I was privileged to spend some time with some of our missionaries and hear them share about living incarnationally in ministry. Ministry is relational if it’s going to be lasting. They talked about, even prior to their call overseas, they were living in an ethnic community and gained a hearing with the people and built relationships with people that were meaningful and transformative only after they moved in and actually shared life with people. Ate strange food, watched people’s kids, and the like.
It seems we’ve been going around in circles as we’ve attempted to minister to folks who are long term residents in the local motels. From our missionaries’ perspective, we’ve probably hit the wall in terms of what we can do until someone moves in there to live incarnationally among them. That’s kind of frustrating; there’s no way our family of 5 can do it, but it is also refreshing. The fact that we’re beating our head against the wall should be expected. We’ve reached the end of what we’re able to do effectively. We’ll keep doing it to keep the contacts alive until someone can get there – and we genuinely love some of the people there – but there’s not much more we can do with ‘drop in’ ministry.
As challenging and encouraging as this was for our ministry to the motels, it was challenging to how we live all the time. We don’t live incarnationally. Well, maybe we do, but it isn’t intentional. We live in a detached way like so many others rather than immersing ourselves in the culture and investing in those around us in a way that they feel loved. A challenging word for our family that I’m not quite sure what to do with it yet.
Showing posts with label Missional. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Missional. Show all posts
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Church-Based to Kingdom-Based Leadership – Changing the Scorecard, Part 2
Check out the post from May 10 for the first half of this scorecard shift. We’re going to hit the last two elements now, as we wrap up Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal.
Resource Management
These resources are pretty generalized because they are so broad. It is up to each of us to make it specific for ourselves. The key in these areas is making sure these resources are missionally-oriented.
· Prayer. What do you pray for? When? How? Who’s praying for you? You need a prayer team and it might be smart to have different people take care of different aspects of your life. McNeal has people who pray for his preaching, his leadership, and his personal life. Each person only gets one section.
· Relationships. Missional lifestyle starts at home. Your family needs to model it. You’ll have relationships where you’re investing in the development of other people – Jesus followers and otherwise.
· Time. Audit your own time and then think about how to use it more missionally. Difficult choices will have to be made, including taking your Sabbath to grow in your personal development.
· Money. This is personal and organizationally. Do your finances reflect missional generosity that blesses others? This needs to include your family as well – those closest to you can thwart what you’re trying to do if they’re not ‘on board.’
· Technology. Figure out how to use it missionally and don’t let it own you. If you’re into gadgetry, you may need a technology fast.
· Personal Property. Your home, office, car(s), vacation properties, etc… are all things that need to be approached from a missional perspective. What is ours is no longer ours alone.
Personal Growth
McNeal: “Too many leaders lose their life in leadership. …The missional message is incarnational, meaning it is wrapped up in you” (p. 168). The author doesn’t think you can template personal growth, but here are some big ones.
· Self-Awareness. You need to know what pushes you (or prevents you) in the things you do – “your fears, tendencies, and so on.” What are your personality strengths and challenges? What is your cognitive style – do you reflect, process with others, make decisions with little or all of the information, big picture, want details, etc…? What is your conflict style? What is your emotional intelligence? What is your talent level, honestly? What are your passions? What are your hidden addictions and compulsions? (If hidden, you may need a coach to help you find them!)
· Family Development. People development starts at home. Blessing others starts with your spouse and your children – the same thing when it comes to helping them develop as people.
· Emotional and Spiritual Health. Practice the spiritual disciplines, including Sabbath – he’s mentioned this a few times. I think it is often neglected by leaders (I’m guilty at times). He also includes practicing forgiveness and reconciliation. Also pay attention to emotional health – anger, depression – and cultivate hobbies and build boundaries to maintain emotional health.
· Physical Health. Take this seriously. Eat right. Exercise. Sleep. Go to the doctor for your checkups, etc…
· Financial Health. Make a plan for your personal and family spending, a financial plan to prepare for your future, and figure out ways to enhance your income (this was discussed a couple weeks ago).
This needs to be a very personal scorecard, but I’m putting it on my list of ‘things to do’ because I need to really set some goals for who I am as a person – as a whole person, not just a church leader.
Missional Renaissance Conclusion
The world is changing and God is calling people to embrace the change and minister to His people in the midst of it. Over the last couple months we’ve seen the changes and now it’s time to catch the wave.
My notes through the last couple months don’t do this book justice. I encourage you to look into it if you’ve found these at all interesting. In all of these posts you’re getting the bullets, but missing the stories and much of the learned theory from McNeal. Grab the book. It’s a good read and less than 200 pages. It will be time well spent.
Resource Management
These resources are pretty generalized because they are so broad. It is up to each of us to make it specific for ourselves. The key in these areas is making sure these resources are missionally-oriented.
· Prayer. What do you pray for? When? How? Who’s praying for you? You need a prayer team and it might be smart to have different people take care of different aspects of your life. McNeal has people who pray for his preaching, his leadership, and his personal life. Each person only gets one section.
· Relationships. Missional lifestyle starts at home. Your family needs to model it. You’ll have relationships where you’re investing in the development of other people – Jesus followers and otherwise.
· Time. Audit your own time and then think about how to use it more missionally. Difficult choices will have to be made, including taking your Sabbath to grow in your personal development.
· Money. This is personal and organizationally. Do your finances reflect missional generosity that blesses others? This needs to include your family as well – those closest to you can thwart what you’re trying to do if they’re not ‘on board.’
· Technology. Figure out how to use it missionally and don’t let it own you. If you’re into gadgetry, you may need a technology fast.
· Personal Property. Your home, office, car(s), vacation properties, etc… are all things that need to be approached from a missional perspective. What is ours is no longer ours alone.
Personal Growth
McNeal: “Too many leaders lose their life in leadership. …The missional message is incarnational, meaning it is wrapped up in you” (p. 168). The author doesn’t think you can template personal growth, but here are some big ones.
· Self-Awareness. You need to know what pushes you (or prevents you) in the things you do – “your fears, tendencies, and so on.” What are your personality strengths and challenges? What is your cognitive style – do you reflect, process with others, make decisions with little or all of the information, big picture, want details, etc…? What is your conflict style? What is your emotional intelligence? What is your talent level, honestly? What are your passions? What are your hidden addictions and compulsions? (If hidden, you may need a coach to help you find them!)
· Family Development. People development starts at home. Blessing others starts with your spouse and your children – the same thing when it comes to helping them develop as people.
· Emotional and Spiritual Health. Practice the spiritual disciplines, including Sabbath – he’s mentioned this a few times. I think it is often neglected by leaders (I’m guilty at times). He also includes practicing forgiveness and reconciliation. Also pay attention to emotional health – anger, depression – and cultivate hobbies and build boundaries to maintain emotional health.
· Physical Health. Take this seriously. Eat right. Exercise. Sleep. Go to the doctor for your checkups, etc…
· Financial Health. Make a plan for your personal and family spending, a financial plan to prepare for your future, and figure out ways to enhance your income (this was discussed a couple weeks ago).
This needs to be a very personal scorecard, but I’m putting it on my list of ‘things to do’ because I need to really set some goals for who I am as a person – as a whole person, not just a church leader.
Missional Renaissance Conclusion
The world is changing and God is calling people to embrace the change and minister to His people in the midst of it. Over the last couple months we’ve seen the changes and now it’s time to catch the wave.
My notes through the last couple months don’t do this book justice. I encourage you to look into it if you’ve found these at all interesting. In all of these posts you’re getting the bullets, but missing the stories and much of the learned theory from McNeal. Grab the book. It’s a good read and less than 200 pages. It will be time well spent.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Church-Based to Kingdom-Based Leadership, Part 2
We started exploring the shift from church-based to kingdom-based leadership last Monday. Go check it out if you missed it and you’ll be up to speed for today’s continuation.
From Train and Deploy to Deploy and Debrief
Academic proficiency does not result in great leadership. McNeal isn’t against training; he thinks we need more theological training, but not the train & deploy model we’re working. Jesus deployed and then debriefed on their experiences. We’re seeing a shift toward this direction in many modular and online programs and it is trickling down to the M.Div. level as well. This opens the door for teachers and others to get a theological education without uprooting their families, etc… It should help develop genuine leaders, not just people with the right credentialing.
From Positional to Personal
The hierarchical authority days are fading. Leadership has been based on positional authority, but those days are numbered. It is personal influence that will soon carry the day. We need up-close and personal leadership. This leads to a huge challenge: “Are we living what we’re talking about? Are our own lives missional? Is there a spiritual attractiveness to us?”
