Ecclesiology

The Sentralized Conference

April 23, 2012, by No comments yet

The next Sentralized gathering will be in Kansas City this September 27th – 29th. You may ask, “Do we really need another conference?” Well we would answer with a resounding, “Yes” for three reasons.

First, we believe there is a need to continue to bring clarity to the missional conversation. Unfortunately, the use of missional language has become confusing in many circles. Some view “missional” as the latest church growth strategy, or a better way of doing church evangelism. Others see missional as a means to mobilize church members to do missions more effectively. While still others believe missional is simply the latest Christian buzz word that will soon pass when the next trendy topic comes along.

However, we would argue that those who believe missional is merely an add-on to current church activities, or perhaps even a passing fad prevalent only among church leaders, have simply not fully grasped the magnitude of the missional conversation. While it may sound like hyperbole; the move towards missional involves no less than a complete and thorough recalibration of the form and function of the church of Jesus. Perhaps even more importantly, it involves a paradigm shift in our understanding of God and His mission. By bringing together some of today’s best missional thinkers; we desire to assist God’s people in thinking deeply about God’s mission in the world.

Second, we want to ensure the missional conversation moves beyond theory. We want to inspire and propel the church to engage in God’s mission in life changing ways. That is why a significant feature of the conference will focus on practical engagement; through the stories and personal examples of some of the best missional practitioners around.

Third, the concept of “place” is a very important piece of the missional conversation. A theology of place speaks to the realization that God has placed us in a particular location for a reason. This is especially important when considering where we live—or our neighborhoods.

But the topic of place is also important because of the emphasis it puts on relationships. As more people are less interested in the programs and activities of the church, we must engage and create space where people have opportunities for meaningful conversations and deepening relationships. There are two significant places this can happen today. First is within places of neutrality, or common ground, call Third Places. The other is within our own homes as we facilitate biblical hospitality by opening up our lives by welcoming others into our homes.

All of this has influenced the way we envision the Sentralized gathering. We desire your time at the conference to be a wellspring of relationships, networking and collaboration. We want you to experience a place to sit and listen to one another.

At Sentralized there are no “green rooms” for VIPs to hang out. In fact, there are  no VIPs. Our speakers are only speakers when they are doing speaking. Otherwise, they are one of “us”. When speakers are not presenting a session  they will be hanging out with the attendees to visit, answer questions, and be a part of the overall Sentralized community.

To help facilitate this we have created “living room” spaces around sponsors’ displays and throughout the commons area. There will be numerous opportunities for you to cultivate relationships and exchange ideas, not only with other conference participants, but also with each conference presenter. We want you to have real opportunities to interact personally with each of the speakers. To have the chance to get to know the presenters and to ask questions that are applicable to your ministry setting. Here are a few comments about the “Living Rooms” from participants of last year’s gathering:

The Living Rooms spaces were one of the many aspects that made Sentralized the most helpful and encouraging conference I have ever attended. ~ Matt

One of my favorite parts of the conference was the opportunity to have conversations with several of the presenters. It provided a vibe throughout the three days that was very unique. ~ Bill

Can’t tell you how special it was to actually have time to ask questions of the speakers throughout the conference. It meant a lot to me to be able to literally hang-out with folks. ~ Michelle

If you desire to gain a clearer, deeper understanding of the missional conversation, but would also benefit from knowing how to engage your local context, then join us this September in Kansas City. You can learn much more about the conference here and you can check out the registration page here. Hope to see you in September!

The Church Has An Image Problem

April 20, 2012, by 2 comments

The church in the United States has a major “image” problem. Now I don’t mean the kind of problem that might be solved by hiring a marketing firm or image consultant. I am speaking of the kind of image, or metaphor, that comes to mind when people think of the church.

What are the images that come to mind when you think of church? What images do people envision when they think of the nature or essence of the church? What images do you hear people use to describe and define the church in America? Complete the phrase: “Church as…”

I recently asked that question on my Facebook page and I received a variety of thought provoking responses:

Church as hospital
Church as civic group
Church as social club
Church as fortress
Church as election headquarters
Church as moral compass
Church as singles’ pickup joint
Church as daycare

Michael Goheen, in his book A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story, offers a few images of his own that illustrate how we often think of the church from a consumerist perspective.

Church as shopping mall
Church as food court
Church as motivational seminar
Church as classroom
Church as theater

The point of this discussion is that we must offer alternative images and stories to capture the missional imagination of people. Otherwise, we continue to allow non-biblical, consumerist ideas to rule the day. How can we better present a picture of the church as the sent, missionary people of God? What alternative images can we offer to create a more accurate vision of the essence of the church?

One possible alternative comes from Reggie McNeal when likens the Church to an airport terminal, which is meant to connect travelers to their destination, but it is not the destination. Using another flight analogy, McNeal has compared the Church’s mission to an aircraft carrier. It’s not how many planes are stacked up on the flight deck, he said; it’s the kind of missions that are being flown.

The Permanent Revolution

March 3, 2012, by No comments yet

Following is a challenging excerpt from the introduction of the new book by Alan Hirsch and Tim Catchim titled "The Permanent Revolution."

The church is equipped by Spirit and gospel to fulfill whatever tasks the Lord has set for us to do: evangelism, discipleship, church planting, servicing the poor, worship, healing, and much more. We are designed to be the world-transforming agents of the kingdom. We are meant to be a permanent revolution, not one that came and went, leaving a codified religion in its wake. That we only seldom realize this truth can be attributed to a bad case of recurring theological amnesia, one that has some seriously detrimental consequences on our capacities to get our mission done. . . .

