, though the kind of church they are planting is not what I want to plant. I do greatly appreciate that they have thought through what they are doing, and their thoroughness challenges me to be as thorough in my thinking.
Someone asked Nick today what would happen if he left, implying that if the church would struggle without him at the helm, then something perhaps isn't right, as if a more successful plant would be one in which he could leave without the church suffering.
I disagree with that. I think if a person, any person, leaves a church, the church should feel it. The church shouldn't be able to continue as normal if a person is suddenly gone. Imagine you lose a foot or a finger. The body would feel it and have to change. I'm antisympathetic to organizations, and especially churches, that can perpetuate without the people who make them up.
I really appreciated hearing Nick's story today in class, though the kind of church they are planting is not what I want to plant. I do greatly appreciate that they have thought through what they are doing, and their thoroughness challenges me to be as thorough in my thinking.
Someone asked Nick today what would happen if he left, implying that if the church would struggle without him at the helm, then something perhaps isn't right, as if a more successful plant would be one in which he could leave without the church suffering.
I disagree with that. I think if a person, any person, leaves a church, the church should feel it. The church shouldn't be able to continue as normal if a person is suddenly gone. Imagine you lose a foot or a finger. The body would feel it and have to change. I'm antisympathetic to organizations, and especially churches, that can perpetuate without the people who make them up.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 11
Emerging churches draw from the whole palate of Christian spiritual practice in their worship. They employ ancient and modern disciplines, and they try to reimagine them in contemporary ways. This is in keeping with the post-modern destruction of the sacred/secular split. Emerging churches see ancient disciplines as a way to make all of life spiritual and not just the things done in church. Disciplines are a way of constantly refocusing on God and a way of connecting to a pre-modern faith.
I also surmise that because most emerging Christians were raised in charismatic and fundamentalist churches, the more traditional and monastic practices seem particularly fresh. I don't say that as a way of invalidating their expression. There's nothing wrong with being fresh. It's just an observation not mentioned in the book.
I also surmise that because most emerging Christians were raised in charismatic and fundamentalist churches, the more traditional and monastic practices seem particularly fresh. I don't say that as a way of invalidating their expression. There's nothing wrong with being fresh. It's just an observation not mentioned in the book.
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 10
Many emerging churches have a very open leadership style. There is a great emphasis on making sure there isn't an autocratic leader up front. This concern has a variety of motivations, but the key motivation seems to be the desire to make sure everyone is involved.
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 9
Emerging churches are marked by being very creative. They celebrate and encourage creativity from all members of the congregation. They do this because as created beings, they believe it is our privilege and duty to create. They also value the giftedness of all believers, and they believe that giftedness extends to more than preaching and playing the guitar.
They also believe that giftedness includes more than painting and graphic design too though. They try to incorporate all sorts of gifts - any gifts and talents that the world celebrates in any arena, including organizing, building business, and engineering. It's not about being artistic; it's about making space for everyone to be involved in worship. It's about bringing all our gifts to God in worship. It's about being playful and experimenting and celebrating not excellence, but intent.
I love that.
They also believe that giftedness includes more than painting and graphic design too though. They try to incorporate all sorts of gifts - any gifts and talents that the world celebrates in any arena, including organizing, building business, and engineering. It's not about being artistic; it's about making space for everyone to be involved in worship. It's about bringing all our gifts to God in worship. It's about being playful and experimenting and celebrating not excellence, but intent.
I love that.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 8
I've quoted this before on my other blog, but this quote leads off this chapter, and I want to post it again here.
Emerging churches value participating by everyone in the worship of the church. They strive to ensure that everyone is a producer and not just a consumer. Everyone brings what gifts and talents they have to the table. Worship isn't band+preacher. It's particular to each congregation because each congregation is made up of different people.
This is one of my favorite aspects of emerging worship. I love the idea that worship is highly participative. I come from a church that celebrates the gifts that each person has to bring to the body. My home church believes that God speaks to and through everyone, and so we have made room for that to happen. I see this as a step further down that road.
Sitting in pews; standing up, sitting down; the same format each week. It just wasn't working for us. As artists, writers, creative people, the single, fixed configuration of soft-rock worship and three-point linear preaching was a body we not only felt uncomfortable in, but that was dying around us. We were frustrated.
We sat each week surrounded by some of the brightest talents in film, TV, theater, art, social work and politics...but made to watch in virtual silence because we didn't play guitar and didn't "preach." These were the only two gifts that were acceptable as worship. It just seemed such a waste.
We just thought it was outrageous that we had all these gifts that were being used in the corporate world, in the market economy, and were being snubbed for poorly done soft-rock and 2-bit oratory in church. We saw that if worship was about gift, then what we brought to worship had to be integral to us, something meaningful from who we were.