Frequently Asked Questions
This discussion ‘frequently’ freaks church leaders out. Here are some of the questions McNeal deals with on a regular basis.
What is the role of the traditional church in the missional movement?
McNeal doesn’t think the traditional church should or will fold. Rather, McNeal is focusing on changing the focus of the church from “what” to “who” as the church goes into all areas of society. Here are some roles the traditional churches can take in the ‘missional renaissance’…
· Intake and deployment centers for missional followers of Jesus.
· Umbrella organizations for missional communities. This means building up the church, not necessarily this church.
· Use their gifts meeting some of the needs missional communities uncover.
How will you maintain doctrinal and biblical orthodoxy if you’re all off in your own communities doing your own thing?
There have always been theological shifts and we have the same Word of God and the same Spirit shepherding the church.
What is the role of clergy in the missional movement?
· Teaching: Good teaching and a theological perspective are still vitally important.
· Life coaching: This has been covered in previous posts.
· Missional strategies: Clergy are in a perfect position to be missional strategists.
· Training for missional community leaders: As missional leaders proliferate, they’re going to need someone to lead them. Clergy have some of the tools necessary for this training.
How do I earn a living doing what you’re talking about?
Bivocational may be a necessity for many. Get training now instead of later so you’ll be ready when the need for more than one job arises.
What about my call?
“Does your call revolve around a mission or a job?” Rarely has a question to a question been so clear. Unnerving for those of us who make a living in ministry, but the answer is clear.
From Train and Deploy to Deploy and Debrief
Academic proficiency does not result in great leadership. McNeal isn’t against training; he thinks we need more theological training, but not the train & deploy model we’re working. Jesus deployed and then debriefed on their experiences. We’re seeing a shift toward this direction in many modular and online programs and it is trickling down to the M.Div. level as well. This opens the door for teachers and others to get a theological education without uprooting their families, etc… It should help develop genuine leaders, not just people with the right credentialing.
From Positional to Personal
The hierarchical authority days are fading. Leadership has been based on positional authority, but those days are numbered. It is personal influence that will soon carry the day. We need up-close and personal leadership. This leads to a huge challenge: “Are we living what we’re talking about? Are our own lives missional? Is there a spiritual attractiveness to us?”
Frequently Asked Questions
This discussion ‘frequently’ freaks church leaders out. Here are some of the questions McNeal deals with on a regular basis.
What is the role of the traditional church in the missional movement?
McNeal doesn’t think the traditional church should or will fold. Rather, McNeal is focusing on changing the focus of the church from “what” to “who” as the church goes into all areas of society. Here are some roles the traditional churches can take in the ‘missional renaissance’…
· Intake and deployment centers for missional followers of Jesus.
· Umbrella organizations for missional communities. This means building up the church, not necessarily this church.
· Use their gifts meeting some of the needs missional communities uncover.
How will you maintain doctrinal and biblical orthodoxy if you’re all off in your own communities doing your own thing?
There have always been theological shifts and we have the same Word of God and the same Spirit shepherding the church.
What is the role of clergy in the missional movement?
· Teaching: Good teaching and a theological perspective are still vitally important.
· Life coaching: This has been covered in previous posts.
· Missional strategies: Clergy are in a perfect position to be missional strategists.
· Training for missional community leaders: As missional leaders proliferate, they’re going to need someone to lead them. Clergy have some of the tools necessary for this training.
How do I earn a living doing what you’re talking about?
Bivocational may be a necessity for many. Get training now instead of later so you’ll be ready when the need for more than one job arises.
What about my call?
“Does your call revolve around a mission or a job?” Rarely has a question to a question been so clear. Unnerving for those of us who make a living in ministry, but the answer is clear.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Catalyst Recap: Jim Belcher (April 21, Lab 2)
Deep Church by Jim Belcher was the Leadership Journal Book of the Year (along with Dallas Willard’s Knowing Christ Today) so his was the session I was most determined to see. It was titled “Deep Culture” and was more about culture than the contents of Deep Church – the traditional/emergent church issue. Belcher was arguing against a false dichotomy in terms of responding to culture – assimilation (lose distinction) and tribalism (withdraw from culture).
There’s a third way: seeking the good of the city (Jeremiah 29.1, 4-7). We are resident aliens (study Daniel on how to do it well). We need to pray for the city and seek its peace. Belcher referred to the Hebrew word for peace, shalom, and described it as peace with God, selves, others, and culture & creation. Instead of walking through all the Q&A, I’ll put relevant materials where they’re, well, relevant. One way we demonstrate shalom to those around us is by seeking to bring peace in our workplaces.
What does this look like? Some corporate coaches that Belcher knows/works with (I don’t remember for sure) focus on healing relationships, ending backbiting, etc… in an organization and it’s a wonder how much that does. They don’t necessarily preach the gospel, but they bring shalom into the workplace using the language of common grace. It can open doors for more explicit sharing, but the focus is on doing good. City planning shalom includes community gathering places where relational shalom can develop within a city. Sometimes shalom is just bringing beauty to a city, a place, a people. An example is the OC Rescue Mission. It is a beautiful facility that inspires people to get back on their feet.
There are two roles for the believer in this. The first is the institutional church. We gather for sacraments, worship, etc… and this body must be distinct. The second role is the ‘organic’ church where the church goes into the world as salt and light on Monday. We need to train people to be secret agents of influence in the world – to bring shalom and equip them to do it well. This means training our children and our college students doing extra work to integrate their faith with what they’re learning.
After this time of study I’m interested in teaching a series at our church along these lines and finding some people or getting some cohorts together for people to unpack how to bring shalom into their workplaces.
There’s a third way: seeking the good of the city (Jeremiah 29.1, 4-7). We are resident aliens (study Daniel on how to do it well). We need to pray for the city and seek its peace. Belcher referred to the Hebrew word for peace, shalom, and described it as peace with God, selves, others, and culture & creation. Instead of walking through all the Q&A, I’ll put relevant materials where they’re, well, relevant. One way we demonstrate shalom to those around us is by seeking to bring peace in our workplaces.
What does this look like? Some corporate coaches that Belcher knows/works with (I don’t remember for sure) focus on healing relationships, ending backbiting, etc… in an organization and it’s a wonder how much that does. They don’t necessarily preach the gospel, but they bring shalom into the workplace using the language of common grace. It can open doors for more explicit sharing, but the focus is on doing good. City planning shalom includes community gathering places where relational shalom can develop within a city. Sometimes shalom is just bringing beauty to a city, a place, a people. An example is the OC Rescue Mission. It is a beautiful facility that inspires people to get back on their feet.
There are two roles for the believer in this. The first is the institutional church. We gather for sacraments, worship, etc… and this body must be distinct. The second role is the ‘organic’ church where the church goes into the world as salt and light on Monday. We need to train people to be secret agents of influence in the world – to bring shalom and equip them to do it well. This means training our children and our college students doing extra work to integrate their faith with what they’re learning.
After this time of study I’m interested in teaching a series at our church along these lines and finding some people or getting some cohorts together for people to unpack how to bring shalom into their workplaces.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Church-Based to Kingdom-Based Leadership, Part 1
The last shift is a leadership shift that includes moving from church-based leadership to more of an AD 30 Leadership. The style is apostolic, though the term freaks some people out. The idea is that leadership needs to shift from building the church to mobilizing people as missionaries. This may mean being a missionary yourself (like Paul) or helping the church be outwardly-focused (like Peter). Here are some transitions in the leader’s self-perception that needs to happen…
From Church Job to Kingdom Assignment
Somehow the passionate expansionist ideals of the early church were crushed by the burden of church hierarchy and institutionalism. Leaders in the missional movement are reengaging the world, not necessarily through the church, but by recognizing the importance of influencing those outside the church. This can be pastors who have an element of their jobs where they serve outside the church or believers who use their influence to minister to their employees and co-workers in practical ways. It doesn’t fill the pews, but it connects people to Jesus.
From Institutional Representative to Viral Agent
Oftentimes current church leaders are promoting this or that event that you need to be at, focusing on what is happening inside the church. Kingdom leaders are doing everything they can to get themselves and leaders into the community making a difference in the lives of those outside the church – most effectively if it is within people’s daily routines. Sometimes the institution and the community can come together perfectly. Example: one church took their VBS to a day care center. Most kids participated where they wouldn’t have before and the tie between day care and church was strengthened, including connecting day care workers with church prayer partners.
