Monthly archive: August, 2010

Pat Keifert on the Missional Church

August 27, 2010, by 6 comments

The video below (produced/edited by Bill Kinnon) is an interesting conversation between Alan Roxbugh and Pat Keifert. They discuss a wide range of issues, including definitions/descriptions of missional church, common views of the contemporary church, and leadership in missional congregations.

In the discussion on leadership I appreciate Keifert’s emphasis on leadership being more about time than about a position. He speaks about the leader cultivating segments of time to assist the congregation in discerning what God is doing in their local context. It is about taking the time to create environments for people to dwell in the Word. It is about having the time to be patient — to hear from God and to hear from each other.

Another topic that I found interesting dealt with Keifert’s journey towards the missional church conversation. He shares how it involved both “failure” and “discovery.” The failure involved disenchantment with his own ministry experience in a traditional church. The discovery included the reading of Newbigin’s “Foolishness to the Greeks.”

I think Keifert’s journey parallels the experience of many. There is a deep sense of  uneasiness, frustration, or even failure in a current ministry setting. Church leaders recognize something isn’t right about how they do ministry. They sense that something has changed, but they are unsure about the essence of the change, or what changes might be necessary. At some point, however, they “discover” that others have experienced the same anxiety. They “discover” authors that begin to give language to these changes. Perhaps, like Keifert its Newbigin, or Bosch; or more recently, maybe it is Guder, Van Gelder, Hirsch, or Frost. But regardless of the author, they rediscover the missionary nature of God and His church, and the reality that the church is sent into the mission field that is now North America.

This has certainly been my journey. I wonder about your experience. Has failure + discovery propelled you into the missional conversation?

Why Focus on the City?

August 12, 2010, by 5 comments

Why focus on the city? In the United States, more than half of the population now lives in just forty cities of a million or more people. In the past twenty-five years Las Vegas exploded with 250-percent population growth, while Houston grew by 140 percent. Cities are magnets pulling the hopeful across any barrier, and they endure any hardship. They are twenty-four-hour-a-day catch basins for the vulnerable. But some cities are losing population as old industries die. We are in the beginning phases of the most massive migration, both in and out of cities, the world has ever known. And it is ramping up.

Why focus on the city? Today’s cities, even more than nation-states, influence economic systems, political alliances and social movements. This makes cities a strategic investment: what influences the city influences the world. The city needs a growing cadre of young leaders – both college and graduate students as well as those already in the marketplace – who will link their skills, their privileges and their sense of well-being to the well-being of the city. In today’s globalized world, to shape the city is to shape the way people experience life itself.

Why focus on the city? While for some the city is the normal context of faith development, part and parcel of what it means to follow Jesus and the stage where the drama of life before God has unfolded, for many others the city represents a huge question mark. Is it a place where faith can thrive? Is it a place of blessing, or evidence of a curse? Is the city a spiritually fertile place where a person can sustain a vibrant relationship with God? For many whose faith was nurtured in the womb of a gated suburban community or in the calm rhythms of small town America, there’s a lot of doubt about the answer.

While books on ministry in cities, on community organizing, on urban evangelism or simply on how to serve people in cities abound, there are very few resources that view the city as a place to grow your faith and discover a meaningful life, as a place that transforms you or as a place where your own transformation can have an effect.

- Randy White in Encounter God in the City: Onramps to Personal and Community Transformation

Family Vacation to East Coast

August 7, 2010, by 1 comment

I haven’t posted for nearly a month primarily because my family took a three week vacation to the east coast. We visited (or in some cases simply drove through) thirteen states, stayed in ten different hotels, and traveled over 3,300 miles. (My wife really should have been a travel agent!) For the most part the trip was a historical journey of early American history. We visited Colonial Williamsburg, Washington DC and Philadelphia for three to four days each. We toured historical sites such as Jamestown and Yorktown, as well as Valley Forge, Gettysburg and Mt Vernon (George Washington’s home).

However, the trip wasn’t all about studying history and visiting museums, we also plugged in time to relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of many new destinations. We spent a couple wonderful days on the beach in Cape May, NJ, went to the National Zoo in DC to see Mei Xiang and Tian Tian (the Giant Pandas), visited the Louisville Slugger factory, and made a stop in Canton to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I wanted to share just a couple of quick observations from our trip. First, I was reminded that what is significant and memorable to a ten year old boy can be quite different from those a bit older. Ten days into our trip, and after visiting several of the most significant historical sights, I asked our ten year old what was his favorite aspect of the trip thus far, and his response was; “the driving, the hotels, the food, and the metro (subway) in DC.” I believe these aspects of the trip were important to him because they were not “things” or “events” that he experienced individually, but they were moments in time that we were truly together. It reminded me that while we may want our children to be experience rich, it cannot come at the expense of being relationally poor.

Second, now several days after returning home, I am still overwhelmed by the character, wisdom, and determination of so many of the men and women that contributed to the formation of our country. There was clearly a sense of duty, honor and sacrifice that we don’t see very often today, especially in our elected officials. In stark contrast to today’s “professional” or career politicians that too often seem to be driven by the desire for power and influence; those engaged in politics in the early years of our country were first and foremost great leaders, thinkers, and statesmen that were thrust into the political arena. As a result of the trip, I have committed to reading at least one biography of Washington, Franklin and Patrick Henry.

Third, I will not bore you all the details of the different sites we visited in each location, but I will share my favorites. If I had to pick five or six “must see” locations from our trip I would have to say, in no particular order: the National Archives, The National Mall, Mt Vernon, Independence Hall, Christ Church, and Gettysburg. Each of these locations stirred a deep sense of awe and inspiration, not only in regards to the great events of the past, but also how those events should better inform and influence our present.

Lastly, I have to say that I was reminded how much I love my family. We really had a blast together. Was there a time or two that we wanted to kill each other as a result of spending 24/7 with each other for three weeks? Yes, I think there was a least one occasion. But it quickly passed, and we went back to enjoying our time together and collectively learning just how blessed we are; and furthermore, how those blessings must compel us to be a blessing to others.