Kester Brewin, Vaux, London
Emerging churches value participating by everyone in the worship of the church. They strive to ensure that everyone is a producer and not just a consumer. Everyone brings what gifts and talents they have to the table. Worship isn't band+preacher. It's particular to each congregation because each congregation is made up of different people.
This is one of my favorite aspects of emerging worship. I love the idea that worship is highly participative. I come from a church that celebrates the gifts that each person has to bring to the body. My home church believes that God speaks to and through everyone, and so we have made room for that to happen. I see this as a step further down that road.
Class Reflection - 10/20/09
Today in class we broke up into fake church plant teams and began working through the process of planning a church plant. I found this experience very edifying.
I love listening to personal stories. When someone tells their history I feel like they're telling about who they are, what's driving them, and where they're headed. A person's story is the surfboard, the wave, and the shoreline. People are fascinating.
As everyone told their stories today, I saw that I needed to spend more time probing my own history to figure out more about exactly why I feel so drawn to the kind of community I feel compelled to be part of.
I love listening to personal stories. When someone tells their history I feel like they're telling about who they are, what's driving them, and where they're headed. A person's story is the surfboard, the wave, and the shoreline. People are fascinating.
As everyone told their stories today, I saw that I needed to spend more time probing my own history to figure out more about exactly why I feel so drawn to the kind of community I feel compelled to be part of.
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 7
Emerging congregations (conglomerations?) and traditional churches seem to agree for the most part on the subject of service and generosity. Emergent Christians may say that the traditional church seems too insistent on preaching as opposed to acting, but this has not been my experience. I've always seen Christians as being very involved, for the most part, in acts of compassion and justice in the world.
Emerging churches don't tend to give a lot of money to the church for the church to spend on itself. They keep things small and give their money to organizations and social causes instead. That's probably the only difference, btu I feel the emerging critique of the traditional church's giving and serving to be a bit misfocused. I think they're reacting against a straw man.
Emerging churches don't tend to give a lot of money to the church for the church to spend on itself. They keep things small and give their money to organizations and social causes instead. That's probably the only difference, btu I feel the emerging critique of the traditional church's giving and serving to be a bit misfocused. I think they're reacting against a straw man.
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 6
Well, it was in the chapter on hospitality of all things that I found grounds for real disagreement with the practices of many emerging communities. I find this surprising, because hospitality is the discipline that has catalyzed a lot of my thinking about what a Christian community might best look like in a post-modern context.
I agree that hospitality is the practice of welcoming in the outsider, but I do not agree with the mental leap that makes the outsider simply one who is different than you, and I do not accept that we should allow worship of other gods within the context of our Christ-centered community.
Yes, it is important to welcome in people from other faiths. We need to be hospitable toward them. I do not like evangelism that seeks to force anything on anyone. I resonate deeply with the emerging custom of being soft to non-Christians, of letting ones life do the evangelizing. However, in our gentleness, I do not think we should be weak. Jesus is Lord and no other stands beside Him. He is all the hope we have and all the hope we have to offer.
Hospitality is welcoming in the stranger, the marginalized, the alien. It is giving them a seat at the table. It is being patient and kind to them. It is being Christ to them and allowing them to come to Christ, to enter His kingdom advancing all around them to include them. But it is not suggesting to them that the world they are welcomed in from is the real world. It is not celebrating this-earth practices. To do so is to be unfaithful to our guests and our God.
I agree that hospitality is the practice of welcoming in the outsider, but I do not agree with the mental leap that makes the outsider simply one who is different than you, and I do not accept that we should allow worship of other gods within the context of our Christ-centered community.
Yes, it is important to welcome in people from other faiths. We need to be hospitable toward them. I do not like evangelism that seeks to force anything on anyone. I resonate deeply with the emerging custom of being soft to non-Christians, of letting ones life do the evangelizing. However, in our gentleness, I do not think we should be weak. Jesus is Lord and no other stands beside Him. He is all the hope we have and all the hope we have to offer.
Hospitality is welcoming in the stranger, the marginalized, the alien. It is giving them a seat at the table. It is being patient and kind to them. It is being Christ to them and allowing them to come to Christ, to enter His kingdom advancing all around them to include them. But it is not suggesting to them that the world they are welcomed in from is the real world. It is not celebrating this-earth practices. To do so is to be unfaithful to our guests and our God.
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 5
Emerging churches would rarely be considered churches by many people. They are more like groups of people who are connected relationally to each other without any weekly program or service to create and facilitate that connection. Christians in these communities aren't interested in event as church; they are interested in people loving one another and loving the world as church.
That's not to say there isn't a place in their practice for gatherings. They gather to worship together, but the gatherings take many forms, from barbecues to liturgies to art galleries to going out for coffee.