From Director to Producer
In the movie business, directors have their hands on the details of the film-making. Producers have a big picture and make it happen. In churches, clergy think they need to be in the middle of everything sometimes. It’s better if they don’t. Rather, they release people to do ministry all over the place, in different venues – their own venues. Instead of getting people to star in church movies, they’re empowered to make their own.
From Reliving the Past (the Historian) to Rearranging the Future (the Journalist)
The memorable quote (after visiting an empty Swiss church on a church holiday): “A faith built on dead people doesn’t thrive.” We need to honor the past and teach the Scriptures, but all our heroes can’t be dead. We need missional leaders who experience God on the frontiers and then take people along to experience him there as well.
We’ll cover the rest of this chapter next week as well as some Frequently Asked Questions on how this works for the leaders who are going to need to undergo change.
From Church Job to Kingdom Assignment
Somehow the passionate expansionist ideals of the early church were crushed by the burden of church hierarchy and institutionalism. Leaders in the missional movement are reengaging the world, not necessarily through the church, but by recognizing the importance of influencing those outside the church. This can be pastors who have an element of their jobs where they serve outside the church or believers who use their influence to minister to their employees and co-workers in practical ways. It doesn’t fill the pews, but it connects people to Jesus.
From Institutional Representative to Viral Agent
Oftentimes current church leaders are promoting this or that event that you need to be at, focusing on what is happening inside the church. Kingdom leaders are doing everything they can to get themselves and leaders into the community making a difference in the lives of those outside the church – most effectively if it is within people’s daily routines. Sometimes the institution and the community can come together perfectly. Example: one church took their VBS to a day care center. Most kids participated where they wouldn’t have before and the tie between day care and church was strengthened, including connecting day care workers with church prayer partners.
From Director to Producer
In the movie business, directors have their hands on the details of the film-making. Producers have a big picture and make it happen. In churches, clergy think they need to be in the middle of everything sometimes. It’s better if they don’t. Rather, they release people to do ministry all over the place, in different venues – their own venues. Instead of getting people to star in church movies, they’re empowered to make their own.
From Reliving the Past (the Historian) to Rearranging the Future (the Journalist)
The memorable quote (after visiting an empty Swiss church on a church holiday): “A faith built on dead people doesn’t thrive.” We need to honor the past and teach the Scriptures, but all our heroes can’t be dead. We need missional leaders who experience God on the frontiers and then take people along to experience him there as well.
We’ll cover the rest of this chapter next week as well as some Frequently Asked Questions on how this works for the leaders who are going to need to undergo change.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Program Development to People Development – Keeping Score
(NOTE: I know it isn't Monday, but I can't copy & paste my posts on my new computer so this post couldn't make it out on Monday. However, my old computer is still in my office so I can make it work ... at least for today:)
The shift from program development to people development makes enough sense, but it is more difficult to figure out how to keep score with such a paradigm shift. We’re used to counting how many are in services or going to church activities or church-centered growth opportunities or staff committed to managing programs. The new scorecard should include relationships people are cultivating, people released into service, personal life development, life-centered growth, and staff engaged in coaching people for their personal development. The shift needs to reveal real changes in people and real staff hours spent in helping people move forward, not just program management. Let’s see what it might look like…
Prayer
We don’t pray enough or expectantly and with our eyes open to see what God is doing. The new scorecard may include…
· The number of people growing in their prayer lives.
· Amount of prayer – individual and corporate – in public gatherings.
· Work team/Committee meetings with key component of prayer linked to the mission of God.
· Time spent in prayer in staff meetings.
· Number of people serving as prayer partners for community leaders and staff.
· Prayer meetings – inside the church and in the community.
People
We need to coach people and help them develop life skills, self-awareness, resource management, and personal growth. This might be ‘scored’ like this…
· Number of people with improved marriages, friendships, family life over time.
· Number of people engaged in financial planning and increased giving to Kingdom causes.
· Number of people receiving coaching or being mentored or just increasing friendships.
· Number of people identifying strengths, developing, and living a plan.
This also affects leadership. Leaders need to be involved in these things for themselves and serving others so they can happen.
Calendar
Most of the ‘scores’ so far deal with time spent investing in personal development, but there are some creative ways to measure this.
· Amount of time spent debriefing people serving the community.
· Amount of time in leadership meetings figuring out how to develop people.
· Percentage of time in corporate gatherings celebrating faith stories.
· Progress on simplifying the church calendar to leave more time for personal development.
Finances
Money reflects values. Some benchmarks to consider…
· Reducing corporate debt to free money up for investing in people.
· Amount of seed money in microeconomic development.
· Number of financial planning courses and the number of people participating.
· Number of people reporting personal debt retirement.
· Number of people increasing their generosity through charitable giving.
· Amount of giving by constituents.
· Number of messages on financial issues (not just giving).
Facilities
Facilities can do more than just provide places to support ministry programming. Some ways it might be more people development-oriented…
· Percentage of facility used during the week by people for personal growth (exercise classes, tutoring, skill seminars, etc…)
· Number of external or additional venues the church is creating for ministry, such as coffee shops or prayer booths.
· Number of schools or community organizations using church facilities for their activities.
· Space devoted to conversation-friendly areas.
Technology
Technology used to support ministry. Now it delivers it. If it is being used to develop people, you’ll count the …
· Number of personal growth and online learning opportunities on your website … and how many people are using them.
· Number of life change stories on your website.
· Number of people being trained in technology usage.
One church of several hundred congregants interviewed was seeking to be a people-developing church. So they interviewed anyone who wanted to be interviewed wherever they wanted to be interviewed. Their interview had five questions and then they built ministry and people around their findings. The five questions (read McNeal for their rationale – this post is already too long!)
1. What do you enjoy doing?
2. Where do you see God at work right now?
3. What would you like to see God do in your life over the next six to twelve months? How can we help?
4. How would you like to serve other people? How can we help?
5. How can we pray for you?
The shift from program development to people development makes enough sense, but it is more difficult to figure out how to keep score with such a paradigm shift. We’re used to counting how many are in services or going to church activities or church-centered growth opportunities or staff committed to managing programs. The new scorecard should include relationships people are cultivating, people released into service, personal life development, life-centered growth, and staff engaged in coaching people for their personal development. The shift needs to reveal real changes in people and real staff hours spent in helping people move forward, not just program management. Let’s see what it might look like…
Prayer
We don’t pray enough or expectantly and with our eyes open to see what God is doing. The new scorecard may include…
· The number of people growing in their prayer lives.
· Amount of prayer – individual and corporate – in public gatherings.
· Work team/Committee meetings with key component of prayer linked to the mission of God.
· Time spent in prayer in staff meetings.
· Number of people serving as prayer partners for community leaders and staff.
· Prayer meetings – inside the church and in the community.
People
We need to coach people and help them develop life skills, self-awareness, resource management, and personal growth. This might be ‘scored’ like this…
· Number of people with improved marriages, friendships, family life over time.
· Number of people engaged in financial planning and increased giving to Kingdom causes.
· Number of people receiving coaching or being mentored or just increasing friendships.
· Number of people identifying strengths, developing, and living a plan.
This also affects leadership. Leaders need to be involved in these things for themselves and serving others so they can happen.
Calendar
Most of the ‘scores’ so far deal with time spent investing in personal development, but there are some creative ways to measure this.
· Amount of time spent debriefing people serving the community.
· Amount of time in leadership meetings figuring out how to develop people.
· Percentage of time in corporate gatherings celebrating faith stories.
· Progress on simplifying the church calendar to leave more time for personal development.
Finances
Money reflects values. Some benchmarks to consider…
· Reducing corporate debt to free money up for investing in people.
· Amount of seed money in microeconomic development.
· Number of financial planning courses and the number of people participating.
· Number of people reporting personal debt retirement.
· Number of people increasing their generosity through charitable giving.
· Amount of giving by constituents.
· Number of messages on financial issues (not just giving).
Facilities
Facilities can do more than just provide places to support ministry programming. Some ways it might be more people development-oriented…
· Percentage of facility used during the week by people for personal growth (exercise classes, tutoring, skill seminars, etc…)
· Number of external or additional venues the church is creating for ministry, such as coffee shops or prayer booths.
· Number of schools or community organizations using church facilities for their activities.
· Space devoted to conversation-friendly areas.
