sustain:if:able kiwi

why missional is as easy as changing two letters

I suddenly realised how easy it was to become missional. The publicity brochure arrived from the historical denominational seminary. They used to train missionaries and pastors. Now they were missional and pastoral. So easy. Simply add “a” and “l” and you’ve got missional.

Contrast this with some reading today; “Integral Leadership can be taught“:
“Heifetz’s methodology implies that leadership can be taught, but it is not an easy task. It requires two major changes: methodological change and change of attitude toward learning. Given the second requirement the new methodology places the participants in the midst of what’s happening. Involvement is the key.”

In other words missional leadership is not a theory, nor a set of readings, nor a program. It’s a whole lot more than adding an “a” and an “l”.

Practically, today, as I prepared for my next Missional Leadership class, I am emailing asking one student to lead Dwelling the Word. I am emailing another student asking if we can use their assignment (a reflection on their real church community) for a case study that I will have to interact and engage with on the day.

Let’s not add two letters onto our slogans until we’ve done the hard working of placing participants – real church communities and real church leaders – in the middle.

what is missional church?

Missional church paints God as very big, and church as a small part of that.

Leander van Dyck from video here.

downunder missiology research

Download file (draft)

is there a mission agency for the missional church?

Every 3 years in New Zealand, all the mission agencies get together. They call it Missions Interlink and it is happening June 5-8. The theme is “Remodelling Mission” and I’ve been asked to speak for 2 hours on the topic: “A Missional Church.” “Specifically we need to see the biblical basis of the local church being the main instrument in mission and where appropriate delegating responsibility to agencies to work with their people in fulfilling the churches vision.”

I said thanks but that the dates clashed with some existing teaching commitments. They moved the timetable to accommodate me.

I said thanks but I was in a really busy patch and would be unable to do any fresh work on the topic. They said come anyway.

I said thanks but told them that missional church actually offers a profound realignment for mission agencies. Missional church says that mission is not an extra, for over there; but that mission is the whole church. And that will set up an entirely different (and potentially quite uncomfortable) conversation for mission agencies. They said yes, that’s why they want me to come.

Sigh.

My worst case scenario is that I am going to be fed to some lions. My best case is that I could actually say something prophetically helpful. Anyhow, as I’m short of time, are any of my readers interested in doing some research and thinking for and with me? Here are some of my questions:
– what does the reality of a rock star like Bono advocating for justice and commercial movements like Red mean for mission agencies in our world today?
– what does missional church mean for traditional notions of parachurch mission agencies?
– does Luke 10:1-12 speak to the cross-cultural challenges of our globalised world today?
– can a locally missional church function into a cross-cultural context, or does the mission agency have some role (whether old or new) in that?

missional church resources

Allelon has a revamped website. It includes the new Roxburgh journal; which starts with the question; What is missional Church? which is a podcast interview with me, in relation to Opawa and missional church and change, recorded when Al Roxburgh was here in December.

So, when I asked Steve the question “What do you mean by this term missional church?” he started with a kind of definition then went into stories about the people at Opawa and the ways God was shaping a new imagination for the church out of the narratives of these diverse people. You’ll here the whole story in the Podcast and find some images on this page to help you get a picture of what Steve is up to.

It’s sort of wierd and sort of nice, that of all the places in the world to focus on terms of missional church, Al Roxburgh starts with Opawa. I do need to say however, that Al Roxburgh’s statement about “what Steve is up to” is way over-rated. I was sitting in the shower last week thinking the opposite; that I have no idea what I am up to. And being encouraged that God has a history of being in the chaos and so I am content to therefore be in the midst of that chaos.

Anyhow, check out the revamped site, which also includes Alan Roxburgh interviews with Craig Van Gelder and Pat Keifert.

podcast: women, the emerging church and male cultures

Here is a podcast I did with Jenny McIntosh . In a first podcast Jenny describes the ministry of Spirited Exchanges as a ministry to those outside the church. Download file: ethos of Spirited Exchanges: 2 mins : 600K

In a second podcast Jenny and I talk about women and the emerging church. We identify three ways in which the emerging church can exclude women;
– in the way the Bible is used
– in not seeking representation in speaking and in leadership
– in continuing a “culture”, patterns of being and talking, that are male in nature.
Jenny and I then discuss one thing men could do and one thing women could do to increase the place of women in the emerging church. I’m biased but I think it’s one of the most helpful and challenging conversations I’ve had in a long time and I think anyone serious about the future of the emerging church needs to listen and ponder. Download file : women and the emerging church : 9 mins : 2.5 MB