Christians in these communities also aren't concerned with size. Being big isn't the goal; being close is. Big isn't necessarily bad, and small isn't inherently good. It's faithfulness to Christ and to each other that matters.
Often, Christians in these communities are involved in a number of different realms including workplaces, community organizations, and even local traditional congregations, but they are also serious about being Church together relationally. To say they are friends with one another sounds trite, but it is actually a very profound statement.
That's not to say there isn't a place in their practice for gatherings. They gather to worship together, but the gatherings take many forms, from barbecues to liturgies to art galleries to going out for coffee.
Christians in these communities also aren't concerned with size. Being big isn't the goal; being close is. Big isn't necessarily bad, and small isn't inherently good. It's faithfulness to Christ and to each other that matters.
Often, Christians in these communities are involved in a number of different realms including workplaces, community organizations, and even local traditional congregations, but they are also serious about being Church together relationally. To say they are friends with one another sounds trite, but it is actually a very profound statement.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 4
Before I continue, I want to briefly explain a semantic change I think is necessary.
I no longer want to write about "emerging churches," because the word "church" for most people implies a group of people gathered together for a church service, like what we see across the country largely on Sunday mornings. "Church" implies program. In my thinking and reflecting on the material in this book, I'm not considering programs; I'm meditating on a way of life.
That being said...
In chapter 3, we read about emerging Christians' refusal to allow a sacred/secular split. There is no inherently holy or unholy realm of society. Instead, emerging Christians seek to find ways to sacri-lize everything, that is, to make everything sacred. Is that not the incarnation, after all? Didn't Christ indwell the very thing most separated from God - mankind?
What is particularly challenging is to consider ways of worshiping with all of our lives, with everything we encounter, and not just "church" things.
The chapter goes on to describe how British Christians redeemed the club culture and found a way to turn a rave into a worship service. This is neat, but it still misses the point of worshiping God in every aspect of the Christian's life.
I no longer want to write about "emerging churches," because the word "church" for most people implies a group of people gathered together for a church service, like what we see across the country largely on Sunday mornings. "Church" implies program. In my thinking and reflecting on the material in this book, I'm not considering programs; I'm meditating on a way of life.
That being said...
In chapter 3, we read about emerging Christians' refusal to allow a sacred/secular split. There is no inherently holy or unholy realm of society. Instead, emerging Christians seek to find ways to sacri-lize everything, that is, to make everything sacred. Is that not the incarnation, after all? Didn't Christ indwell the very thing most separated from God - mankind?
What is particularly challenging is to consider ways of worshiping with all of our lives, with everything we encounter, and not just "church" things.
The chapter goes on to describe how British Christians redeemed the club culture and found a way to turn a rave into a worship service. This is neat, but it still misses the point of worshiping God in every aspect of the Christian's life.
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 3
"Emerging churches seek first the kingdom. They do not seek to start churches per se but to foster communities that embody the kingdom. Whether a community explicitly becomes a church is not the immediate goal. The priority is that the kingdom is expressed." - Emerging Churches, p. 61
For emerging churches, the life of Jesus, more than His death and resurrection, is the focus of the mission. Emerging churches tend to strive for ways to establish here and now the perfection God will one day bring to completeness on the earth. They're not about "getting people saved"; they're about proclaiming salvation to all creation - natural, political, institutional, and individual.
I think this is why I find it difficult to talk about the kind of community I want to form. I don't want to start a church; I want to encourage myself and others to live as if heaven is here and to work to bring heaven here. I don't even want to start another form of church. I want the local congregation to continue. I just want to be part of a group of people who are trying to live like Jesus.
For emerging churches, the life of Jesus, more than His death and resurrection, is the focus of the mission. Emerging churches tend to strive for ways to establish here and now the perfection God will one day bring to completeness on the earth. They're not about "getting people saved"; they're about proclaiming salvation to all creation - natural, political, institutional, and individual.
I think this is why I find it difficult to talk about the kind of community I want to form. I don't want to start a church; I want to encourage myself and others to live as if heaven is here and to work to bring heaven here. I don't even want to start another form of church. I want the local congregation to continue. I just want to be part of a group of people who are trying to live like Jesus.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Class Reflection - 10/15/09
On Tuesday evening, I had a friend over for dinner. He is an MDIV student with the intent of working in academia. Over Fat Tires, wild rice, and shrimp, we discussed the struggle we foresee of taking what we are learning back to our communities. Personally, I wondered aloud how to explain what I want to do, which will look very different from what I grew up in, to the people and church that raised me.
I think Ryan just answered my question.
Perhaps learning to put theology and practice into dialogue with each other will make those conversations possible. Perhaps then I would be able to express the reasons behind the differences and even understand it all better myself.