Technology
Technology used to support ministry. Now it delivers it. If it is being used to develop people, you’ll count the …
· Number of personal growth and online learning opportunities on your website … and how many people are using them.
· Number of life change stories on your website.
· Number of people being trained in technology usage.
One church of several hundred congregants interviewed was seeking to be a people-developing church. So they interviewed anyone who wanted to be interviewed wherever they wanted to be interviewed. Their interview had five questions and then they built ministry and people around their findings. The five questions (read McNeal for their rationale – this post is already too long!)
1. What do you enjoy doing?
2. Where do you see God at work right now?
3. What would you like to see God do in your life over the next six to twelve months? How can we help?
4. How would you like to serve other people? How can we help?
5. How can we pray for you?
Monday, April 12, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Program Development to People Development – Keeping Score
I can't seem to copy and paste from my Word file to blogger here. I'll get this up ASAP.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Program Development to People Development (Part 2)
Go here for Part 1 of this post. Let’s continue on…
From Delivering to Debriefing
Pastors often think once they’ve delivered the goods, the information, they’re done. Or maybe the program ‘does its thing,’ but that isn’t enough we need to let people process what they’re learning and living. It may mean giving time in service to share what God is doing in their life with their neighbors or it could be having people share how they’ll apply a Sunday message with the people sitting around them. It’s a move from mental assent to the Word or an event to actually processing how it changes us.
From Didactic to Behavioral
This is the next step from debriefing – training people to live their faith, not just get the facts down. It isn’t a delivery system we’re looking at. It’s helping people live their faith. This can happen with a bunch of faith coaches to help people grow in a customized way.
From Curriculum-Centered to Life-Centered
Instead of pulling people out of life to go through curriculum, enter into their lives and walk with them through their challenges. The example is a woman with quintuplets. A woman wanted to get her out of the house an hour per week to mentor her. Instead, she was challenged to fold diapers with her and talk about life. That’s life-centered.
From Growing into Service to Growing Through Service
Don’t worry about getting people ready to serve by ‘growing’ them. Get them serving as soon as they’re interested and watch them grow through that process!
From Compartmentalization to Integration
Instead of recognizing giftedness that MUST be used in the church, help people recognize that they are gifted by God to serve the world wherever they find themselves in their work, neighborhood, etc… It is the church being a who rather than a place. The church should be integrated into society as Jesus’ Body is serving all over the place.
From Age Segregation to Age Integration
Program-driven churches have ‘generational silos’ where a family can go all Sunday without interacting. Of course there’s a draw to being with people your own age, but if we’re to develop people, we need the range of human experience and to build relationships across generations. One baby step is a youth leader who sends a summary of his messages to parents with discussion questions so they can follow up. Discipleship isn’t the church’s job. It’s the family’s. We equip.
Final Thoughts
This is about relationships. And, coupled with the shift to service, it means not just transforming people in our congregation, but those we serve. So, instead of just giving food to the poor, we figure out how to move them forward and help them develop as people to be who God has called them to be.
We’ll look at how we might ‘Change the Scorecard’ on moving from programs to people-development next week.
From Delivering to Debriefing
Pastors often think once they’ve delivered the goods, the information, they’re done. Or maybe the program ‘does its thing,’ but that isn’t enough we need to let people process what they’re learning and living. It may mean giving time in service to share what God is doing in their life with their neighbors or it could be having people share how they’ll apply a Sunday message with the people sitting around them. It’s a move from mental assent to the Word or an event to actually processing how it changes us.
From Didactic to Behavioral
This is the next step from debriefing – training people to live their faith, not just get the facts down. It isn’t a delivery system we’re looking at. It’s helping people live their faith. This can happen with a bunch of faith coaches to help people grow in a customized way.
From Curriculum-Centered to Life-Centered
Instead of pulling people out of life to go through curriculum, enter into their lives and walk with them through their challenges. The example is a woman with quintuplets. A woman wanted to get her out of the house an hour per week to mentor her. Instead, she was challenged to fold diapers with her and talk about life. That’s life-centered.
From Growing into Service to Growing Through Service
Don’t worry about getting people ready to serve by ‘growing’ them. Get them serving as soon as they’re interested and watch them grow through that process!
From Compartmentalization to Integration
Instead of recognizing giftedness that MUST be used in the church, help people recognize that they are gifted by God to serve the world wherever they find themselves in their work, neighborhood, etc… It is the church being a who rather than a place. The church should be integrated into society as Jesus’ Body is serving all over the place.
From Age Segregation to Age Integration
Program-driven churches have ‘generational silos’ where a family can go all Sunday without interacting. Of course there’s a draw to being with people your own age, but if we’re to develop people, we need the range of human experience and to build relationships across generations. One baby step is a youth leader who sends a summary of his messages to parents with discussion questions so they can follow up. Discipleship isn’t the church’s job. It’s the family’s. We equip.
Final Thoughts
This is about relationships. And, coupled with the shift to service, it means not just transforming people in our congregation, but those we serve. So, instead of just giving food to the poor, we figure out how to move them forward and help them develop as people to be who God has called them to be.
We’ll look at how we might ‘Change the Scorecard’ on moving from programs to people-development next week.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Program Development to People Development
McNeal begins with a challenging story from a church plant he started twenty plus years ago. After a meeting, God spoke to him: “Are people better off for being part of this church, or are they just tireder and poorer?” It bothered him – because he thought he knew the answer. He didn’t know how way to measure people’s spiritual growth – only church involvement. This is the most difficult shift for leaders to make. We know how to cross programs and events off our calendar, but people are never ‘done.’ This is a trap for the missional church, not just the traditional. We can feed the poor, but that’s just step one. How do we mentor them or help them get jobs or whatever’s next.
The rise of the program-oriented church came in the wake of WWII with the rise of the service economy. People outsourced things they didn’t like to do, including spiritual formation. According to McNeal, the church isn’t supposed to be the center for spiritual development – “everyday living” is. In all our programming, the church is disliked by many because we have not loved like Jesus, despite all our programs.
McNeal isn’t calling for the death of programs. Rather, the issue is making peoples’ success the end, not the program’s success. The quality of people, not the programs is what we’re looking for. (Note: McNeal is quick to point out that this isn’t a mega-church vs. small church issue. Both have successes and disasters in their portfolios).
What does this look like? We’ll start this week with “Fostering a People Development Culture” and we’ll finish it next week. Like moving from internal to external, this is going to take some shifts in our thinking and behavior. Just one of these changes won’t work, but taken together, they can get us on the right track.
From Standardization to Customization
For a long time churches were like McDonald’s. You knew what you were going to get at a Baptist church all around the US (or any other denomination, for that matter). It started with the desire to target programs to people, but things were inverted in time. But just as the previous era was mass standardization, now the mode of operation is mass customization. You don’t have to buy a CD for one song or go to Bible study on Sunday only – with people others have chosen for you. This creates challenges for the program-oriented church, but opportunities as well.
From Scripting to Shaping
Pastors are trained to give people the script for growth, but people are less inclined to listen to experts and want more control over their lives. The role needs to shift to coaching, which people are more inclined to receive. Leaders should know what people need, but we need to help them participate in the process by coaching them. This is labor-intensive, but worth it. And this is a place where you can direct people to programs that will help them build their growth portfolio.
From Participation to Maturation
People can participate in a bunch of church activities and never actually be changed. They can tithe and still be as mean as ever. Go to Sunday School and still defend racist views, etc… The missional church focuses less on what people are doing and more on who they are becoming.
We’ll cover the rest in two weeks. Next week we’ll be walking through Passion Week.
The rise of the program-oriented church came in the wake of WWII with the rise of the service economy. People outsourced things they didn’t like to do, including spiritual formation. According to McNeal, the church isn’t supposed to be the center for spiritual development – “everyday living” is. In all our programming, the church is disliked by many because we have not loved like Jesus, despite all our programs.
McNeal isn’t calling for the death of programs. Rather, the issue is making peoples’ success the end, not the program’s success. The quality of people, not the programs is what we’re looking for. (Note: McNeal is quick to point out that this isn’t a mega-church vs. small church issue. Both have successes and disasters in their portfolios).
What does this look like? We’ll start this week with “Fostering a People Development Culture” and we’ll finish it next week. Like moving from internal to external, this is going to take some shifts in our thinking and behavior. Just one of these changes won’t work, but taken together, they can get us on the right track.