____________________________________
We started going through the process of starting a new church movement.
I think the first three steps to Ryan's process - figuring out who we are, laying out what baggage we're bringing, laying those things down, and letting God rebuild us into a cohesive whole - could take a long time. Maybe it is an ongoing process though. Dying to self and surrendering ones will to Christ, as individuals and as a group, is a daily pursuit. At what point then do you begin step four - experimentation? I guess that's why Ryan calls it a discernment process.
(I think it's awesome, by the way, that I go to school in a place that talks about listening to God and discernment. Those are such spiritual, otherworldly things. It's neat to talk about them so matter-of-factly.)
I also think that it would probably be best if the group which gathers to start the movement aren't bound together by the movement, or at least that shouldn't be their only connection. They should be bound to each other apart from the thing they are creating.
I think Ryan just answered my question.
Perhaps learning to put theology and practice into dialogue with each other will make those conversations possible. Perhaps then I would be able to express the reasons behind the differences and even understand it all better myself.
____________________________________
We started going through the process of starting a new church movement.
I think the first three steps to Ryan's process - figuring out who we are, laying out what baggage we're bringing, laying those things down, and letting God rebuild us into a cohesive whole - could take a long time. Maybe it is an ongoing process though. Dying to self and surrendering ones will to Christ, as individuals and as a group, is a daily pursuit. At what point then do you begin step four - experimentation? I guess that's why Ryan calls it a discernment process.
(I think it's awesome, by the way, that I go to school in a place that talks about listening to God and discernment. Those are such spiritual, otherworldly things. It's neat to talk about them so matter-of-factly.)
I also think that it would probably be best if the group which gathers to start the movement aren't bound together by the movement, or at least that shouldn't be their only connection. They should be bound to each other apart from the thing they are creating.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 2
What is the Emerging Church?
It seems few people are willing to say.
Those within "emerging churches" are hesitant to define themselves, because to do so seems to require contrasting their communities with other, older communities. They don't want to be defined by what they're not, because they formed their churches to be something, not to not be something.
Are emerging churches post-evangelical? Are they post-Protestant? Are they post-anything? No. They are evangelical and mainline and Catholic and protestant and charismatic and whatever adjective you want to add to this list. Emerging churches are just communities trying to practice the way of Jesus within postmodern cultures. They are not simply "relevant" churches trying to attract young people. A deeper change has taken place than simply updating the music, preaching like a stand-up comedian, and adding candles and canvasses to the worship service. Emerging communities see their world and practice their faith differently.
Gibbs and Bolger offer these nine marks of an emerging community:
1) They identify with and focus on the life of Christ more than His death and resurrection.
2) They live in and transform what Modernist thought calls the secular realm.
3) They live highly communal lives.
4) They welcome in the stranger.
5) They serve generously.
6) They participate in the worship community as producers not consumers.
7) They create out of recognition that they are created beings.
8) They lead as a body. (There is no main leader.)
9) They take part in historic spiritual disciplines.
It seems few people are willing to say.
Those within "emerging churches" are hesitant to define themselves, because to do so seems to require contrasting their communities with other, older communities. They don't want to be defined by what they're not, because they formed their churches to be something, not to not be something.
Are emerging churches post-evangelical? Are they post-Protestant? Are they post-anything? No. They are evangelical and mainline and Catholic and protestant and charismatic and whatever adjective you want to add to this list. Emerging churches are just communities trying to practice the way of Jesus within postmodern cultures. They are not simply "relevant" churches trying to attract young people. A deeper change has taken place than simply updating the music, preaching like a stand-up comedian, and adding candles and canvasses to the worship service. Emerging communities see their world and practice their faith differently.
Gibbs and Bolger offer these nine marks of an emerging community:
1) They identify with and focus on the life of Christ more than His death and resurrection.
2) They live in and transform what Modernist thought calls the secular realm.
3) They live highly communal lives.
4) They welcome in the stranger.
5) They serve generously.
6) They participate in the worship community as producers not consumers.
7) They create out of recognition that they are created beings.
8) They lead as a body. (There is no main leader.)
9) They take part in historic spiritual disciplines.
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger - Ch 1
The book begins by explaining why Christians must be aware of culture if they want to be missional in our day and age. We must study culture because:
Jesus was incarnational, and so must we be.
Cultural understanding is key to missional practice.
Christendom (a society in which the Church has a key voice) and Modernism is in rapid decline.
Many modern church practices appeal to a culture that no longer exists.
The West's communication styles and forms have changed.
The Boomers were the last generation happy with Modern churches.
People are as spiritual as ever bu distrust institutional Christianity.
People no longer simply follow the religion of their parents.
In other words, the world has changed, and our churches have failed to change with it. Our churches largely look just like they did a hundred years ago. Sure, there have been some cosmetic changes - Power Point instead of hymnals and t-shirts instead of suits - but we haven't changed our communication styles or structures.
The chapter ends by discussion some of the key differences between UK and US culture, notably, the prevalence of dance club culture in the UK. 60% of people in their 20s and 30s are part of the UK club scene on the weekend while less than 5% attend church. There is nothing like that in the US.
Jesus was incarnational, and so must we be.
Cultural understanding is key to missional practice.
Christendom (a society in which the Church has a key voice) and Modernism is in rapid decline.
Many modern church practices appeal to a culture that no longer exists.
The West's communication styles and forms have changed.
The Boomers were the last generation happy with Modern churches.
People are as spiritual as ever bu distrust institutional Christianity.
People no longer simply follow the religion of their parents.
In other words, the world has changed, and our churches have failed to change with it. Our churches largely look just like they did a hundred years ago. Sure, there have been some cosmetic changes - Power Point instead of hymnals and t-shirts instead of suits - but we haven't changed our communication styles or structures.
The chapter ends by discussion some of the key differences between UK and US culture, notably, the prevalence of dance club culture in the UK. 60% of people in their 20s and 30s are part of the UK club scene on the weekend while less than 5% attend church. There is nothing like that in the US.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Class Reflection - 10/13/09
Many emerging churches have abandoned practices that don't seem to fit culturally. For instance, some churches don't have a sermon because there is nowhere in their culture where someone stands up in front of a group and talks for twenty minutes. Instead, they'll host an art exhibition and stand around with glasses of wine and talk about how the art affects them, how it points them to God.
And that's what works for those people. We shouldn't take their wine glass and canvass approach and force it on our cultures. That would be making the same mistake those people are trying to avoid. Instead, we must do the hard work of discerning how our cultures might best worship. There are times to be counter-cultural (prophetic), but we should be very deliberate about when we perform a very different cultural practice.
A good way to do this, I think, is to allow the worship to come from the people. Don't dictate; enable.
__________________________________
Place - the physical area in which we are, such as a room
Space - the arena of communication between people
In the past, place and space were the same thing. You could only interact with someone whom you shared place with. Beginning with letter writing in a small way, but exponentially moreso today in our digital Twitter and Facebook-ified world, space is a much more fluid thing. We communicate almost completely divorced from place.
How can we bring Christ to every space? What voice does the Church have in these spaces? What should the Church's interaction be? What might God be speaking to these spaces?
I don't think we should jettison the physical place in preference for the extended spaces, but I do think we should be intentional about our interactions.
And that's what works for those people. We shouldn't take their wine glass and canvass approach and force it on our cultures. That would be making the same mistake those people are trying to avoid. Instead, we must do the hard work of discerning how our cultures might best worship. There are times to be counter-cultural (prophetic), but we should be very deliberate about when we perform a very different cultural practice.
A good way to do this, I think, is to allow the worship to come from the people. Don't dictate; enable.
__________________________________
Place - the physical area in which we are, such as a room
Space - the arena of communication between people
In the past, place and space were the same thing. You could only interact with someone whom you shared place with. Beginning with letter writing in a small way, but exponentially moreso today in our digital Twitter and Facebook-ified world, space is a much more fluid thing. We communicate almost completely divorced from place.
How can we bring Christ to every space? What voice does the Church have in these spaces? What should the Church's interaction be? What might God be speaking to these spaces?
I don't think we should jettison the physical place in preference for the extended spaces, but I do think we should be intentional about our interactions.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Class Reflection - 10/8/09
"The studies show that after two years of coming into church, new believers do not lead others to Christ because by that time they have severed all ties with the non-Christian world."
"[The leaders of alternative worship communities] didn't want Christians who were having their 'fun night out of naughtiness' in the pubs. They wanted Christians who were already there, whose lives already revolved around pubs."
"The reason other Christians go [to the pubs] is to support those who are already there."
Welcome to my internal struggle...
McGavran, in The Bridges of God, discusses what he sees as the proper end of the mission station. He says they should be shut down and their resources extended to support People Movements. He says the missionaries should build their own homes, get jobs in the country, and humbly help the indigenous movements flourish.
He says they should do this because the mission station and the missionaries who work there are ineffective in spreading the gospel.
Modern church movements like to espouse the benefits of "being the church" where people are. They don't seek to pull people out of their societies; they seek instead to be Christians among their community, the same community they were a part of before they became Christians. For instance, if a person comes to Christ whose life pre-Christ revolved around hanging out on a street corner with a drug dealer, the other Christians encourage the new convert to keep hanging out on the street corner with the drug dealer, much like McGavran celebrated evangelization by family members to family members.