From Standardization to Customization
For a long time churches were like McDonald’s. You knew what you were going to get at a Baptist church all around the US (or any other denomination, for that matter). It started with the desire to target programs to people, but things were inverted in time. But just as the previous era was mass standardization, now the mode of operation is mass customization. You don’t have to buy a CD for one song or go to Bible study on Sunday only – with people others have chosen for you. This creates challenges for the program-oriented church, but opportunities as well.
From Scripting to Shaping
Pastors are trained to give people the script for growth, but people are less inclined to listen to experts and want more control over their lives. The role needs to shift to coaching, which people are more inclined to receive. Leaders should know what people need, but we need to help them participate in the process by coaching them. This is labor-intensive, but worth it. And this is a place where you can direct people to programs that will help them build their growth portfolio.
From Participation to Maturation
People can participate in a bunch of church activities and never actually be changed. They can tithe and still be as mean as ever. Go to Sunday School and still defend racist views, etc… The missional church focuses less on what people are doing and more on who they are becoming.
We’ll cover the rest in two weeks. Next week we’ll be walking through Passion Week.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Internal to External (Keeping Score, Part 2)
Last Monday we looked at how People and Prayer can be reconsidered and reallocated in a ministry with Kingdom perspective – externally focused rather than internally focused. We’ll finish this new kind of scorekeeping this week. Remember, these aren’t just things to do, they’re things we should track that we might make, and communicate, a shift from internal focus to external focus.
Time & Calendar
Make engagement with the community part of the staff’s ‘performance measurement.’ Make the church calendar a community calendar. Put both on the calendar so people know you value what’s going on in the community (and have links to city websites). Begin church planning with the community calendar. Build around what they’re doing. Reduce the nuber of church events on the calendar so people can be engaged. McNeal: “The commitment to do this might just be the first sign of a true conversion to missional” (p. 79). Monitor the time spent working for community. Finally, (and I think this is great) help people see their community involvement and their paid work as “primary opportunities for ministry” (p. 79).
Facilities Resources
The first question should be “what kind of building, if any, do we need?” If you have a building, how can you use it to bless the community? How can you partner with groups who serve the disadvantaged? Count the number of people served through AA or feeding programs (even if they’re run by another organization!) in your church building. Allow your space to be used by schools for concerts, meetings, etc… Look for offsite facilities that can be used for the benefit of the community – renting space in a mall for tenagers, etc… And be sure to count these as a fulfillment of the church’s mission, not just things we do. In addition to caring for those in need, your church can be used as an art exhibit or coffee shops or venues for local musicians.
Financial Resources
This isn’t my strong suit, but some ideas here include having a community component to your giving and capital campaigns (examples: one church gives $2 to external measures for every $1 it spends on its own facilities, another tithes to the community), get grant writers and partner with businesses on community-friendly initiatives. Ask community leaders of their needs. Create accounts of venture capital for community-oriented initiatives within the congregation. Do local microfinance, not just internationally. Challenge the congregation to figure out ways to limit expenses so they can give more (we did this at Christmas with Advent Conspiracy). Finally, think of ways to give creatively to the community. One church figured out how much they’d get taxed if they were to get taxed and they give that much to the community. Again, keep track and celebrate it!
Technology Resources
The last thing we’ll look at is an external focus with technology resources. Make sure your website has service opportunities for church members to bless the community and even let people share their encounters as they’ve sought to bless the community. Take advantage of social networking on the Internet. Create podcast interviews with community leaders. Measure hits on ministry opportunities to discover interest and allocate resources accordingly. Blog about missional engagement. Post celebratory videos/podcasts on what God is doing through your community engagement.
Next week we’ll look at the next shift – “From Program Development to People Development”!
Time & Calendar
Make engagement with the community part of the staff’s ‘performance measurement.’ Make the church calendar a community calendar. Put both on the calendar so people know you value what’s going on in the community (and have links to city websites). Begin church planning with the community calendar. Build around what they’re doing. Reduce the nuber of church events on the calendar so people can be engaged. McNeal: “The commitment to do this might just be the first sign of a true conversion to missional” (p. 79). Monitor the time spent working for community. Finally, (and I think this is great) help people see their community involvement and their paid work as “primary opportunities for ministry” (p. 79).
Facilities Resources
The first question should be “what kind of building, if any, do we need?” If you have a building, how can you use it to bless the community? How can you partner with groups who serve the disadvantaged? Count the number of people served through AA or feeding programs (even if they’re run by another organization!) in your church building. Allow your space to be used by schools for concerts, meetings, etc… Look for offsite facilities that can be used for the benefit of the community – renting space in a mall for tenagers, etc… And be sure to count these as a fulfillment of the church’s mission, not just things we do. In addition to caring for those in need, your church can be used as an art exhibit or coffee shops or venues for local musicians.
Financial Resources
This isn’t my strong suit, but some ideas here include having a community component to your giving and capital campaigns (examples: one church gives $2 to external measures for every $1 it spends on its own facilities, another tithes to the community), get grant writers and partner with businesses on community-friendly initiatives. Ask community leaders of their needs. Create accounts of venture capital for community-oriented initiatives within the congregation. Do local microfinance, not just internationally. Challenge the congregation to figure out ways to limit expenses so they can give more (we did this at Christmas with Advent Conspiracy). Finally, think of ways to give creatively to the community. One church figured out how much they’d get taxed if they were to get taxed and they give that much to the community. Again, keep track and celebrate it!
Technology Resources
The last thing we’ll look at is an external focus with technology resources. Make sure your website has service opportunities for church members to bless the community and even let people share their encounters as they’ve sought to bless the community. Take advantage of social networking on the Internet. Create podcast interviews with community leaders. Measure hits on ministry opportunities to discover interest and allocate resources accordingly. Blog about missional engagement. Post celebratory videos/podcasts on what God is doing through your community engagement.
Next week we’ll look at the next shift – “From Program Development to People Development”!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Internal to External (Keeping Score, Part 1)
The last couple Mondays we’ve looked at what it means to shift from an internal to an external focus. It’s a great discussion, but what does it look like, practically, to be successful? The subtitle of Reggie McNeal’s Missional Renaissance is “Changing the Scorecard for the Church.” That’s what we’re looking at today. How do we change the scorecard from an internal focus (how many = attendance; how often = attendance at church events; how much = offerings) to external? Before we check out some ideas, remember these are some of McNeal’s ideas and are intended to spur on creativity, not serve as a blueprint.
A starting point is to articulate external goals and successes that are both individual and corporate: meals fed, backpacks made, community service hours logged. Note: these shouldn’t be exclusively church initiatives. Rather, they should be done in partnership with all kinds of organizations. What are some other ways we ‘keep score’?
Prayer
Look for (and track) ways the congregation can be externally focused in prayer. How? Prayer walking, prayer cards for families who receive backpacks for school, community prayer times, prayer booths/boxes, prayer for the lost, praying for the community in worship services, but my favorite is prayer-scaping. One church staff sent each of their leaders to a part of their city and they were to ask God, “Help me see what you see.” It transformed their staff so much that they sent their people out on a Sunday morning to do the same thing.
People
This is developing a member culture and turning it into a missionary culture. For leaders this might mean making a community ministry responsibility part of their job description, limiting the number of church offices/roles one can take so there’s community time, insist that every group have an external community service component, put offices somewhere other than the church to get community connection, and make staff available to serve other organizations in the community (coaches, mentors, advises, etc…).
For congregants, publish community needs alongside church needs, adopt a school, provide training for people who want to serve the community, track volunteer hours and celebrate them, and assign people as missionaries to apartment complexes, etc … and support their mission in those places.
This is plenty to chew on. We’ll hit the rest next week.
A starting point is to articulate external goals and successes that are both individual and corporate: meals fed, backpacks made, community service hours logged. Note: these shouldn’t be exclusively church initiatives. Rather, they should be done in partnership with all kinds of organizations. What are some other ways we ‘keep score’?
Prayer
Look for (and track) ways the congregation can be externally focused in prayer. How? Prayer walking, prayer cards for families who receive backpacks for school, community prayer times, prayer booths/boxes, prayer for the lost, praying for the community in worship services, but my favorite is prayer-scaping. One church staff sent each of their leaders to a part of their city and they were to ask God, “Help me see what you see.” It transformed their staff so much that they sent their people out on a Sunday morning to do the same thing.