What then am I do to?
I have been raised in the church. My friends, past and present, are mostly all Christians. I attend seminary; it's the reason I moved to California. I work at the seminary; it's how I afford to stay in California. I am also involved in ministry in my church. My life revolves around church and Church related people and things.
And I love my friends.
And I love my coworkers.
And I love where I am in life.
But I am not in community with non-Christians. By virtue of the family I was born into, the orbits of my family's life, and the orbit of my life now, I live in a "Christian" world. Separate. Sequestered. Set apart.
Have I become a mission station?
Is the only hope for me to be "shut down," my resources funneled-off to support "indigenous" movements? Am I precluded from leading Peoples to Christ because I was raised Christian? Can I only function in an ancillary role? Am I the greatest which must become the least, and if so, how do I do that?
Do I need to settle down, build a house, get a job, and learn to be part of the non-Christian society around me? Do I need to strip away all that has formed me, all that has made me who I am? What of my seminary training? What of my (oftentimes fought against) urge to minister, to pastor, to lead people in worship? Does that pursuit, and the aquarium I've entered into to be trained for that end, disqualify me from ministering, from pastoring, from leading people in worship?
I hope not, but what am I to do?
"[The leaders of alternative worship communities] didn't want Christians who were having their 'fun night out of naughtiness' in the pubs. They wanted Christians who were already there, whose lives already revolved around pubs."
"The reason other Christians go [to the pubs] is to support those who are already there."
Welcome to my internal struggle...
McGavran, in The Bridges of God, discusses what he sees as the proper end of the mission station. He says they should be shut down and their resources extended to support People Movements. He says the missionaries should build their own homes, get jobs in the country, and humbly help the indigenous movements flourish.
He says they should do this because the mission station and the missionaries who work there are ineffective in spreading the gospel.
Modern church movements like to espouse the benefits of "being the church" where people are. They don't seek to pull people out of their societies; they seek instead to be Christians among their community, the same community they were a part of before they became Christians. For instance, if a person comes to Christ whose life pre-Christ revolved around hanging out on a street corner with a drug dealer, the other Christians encourage the new convert to keep hanging out on the street corner with the drug dealer, much like McGavran celebrated evangelization by family members to family members.
What then am I do to?
I have been raised in the church. My friends, past and present, are mostly all Christians. I attend seminary; it's the reason I moved to California. I work at the seminary; it's how I afford to stay in California. I am also involved in ministry in my church. My life revolves around church and Church related people and things.
And I love my friends.
And I love my coworkers.
And I love where I am in life.
But I am not in community with non-Christians. By virtue of the family I was born into, the orbits of my family's life, and the orbit of my life now, I live in a "Christian" world. Separate. Sequestered. Set apart.
Have I become a mission station?
Is the only hope for me to be "shut down," my resources funneled-off to support "indigenous" movements? Am I precluded from leading Peoples to Christ because I was raised Christian? Can I only function in an ancillary role? Am I the greatest which must become the least, and if so, how do I do that?
Do I need to settle down, build a house, get a job, and learn to be part of the non-Christian society around me? Do I need to strip away all that has formed me, all that has made me who I am? What of my seminary training? What of my (oftentimes fought against) urge to minister, to pastor, to lead people in worship? Does that pursuit, and the aquarium I've entered into to be trained for that end, disqualify me from ministering, from pastoring, from leading people in worship?
I hope not, but what am I to do?
Thursday, October 8, 2009
A Quick Disclaimer...
As I said on my blog post about blogging on Wednesday on Wish You Were Here, my intent is to write my class and chapter reflections in a manner that will allow you who do not know the technical language to understand what I'm writing about. I want these notes and reflections to edify you as well as me.
I've not written like this before, so I'm going to get better at it as I go, but if you have any questions at any time about a what a term means or what I'm talking about of if a concept doesn't quite make sense, please, ask questions.
You'll be doing me a favor because your questions will force me to think through these things better, I will be forced to become a better writer, and maybe you'll learn something as well.
I've not written like this before, so I'm going to get better at it as I go, but if you have any questions at any time about a what a term means or what I'm talking about of if a concept doesn't quite make sense, please, ask questions.
You'll be doing me a favor because your questions will force me to think through these things better, I will be forced to become a better writer, and maybe you'll learn something as well.
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 12
This is McGavran's wrap up/pump you up chapter. He encourages once again the pursuit of People Movements over mission stations, and calls for the Western Church to get behind him. I like his Exodus metaphor, likening the gathered households during the Passover to whole-family conversions.
Interestingly, maybe McGavran's work succeeded in halting the mission station approach, but I'm not sure People Movements were sparked in its place. If there are great People Movements happening around the globe, they need better publicity.
Interestingly, maybe McGavran's work succeeded in halting the mission station approach, but I'm not sure People Movements were sparked in its place. If there are great People Movements happening around the globe, they need better publicity.
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 11
McGavran finally address some of the questions I've had while reading his book: Are People Movements happening? How can they be supported? What would be the effects of a switch in mission strategy?
And, as I expected, he offers no answers. He simply says research must be done.
And we know now that he started the School of World Mission here at Fuller for just such a purpose. Neat.
And, as I expected, he offers no answers. He simply says research must be done.
And we know now that he started the School of World Mission here at Fuller for just such a purpose. Neat.
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 10
Supporting People Movements has a greater return on investment than supporting mission stations, says McGavran. I suppose this may be true, though I have no basis for understanding organizational mission of that sort.
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 9
In chapter 8, McGavran describes what he feels the role of the mission should be among People Movements. He thinks the missionaries and mission energy should support the local congregations. Interestingly, he feels that the mission station should continue to do what it has been doing - school, health care, etc. - but he states that it should do these things in and among the growing churches instead of in and amongst itself. He also feels that we should let mission stations die and remold them into supporting agencies. That is a bold statement.
I really wish McGavran would offer some evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that his plan works. If there are as many People Movements going on in the world as he says, surely someone is supporting them well.
I really wish McGavran would offer some evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that his plan works. If there are as many People Movements going on in the world as he says, surely someone is supporting them well.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 8
McGavran's belief is that all missions support should be poured into encouraging and strengthening local peoples movements. We should help what happening from within the population of the native peoples. I disagree with his focus on finances, but I agree with him in principle.
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 7
As I read McGavran's negative critique of Missions Stations and their focus on social programs and bettering society, I can't help but think of churches and Christians whose sole focus is "social justice." Now, I'm not against social justice. In fact, McGavran admits that the Mission Station approach works best in places hostile to Christianity. Is that what we have in the West? Maybe. Among some segments of our population? Absolutely.
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 6
McGavran goes to great lengths in chapter 5 to describe People Movements and to argue for why People Movements are better than Mission Stations.
People Movements are when whole families come to Christ led by the family's head. He's not talking about individuals making decisions for Christ; he's talking about father's making decisions for their families. He's talking about those families evangelizing their extended families until whole peoples come to Christ.
I see where he's coming from, and I understand why he thinks this is the best model for Church growth. He is very preoccupied with proving that People Movements are acceptable forms of mission work. Ok. I agree, McGavran, now give me something more. Tell me how these People Movements start, and tell me how this might apply in the hyper-individualized West, because right now it seems to be a thing that only works in more communal societies.
People Movements are when whole families come to Christ led by the family's head. He's not talking about individuals making decisions for Christ; he's talking about father's making decisions for their families. He's talking about those families evangelizing their extended families until whole peoples come to Christ.
I see where he's coming from, and I understand why he thinks this is the best model for Church growth. He is very preoccupied with proving that People Movements are acceptable forms of mission work. Ok. I agree, McGavran, now give me something more. Tell me how these People Movements start, and tell me how this might apply in the hyper-individualized West, because right now it seems to be a thing that only works in more communal societies.
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 5
McGavran's discussion of the pros and cons of Mission Stations is fascinating. I saw many correlations between both attraction-oriented congregations and in-the-world congregations. Perhaps the American Church follows McGavran's sequence of the life of a Mission Station. The American Church began as this bastion of Christianity certain to transform the world. Then, over time, as that didn't happen, the American Church has become more socially focused, be that politically, with regards to matters of justice, or otherwise, just as the Mission Stations built schools and hospitals and farms.
And now, the American Church is facing the same ineffectiveness of the 19th century mission station. What's next?
And now, the American Church is facing the same ineffectiveness of the 19th century mission station. What's next?
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 4
"Some reflection will show that a people always has its own pre-Christian religion around which the life of its members revolves."
Perhaps the "pre-Christian religion" of our people is consumerism or materialism or the like.
I also very much like McGavran's distinction between discipling and perfecting. I think he has the order right, and I think we'd do well to remember it, especially as we think about Peoples coming to Christ.
His points about leaders choosing to convert and nations following is a valid one as well.
Perhaps the "pre-Christian religion" of our people is consumerism or materialism or the like.
I also very much like McGavran's distinction between discipling and perfecting. I think he has the order right, and I think we'd do well to remember it, especially as we think about Peoples coming to Christ.
His points about leaders choosing to convert and nations following is a valid one as well.