People
This is developing a member culture and turning it into a missionary culture. For leaders this might mean making a community ministry responsibility part of their job description, limiting the number of church offices/roles one can take so there’s community time, insist that every group have an external community service component, put offices somewhere other than the church to get community connection, and make staff available to serve other organizations in the community (coaches, mentors, advises, etc…).
For congregants, publish community needs alongside church needs, adopt a school, provide training for people who want to serve the community, track volunteer hours and celebrate them, and assign people as missionaries to apartment complexes, etc … and support their mission in those places.
This is plenty to chew on. We’ll hit the rest next week.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Internal to External (Part 2)
Check out last Monday’s post for the first half of this material on what it takes to move from being an internally-focused church to an externally focused one. This is one of three transitions Reggie McNeal sees as necessary in The Missional Renaissance.
From Proclamation to Demonstration
McNeal doesn’t believe preaching and teaching are wrong, but people outside the church aren’t going to engage with it as much as they do engage with people who are demonstrating their faith by blessing others. This shows a clear demarcation between internal and external focus. We can proclaim the truth, but we also need to live it outside the church walls.
From Institutional to Organic
Institutional is seen when the church runs felt need-based programs and people ‘support the church’ in a shift to the external, the people are the church and the church is working wherever they go. The focus is on what God is doing through people as they do life, hence the ‘organic.’
From Reaching and Assimilating to Connecting and Deploying
The goal of reaching people through events and assimilating them into the family means many new church members may end up being cut off from relational lines on which the gospel could best run. Externally focused means celebrating those relationships and those opportunities to live the gospel outside the church walls.
From Worship Services to Service as Worship
Oftentimes worship services set one congregation apart from another and serve as an attractional distinction among churches, but externally focused churches (rightly) see service as worship. They even take Sunday worship service events off the calendar to go out and serve their communities, understanding that serving others is indeed an act of worship. Missional worship services may have teaching, but it isn’t as central as sharing stories of what God is doing in the midst of the community.
From Congregations to Missional Communities
Many have suggested changes from the current congregational models of church and the missional community seems to be the change afoot. Whether they are part of a congregation or not, bands of believers are gathering with a focus on blessing others. This isn’t an either-or dichotomy and some congregations (smart ones!) are leveraging these communities that the congregation itself can be salt and light in their larger community.
From There to Here
Quoting one of his students, McNeal says this is about changing the world, not the church. There are a few things to remember in this shift. It isn’t either/or, change is possible. The point of this chapter is to give some ideas on how. Thirdly, are you personally opened up to the world God wants to bless through you? That’s what it means to be missional. Finally, new behaviors need to be implemented, including the scorecard for success. We’ll hit that next week.
Which, if any of these, are particularly challenging or encouraging to you? Or, if you’ve already ‘gone missional,’ share your experience in some of these areas.
From Proclamation to Demonstration
McNeal doesn’t believe preaching and teaching are wrong, but people outside the church aren’t going to engage with it as much as they do engage with people who are demonstrating their faith by blessing others. This shows a clear demarcation between internal and external focus. We can proclaim the truth, but we also need to live it outside the church walls.
From Institutional to Organic
Institutional is seen when the church runs felt need-based programs and people ‘support the church’ in a shift to the external, the people are the church and the church is working wherever they go. The focus is on what God is doing through people as they do life, hence the ‘organic.’
From Reaching and Assimilating to Connecting and Deploying
The goal of reaching people through events and assimilating them into the family means many new church members may end up being cut off from relational lines on which the gospel could best run. Externally focused means celebrating those relationships and those opportunities to live the gospel outside the church walls.
From Worship Services to Service as Worship
Oftentimes worship services set one congregation apart from another and serve as an attractional distinction among churches, but externally focused churches (rightly) see service as worship. They even take Sunday worship service events off the calendar to go out and serve their communities, understanding that serving others is indeed an act of worship. Missional worship services may have teaching, but it isn’t as central as sharing stories of what God is doing in the midst of the community.
From Congregations to Missional Communities
Many have suggested changes from the current congregational models of church and the missional community seems to be the change afoot. Whether they are part of a congregation or not, bands of believers are gathering with a focus on blessing others. This isn’t an either-or dichotomy and some congregations (smart ones!) are leveraging these communities that the congregation itself can be salt and light in their larger community.
From There to Here
Quoting one of his students, McNeal says this is about changing the world, not the church. There are a few things to remember in this shift. It isn’t either/or, change is possible. The point of this chapter is to give some ideas on how. Thirdly, are you personally opened up to the world God wants to bless through you? That’s what it means to be missional. Finally, new behaviors need to be implemented, including the scorecard for success. We’ll hit that next week.
Which, if any of these, are particularly challenging or encouraging to you? Or, if you’ve already ‘gone missional,’ share your experience in some of these areas.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance, Shift from Internal to External, Part 1
McNeal starts this chapter by noting a young church that posted their community service hours on their website to indicate their value of serving the community. They wanted to be a community who loved their community and this was an indicator. Becoming externally focused is more than just a program that includes community service. McNeal discusses several shifts that need to happen to actually shift from Internal to External Focus.
From Church-centric to Kindom-focused.
The church-centered world is when life revolves around the church and the church becomes a ‘full-service’ parallel universe alongside the world. The missional church doesn’t look at the kingdom through church lenses (where Jesus returns to make the world church-friendly). Rather, it looks at the church through kingdom lenses. Jesus is always at work and the church is catching up to Jesus and His work. The church is people, not a place. Wherever God’s people are, the church is there.
From Destination to Connector.
The church should not be a destination, but connecting people to the lives God has called them in the workforce, in their families, in their communities. Having the church as a destination is like saying an airport is the destination.
From Thinking We Are the Point to Being Absolutely the Point.
A question McNeal likes to ask when he speaks is this: “What’s the point of being the people of God if the people of God are not the point?” He’s getting at the fact that God has chosen us to be a blessing (check out this article from Christianity Today on Lesslie Newbigin for similar ideas). Since we are to be a blessing people, McNeal challenges churches to change from an evangelism strategy to a ‘blessing strategy,’ which people want to do (since they don’t want to do evangelism). The results seem to be better in our culture – and I know it is my personal preference.
From Attractional to Incarnational.
In many ways the church has sought to be a full-service community where success is measured by participation in church activities. An incarnational church sees the church as dispersed to bless the community so the influence of a church-member teacher would be taken into consideration in an incarnational church, not just the size of the children’s ministry. The ultimate measurement in an incarnational community is the quality of disciple and how they influence the culture – celebrate incarnational ministry, commission people as missionaries to apartment complexes, etc…, and adopt schools to get into the community.
From Member Culture to Missionary Culture.
The attractional church is about members, the missional church is about the congregation seeing themselves as missionaries in their culture. The church needs to avoid being a parallel culture. Instead, it needs it’s ‘members’ to engage all over the place as ‘missionaries’ if it is to be a missional church.
From Church-centric to Kindom-focused.
The church-centered world is when life revolves around the church and the church becomes a ‘full-service’ parallel universe alongside the world. The missional church doesn’t look at the kingdom through church lenses (where Jesus returns to make the world church-friendly). Rather, it looks at the church through kingdom lenses. Jesus is always at work and the church is catching up to Jesus and His work. The church is people, not a place. Wherever God’s people are, the church is there.
From Destination to Connector.
The church should not be a destination, but connecting people to the lives God has called them in the workforce, in their families, in their communities. Having the church as a destination is like saying an airport is the destination.
From Thinking We Are the Point to Being Absolutely the Point.
A question McNeal likes to ask when he speaks is this: “What’s the point of being the people of God if the people of God are not the point?” He’s getting at the fact that God has chosen us to be a blessing (check out this article from Christianity Today on Lesslie Newbigin for similar ideas). Since we are to be a blessing people, McNeal challenges churches to change from an evangelism strategy to a ‘blessing strategy,’ which people want to do (since they don’t want to do evangelism). The results seem to be better in our culture – and I know it is my personal preference.
From Attractional to Incarnational.
In many ways the church has sought to be a full-service community where success is measured by participation in church activities. An incarnational church sees the church as dispersed to bless the community so the influence of a church-member teacher would be taken into consideration in an incarnational church, not just the size of the children’s ministry. The ultimate measurement in an incarnational community is the quality of disciple and how they influence the culture – celebrate incarnational ministry, commission people as missionaries to apartment complexes, etc…, and adopt schools to get into the community.
From Member Culture to Missionary Culture.
The attractional church is about members, the missional church is about the congregation seeing themselves as missionaries in their culture. The church needs to avoid being a parallel culture. Instead, it needs it’s ‘members’ to engage all over the place as ‘missionaries’ if it is to be a missional church.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Mission(al) Monday: Missional Renaissance Review
A few months ago I read Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal. Loved it! I’ve been wanting to blog it to help me internalize it, but I haven’t been steady on it. I got into the Advent series and then worked through Psalm 22 on the blog here. I’ve lost all momentum, but what do you say we try to get some back. This week I’ll post the links to all the previous Missional Renaissance posts and we’ll get up and running next Monday with the next section.
In the order you should read them …
http://whirledviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/missional-renaissance-introduction.html
http://whirledviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/missional-renaissance-missional.html
http://whirledviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/missional-renaissance-missional_16.html
http://whirledviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/missional-renaissance-missional_18.html
In the order you should read them …
http://whirledviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/missional-renaissance-introduction.html
http://whirledviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/missional-renaissance-missional.html
http://whirledviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/missional-renaissance-missional_16.html
http://whirledviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/missional-renaissance-missional_18.html
Monday, January 18, 2010
Missional Renaissance: Missional Manifesto, Part 3
Now McNeal lays out some basic plot markers for the way ahead. He states, “The missional church’s story sees the human drama and God’s saga intertwined, one incomprehensible without the other” (p. 34). Here are some things to keep in mind as we look at the Missional Renaissance and changing the scorecard of the church.
People are created in the image of God.
People matter to God and are deserving of blessing simply because they are image bearers, not just so we can witness to them.
God is on a mission.
He is pursuing relationship ever since sin disrupted the intimacy we had with Him. Jesus’ Incarnation is the high point in this pursuit.
God’s mission is redemptive.
God wants to restore relationships, but He also desires to restore the benefits of that relationship. McNeal: “He declared that he had come to give life, life to the full. This means that missional Jesus followers are engaged in all aspects of human experience – political, social, economic, cultural, physical, psychological, and spiritual – to work for those things that enhance life and to oppose those things that steal life” (p. 35).
God’s mission is always being prosecuted in the world.
God is at work all over the world and His rule is far beyond just the church.
God doesn’t postpone His mission, waiting for the church to ‘get it.’
The church is often playing catch-up to the Holy Spirit. It was that way in Acts. Some things never change.
God is up to something new.
This missional movement is gaining steam. People are saying the same thing even though they’ve never met. McNeal says they have the same ‘Source’!
The people of God play an important role in the mission of God.
If we’re the people of God, we need to participate in His mission. God’s people in Scripture are often rebuked when they become more concerned about themselves than the ones God desires to minister to through them.
The kingdom is a future that provokes a crisis.
We have to choose to engage and move beyond a church-age worldview. McNeal: “Kingdom agents have no other option than being subversive, attempting to introduce kingdom realities to every domain of life and culture, even the church” (p. 37).
The missional expression of church will require new metrics to measure its vitality.
We need a new scorecard that educates people on new possibilities for living out kingdom responsibilities.
Missional expression can grow out of the current church, but it is not limited to the current church.
This can be done by Jesus followers in any situation. Some are doing it in their current roles in a nonmissional church. Others are starting smaller monastic communities or house churches.
People are created in the image of God.
People matter to God and are deserving of blessing simply because they are image bearers, not just so we can witness to them.
God is on a mission.
He is pursuing relationship ever since sin disrupted the intimacy we had with Him. Jesus’ Incarnation is the high point in this pursuit.
God’s mission is redemptive.
God wants to restore relationships, but He also desires to restore the benefits of that relationship. McNeal: “He declared that he had come to give life, life to the full. This means that missional Jesus followers are engaged in all aspects of human experience – political, social, economic, cultural, physical, psychological, and spiritual – to work for those things that enhance life and to oppose those things that steal life” (p. 35).
God’s mission is always being prosecuted in the world.
God is at work all over the world and His rule is far beyond just the church.
God doesn’t postpone His mission, waiting for the church to ‘get it.’
The church is often playing catch-up to the Holy Spirit. It was that way in Acts. Some things never change.
God is up to something new.
This missional movement is gaining steam. People are saying the same thing even though they’ve never met. McNeal says they have the same ‘Source’!
The people of God play an important role in the mission of God.
If we’re the people of God, we need to participate in His mission. God’s people in Scripture are often rebuked when they become more concerned about themselves than the ones God desires to minister to through them.
The kingdom is a future that provokes a crisis.
We have to choose to engage and move beyond a church-age worldview. McNeal: “Kingdom agents have no other option than being subversive, attempting to introduce kingdom realities to every domain of life and culture, even the church” (p. 37).
The missional expression of church will require new metrics to measure its vitality.
We need a new scorecard that educates people on new possibilities for living out kingdom responsibilities.
Missional expression can grow out of the current church, but it is not limited to the current church.
This can be done by Jesus followers in any situation. Some are doing it in their current roles in a nonmissional church. Others are starting smaller monastic communities or house churches.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Missional Renaissance: Missional Manifesto, Part 2
Missional isn’t some new trend. Well, maybe it is; but it shouldn’t be. God is a missionary God and the Bible is testimony to His mission. In this next section of Chapter 2, Missional Manifesto, McNeal looks at the Bible through missional lenses. Here’s what he sees…
First the purpose of the Bible changes. In the church-centric world, the Bible is God’s gift to show us who He is and how we should live as His people. That’s good, but that’s not everything, according to McNeal. The Bible also communicates God’s story so we can understand His world and our part in it. It is a guide for us on how to live while on mission. He states, “By forcing us to see the disparities between the kingdoms of this earth and the kingdom of God, it becomes far more disruptive than informational” (p. 27).
He then hits just a few of the highlights (by his own admission). He starts with the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12.1-3). God has created a people, through Abraham, for the purpose of blessing the nations. Then he hits some key characters that show God is comfortable working outside Abraham’s line: Melchizizedek (a mysterious priestly figure of Yahweh in Abraham’s story); Jethro (Moses’ wise father-in-law); Jonah (who was called to preach to the Assyrians); and even Jesus (whose genealogy, birth, and early childhood were filled with Gentile interaction and influence).
McNeal next tracks several passages that indicate God is concerned with blessing people globally, not just in the “church” or “people of God.” Some of the verses? 1 Peter 2.9; John 3.16; Matthew 27.37-40 (love your neighbor no matter who they are); Ephesians 4.13 (we need to do a better job loving as Evangelicals and Mainliners need to do a better job of speaking the truth of Jesus); 1 Peter 3:15b (we need to live in such a way that people ask why we’re different); Matthew 5:13-15 (salt & light are not neutral presences, they influence).
In John’s gospel, the church is ‘sent people.’ We like to be considered ‘called out,’ which is shorthand for being called out of the world into the church. McNeal says, “Missional believers of Jesus understand they’re being called out all right – called outside” (p. 34).
First the purpose of the Bible changes. In the church-centric world, the Bible is God’s gift to show us who He is and how we should live as His people. That’s good, but that’s not everything, according to McNeal. The Bible also communicates God’s story so we can understand His world and our part in it. It is a guide for us on how to live while on mission. He states, “By forcing us to see the disparities between the kingdoms of this earth and the kingdom of God, it becomes far more disruptive than informational” (p. 27).
He then hits just a few of the highlights (by his own admission). He starts with the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12.1-3). God has created a people, through Abraham, for the purpose of blessing the nations. Then he hits some key characters that show God is comfortable working outside Abraham’s line: Melchizizedek (a mysterious priestly figure of Yahweh in Abraham’s story); Jethro (Moses’ wise father-in-law); Jonah (who was called to preach to the Assyrians); and even Jesus (whose genealogy, birth, and early childhood were filled with Gentile interaction and influence).
McNeal next tracks several passages that indicate God is concerned with blessing people globally, not just in the “church” or “people of God.” Some of the verses? 1 Peter 2.9; John 3.16; Matthew 27.37-40 (love your neighbor no matter who they are); Ephesians 4.13 (we need to do a better job loving as Evangelicals and Mainliners need to do a better job of speaking the truth of Jesus); 1 Peter 3:15b (we need to live in such a way that people ask why we’re different); Matthew 5:13-15 (salt & light are not neutral presences, they influence).
In John’s gospel, the church is ‘sent people.’ We like to be considered ‘called out,’ which is shorthand for being called out of the world into the church. McNeal says, “Missional believers of Jesus understand they’re being called out all right – called outside” (p. 34).