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 3
McGavran seems to make quite the supposition in this chapter. He postulates that Jews in one city corresponded with their relatives in another city so that when Paul showed up in Corinth, he had a ready audience. McGavran never really gives any evidence for this from scripture except to say that Paul saw conversions, and because Peoples are converted via familial connections, McGavran states, this must have been the case for Paul. I'm not so sure about this. I feel like McGavran is reaching to give a Biblical support to his conjecture about the proper way to do missions in the non-Western world.
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 2
So, is this book then a meditation on non-Western mission only? If the West is characterized by individualism as McGavran asserts as opposed to the group-think of the rest of the world, and if this book is about evangelizing those who group-think, then will this book offer anything to me. (Doesn't that sound individualistic?)
I think so, because while I do not argue that the West isn't overwhelmingly individualistic, I do think that more and more, we are finding our individual meaning in community. I think we are moving toward a less individualistic society, or rather, a society of individuals all tied up in community.
I think so, because while I do not argue that the West isn't overwhelmingly individualistic, I do think that more and more, we are finding our individual meaning in community. I think we are moving toward a less individualistic society, or rather, a society of individuals all tied up in community.
The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran - Ch. 1
McGavran's desire for a People Movement to begin in a given area resonates with me. I long to see my generation here in the United States turn to Christ as a whole. I want everyone to know Christ. I want my generation to be known as a generation that fears the Lord.
But, I am wary of McGavran's myopic focus on large groups. It is as if he is saying that a missional effort that only results in a few souls coming to Christ is a failure. I disagree with that. Christ himself was all but alone as He hung on the cross. My point is this, we don't always see the fruits of our labor. We must be faithful to what God has called us to, even if He calls us to failure.
I am interested to see how McGavran works this out though.
But, I am wary of McGavran's myopic focus on large groups. It is as if he is saying that a missional effort that only results in a few souls coming to Christ is a failure. I disagree with that. Christ himself was all but alone as He hung on the cross. My point is this, we don't always see the fruits of our labor. We must be faithful to what God has called us to, even if He calls us to failure.
I am interested to see how McGavran works this out though.
Class Reflection - 10/6/09
At the end of the day, aren't we always imposing something on the culture and the people? Isn't Christ an imposition? Yes, His "yoke is easy," but He also calls His disciples to leave father and mother, to lose their lives, to call Him "Lord." Lordship is an imposition when one isn't under authority. Now, once one makes Christ Lord, one finds freedom, but at the onset, Christ is an imposition.
As a person who adores group-leadership and local expression, I love the idea of a community of people figuring out worship together. I'd love to be able to get together with whomever in my church and talk about and practice and dream about worship and how our church could best worship together. We have a monthly "worship community meeting," during which we discuss worship and worship leading. I think this is good, but it still presupposes that a certain group gets to lead worship for everyone else. It's essentially a closed group. I know that we have to start somewhere, but I'd like to see us taking steps toward a more communal expression of worship.
As a person who adores group-leadership and local expression, I love the idea of a community of people figuring out worship together. I'd love to be able to get together with whomever in my church and talk about and practice and dream about worship and how our church could best worship together. We have a monthly "worship community meeting," during which we discuss worship and worship leading. I think this is good, but it still presupposes that a certain group gets to lead worship for everyone else. It's essentially a closed group. I know that we have to start somewhere, but I'd like to see us taking steps toward a more communal expression of worship.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Class Reflection - 10/1/09
Today in class we began by hearing from each class member why they are in the class, in seminary, and why they think they are in the world. I have learned over the past year that one's fellow classmates contribute to the overall experience of the course as much as the readings, professor, and work. I think this will be a good group.
In discussing the "mission" of a particular church body, Ryan spoke briefly about hospitality and how he found that many of the on-the-edge congregations he studied considered hospitality to be the gospel, not just a means to share the gospel with people. Inviting people into one's home, eating with them, and loving them is the gospel acted out. Learning about the historical, I would say prophetic, practice of hospitality is one of the things that catalyzed my thinking on vibrant, Kingdom-establishing community.
In discussing the "mission" of a particular church body, Ryan spoke briefly about hospitality and how he found that many of the on-the-edge congregations he studied considered hospitality to be the gospel, not just a means to share the gospel with people. Inviting people into one's home, eating with them, and loving them is the gospel acted out. Learning about the historical, I would say prophetic, practice of hospitality is one of the things that catalyzed my thinking on vibrant, Kingdom-establishing community.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Welcome
This blog is primarily for my weekly assignments for Ryan Bolger's New Church Movements and Growth of the Church, a class I am taking this Fall at Fuller Theological Seminary. My class reflections and book notes will be posted here.
If you are interested in my more substantial writings, visit my main blog, Wish You Were Here. I post five days a week over there most weeks.
Enjoy.
If you are interested in my more substantial writings, visit my main blog, Wish You Were Here. I post five days a week over there most weeks.
Enjoy.
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