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Missional Renaissance: Missional Manifesto, Part 1
In this chapter, McNeal sets out to describe what missional means. Specifically, that the church is a ‘who,’ not a ‘what.’ Wherever the church has been central in the society, it has come to be defined by what it does – sometimes it is what happens in a certain place, or as a ‘vendor of religious goods and services’ or a body of people on a mission (whether it happens to be God’s mission or not).
McNeal (and other theologians like Guder, Bosch, and Newbigin) argue that God is on a mission and we are to join Him in that mission. We are not intended to “do” church; we’re to “be” the church. The church is to be the local expression of the people of God for the good of those around them and be on mission to reach ever farther. It is a community-based ‘body’ that incarnates God’s presence wherever it happens to exist.
I love this concept. I love what we do at church, but I fear we consider what we do at church the most important, most spiritual things and minimize the importance what happens the rest of the week. If we’re to glorify God in all that we do, isn’t there something inherently ‘spiritual’ about how we work? How we use our free time? Might that be not just how we glorify God, but the means by which we fulfill the mission God has given us? Instead of focusing exclusively on people coming to church, what about the idea that, where God’s people are, there the church is? That’s a thought McNeal communicates and it is both exciting and challenging … and puzzling.
The next Missional Renaissance (should be two days from now) post will survey the Bible through missional eyes.
McNeal (and other theologians like Guder, Bosch, and Newbigin) argue that God is on a mission and we are to join Him in that mission. We are not intended to “do” church; we’re to “be” the church. The church is to be the local expression of the people of God for the good of those around them and be on mission to reach ever farther. It is a community-based ‘body’ that incarnates God’s presence wherever it happens to exist.
I love this concept. I love what we do at church, but I fear we consider what we do at church the most important, most spiritual things and minimize the importance what happens the rest of the week. If we’re to glorify God in all that we do, isn’t there something inherently ‘spiritual’ about how we work? How we use our free time? Might that be not just how we glorify God, but the means by which we fulfill the mission God has given us? Instead of focusing exclusively on people coming to church, what about the idea that, where God’s people are, there the church is? That’s a thought McNeal communicates and it is both exciting and challenging … and puzzling.
The next Missional Renaissance (should be two days from now) post will survey the Bible through missional eyes.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Missional Renaissance: Introduction
Wow! It’s been too long. I started blogging Missional Renaissance right before I hopped into the “Unnamed Luke Advent Thingee” and haven’t returned. Here’s the link to the Intro I already put up: http://whirledviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/missional-renaissance-introduction.html
I'm going to try to be a little more consistent on the blogging. Hopefully covering this book every other day or so with some thougthts on prayer sprinkled in here and there as I prepare for Sunday's sermon on Psalm 22.
I'm going to try to be a little more consistent on the blogging. Hopefully covering this book every other day or so with some thougthts on prayer sprinkled in here and there as I prepare for Sunday's sermon on Psalm 22.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Missional Renaissance: Introduction
I’ll catch up later on all the books I’ve read over the last few months, but failed to blog. I want to start working through the most recent book I’ve completed, Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church by Reggie McNeal. It is a very practical, challenging book. I’ll sketch the intro during this post and lay out the rest of the book over the next couple weeks.
Missional is a buzzword, but it is even more. McNeal believes it is the largest shift in the church since the Reformation. It is difficult to define, but McNeal italicizes: “Missional is a way of living, not an affiliation or activity” (p. xiv). The missional church looks differently at the way the church engages the world. The shifts that we’ll flesh out are a shift from internal to external ministry focus, program development to people development, and church-based to kingdom-based leadership. These are “not destinations; they are compass settings” (p. xvi).
And how we know whether we’re headed the right direction will change how we “keep score” to know if we’re being successful. For instance, right now churches determine success by the number of attendees, the offering, and how many people are serving in the church (or something like these). The missional church has a different scorecard. It will focus on how people are growing, how many hungry children are being fed, or how many inmates are mentored to mainstream back into life. Sometimes this is more difficult to track, but McNeal believes this is the new way.
These three shifts (and how we track success) means church is going to look really different in many cases. There are some key elements that contribute to these changes. First is “The Emergence of the Altruism Economy” – think Bono, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, or TOMS shoes (see picture). People are moved by giving to others and the church needs to move from being a recipient of generosity to a vehicle of generosity. The world is not impressed with “successful” churches. They want organizations that make a positive difference in the world. The church needs to focus externally.
Next, “The Search for Personal Growth.” Rick Warren’s Purpose-Driven Life sold millions because people want their lives to matter. Churches need to take life-change into consideration rather than program development. If going through the programs don’t actually affect life change, so much for the programs. People want to grow themselves and they want to see those less fortunate grow as well. I’m trying to do this in one of my mentoring relationships right now. Asking, “Where do you want to be in six months?” And then we’ll try to figure out how to get him there.
Finally, “The Hunger for Spirituality” is where religion is not clergy-dominated and expressed in sacred time and space, but in all aspects of one’s life. The idea is that the church should be present everywhere (that’s Kingdom-based thinking) rather than the church just being a place. We know this, we say it, but a missional mindset has no substitute for it.
Just reviewing my notes in the margins, I’m re-challenged by this book. I’m looking forward to getting into it again.
Missional is a buzzword, but it is even more. McNeal believes it is the largest shift in the church since the Reformation. It is difficult to define, but McNeal italicizes: “Missional is a way of living, not an affiliation or activity” (p. xiv). The missional church looks differently at the way the church engages the world. The shifts that we’ll flesh out are a shift from internal to external ministry focus, program development to people development, and church-based to kingdom-based leadership. These are “not destinations; they are compass settings” (p. xvi).
And how we know whether we’re headed the right direction will change how we “keep score” to know if we’re being successful. For instance, right now churches determine success by the number of attendees, the offering, and how many people are serving in the church (or something like these). The missional church has a different scorecard. It will focus on how people are growing, how many hungry children are being fed, or how many inmates are mentored to mainstream back into life. Sometimes this is more difficult to track, but McNeal believes this is the new way.
These three shifts (and how we track success) means church is going to look really different in many cases. There are some key elements that contribute to these changes. First is “The Emergence of the Altruism Economy” – think Bono, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, or TOMS shoes (see picture). People are moved by giving to others and the church needs to move from being a recipient of generosity to a vehicle of generosity. The world is not impressed with “successful” churches. They want organizations that make a positive difference in the world. The church needs to focus externally.Next, “The Search for Personal Growth.” Rick Warren’s Purpose-Driven Life sold millions because people want their lives to matter. Churches need to take life-change into consideration rather than program development. If going through the programs don’t actually affect life change, so much for the programs. People want to grow themselves and they want to see those less fortunate grow as well. I’m trying to do this in one of my mentoring relationships right now. Asking, “Where do you want to be in six months?” And then we’ll try to figure out how to get him there.
Finally, “The Hunger for Spirituality” is where religion is not clergy-dominated and expressed in sacred time and space, but in all aspects of one’s life. The idea is that the church should be present everywhere (that’s Kingdom-based thinking) rather than the church just being a place. We know this, we say it, but a missional mindset has no substitute for it.
Just reviewing my notes in the margins, I’m re-challenged by this book. I’m looking forward to getting into it again.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Origins + Labs: “Right-Brain Leadership”
I liked Mark Batterson. He seems like a solid guy and I enjoyed that he walked through the Scriptures. I don’t want to go through it all again so I’ll hit on some bullets that I most enjoyed.
1. One of their core values is “everything’s an experiment.” Keeps them innovating and not afraid to fail.
2. There’s a challenge to keep things positive. Each meeting he has with his staff starts with “sharing wins.” I might do this at staff meeting, but I’m definitely making this part of what we do in our small group on Sunday evenings.
3. Sometimes God gives a dream, but we don’t see how it is going to add up. Let God do the math. You step out in faith. God asks, “Do you think I can’t take care of you?”
4. Batterson prayer walks. That will be part of what we do as a small group. I was thinking it before. This was confirmation.
5. Quoting Andy Stanley: “You’ll never be more than 80% certain.”
6. My Biggest Takeaway: This conference isn’t about information. It’s about having someone give you a push. Consider yourself pushed.”
7. Live with a holy anticipation that God can change everything in a moment.
8. Be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led. Give God control and He’ll do stuff out of nowhere.
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