Part of the amnesia comes for the way we conceive of, and subsequently configure, the church and its ministry. We create a paradigm — a way of perceiving our world, of filtering out what is considered real and unreal, of creating mental models of how things should be. Once established, paradigms in many ways do our thinking for us; that is their purpose. They in turn comprise clusters of what creative thinking expert Roger Martin calls algorithms. An algorithm is a predetermined formula that will produce reliable outcomes when it is consistently applied. Although paradigms help us make sense of our world by giving us ways to interpret it, they also create what is called paradigm blindness: an incapacity to see things from outside that particular perspective or paradigm. And this can account for how people fail to see certain important things that might be glaringly obvious to others. It can also account for many of the problems we in the church now face. But there is another serious downside to algorithms, as Martin so effectively articulates: "What organizations dedicated to running reliable algorithms often fail to realize is that while they reduce the risk of small variations, . . . they increase the risk of being overpowered by the various cataclysmic events that occur, situations when the future no longer resembles the past and whatever algorithm one has used is no longer relevant or useful.

The Road to Missional

October 20, 2011, by 1 comment

In the introduction of  The Road to Missional  Michael Frost pushes back on those who suggest that “missional” is simply the latest church buzzword that is quickly losing its usefulness. He writes:

If the missional conversation is over, it occurs to me that it probably hasn’t really ever been had. That’s because “missional” is not a style or a fad. It’s not an add-on, the latest church accessory, the newest cool idea for church leaders. The fact that some are suggesting the conversation is over leads me to think that they weren’t listening in the first place. My call — and the call of may other missional thinkers and practitioners — was not for a new approach to doing church or a new technique for church growth. I thought I was calling the church to revolution, to a whole new way of thinking about the seeing and being the followers of Jesus today. I now find myself in a place where I fear those robust and excited calls for a radical transformation of our ecclesiology have fallen on deaf ears.

I think Frost hits on a key point here, namely, those who think “missional” is a passing fad — whose time has already “come and gone” — simply have not fully grasp the enormity or breath of the conversation. It involves no less than a complete reorientation, or recalibration, of the way we understand the nature of God, church, mission, and the gospel.

The Benefits of an Incarnational Witness

September 17, 2011, by 1 comment

The case for an incarnational approach to missional witness is based, on the one hand, on the character of the biblical record; that is, the way in which the church’s missionary vocation is shaped by the earthly ministry of Jesus. The emphasis upon the necessary congruence of witness is rooted in God’s way of revealing himself supremely and finally in the incarnation of Jesus. The comprehensiveness of the biblical understanding of witness calls for an incarnational interpretation.

On the other hand, this approach helps us deal with some serious problems in our particular Western context. We see in both our mission history and our current evangelistic practices so much that is contrary to the incarnational character of the gospel. We see a gospel of peace proclaimed in divisive, judgmental ways. We see a Gospel of love conveyed manipulatively, insensitively, condescendingly. We see a gospel of healing obscured by distortions that hurt people and evoke resentment.

Thus we arrive at the concept of incarnational witness as one way of expounding the character of our missionary vocation. In the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God revealed himself as the One who is with and for his creation.

Now, as the Risen Lord sends his Spirit to empower the church, we are called to become God’s people present in the world, with and for the world, like St. John pointing always to Christ. The most incarnational dimension of our witness is defined by the cross itself, as we experience with Jesus that bearing his cross transforms our suffering into witness.

Incarnational witness is, therefore, a way of describing Christian vocation in terms of Jesus Christ as the messenger, the message, and the model for all who follow after him. To speak of the incarnation missionally is to link who Jesus was, what Jesus did, and how he did it, in one great event that defines all that it means to be Christian.

- Darrell Guder in The Incarnation and The Church’s Witness


Sentralized Missional Church Conference

September 4, 2011, by 3 comments

There is less than four two weeks 2 days until the kick off of the Sentralized conference on September 29th. It will begin with a book release party on Thursday night featuring both Michael Frost’s new book, “The Road to Missional” and Hugh Halter’s “Sacrilege.” You can now take a look at the rest of the conference schedule, as well as specific titles for each talk here.

I believe this conference is going to play a significant role in the ongoing missional conversation in the United States. There are essentially three reasons we have taken the time and effort to put Sentralized together.

First, we believe there is a continual need to bring clarity to missional language and concepts. Unfortunately, the use of missional terminology has become confusing in many circles. Some view “missional” as the latest church growth strategy, or a better way of doing evangelism. Others see missional as a means to mobilize church members to domissions more effectively. Still others believe missional is simply the latest Christian buzz word that will soon pass when the next trendy topic comes along.

However, we would argue that those who believe missional is merely an add-on to current church activities, or perhaps a passing fad prevalent only among church leaders, have simply not fully grasped the magnitude of the missional conversation. While it may sound like hyperbole; the move towards missional involves no less than a complete and thorough recalibration of our understanding of God’s mission, as well as the form and function of His church. By bringing together many of today’s best missional thinkers, we want to challenge God’s people to critically consider the significance of missional concepts and principles.

Second, we want to ensure the missional conversation moves beyond theory. We want to inspire and propel the people of God to engage His mission in life changing ways. That is why a considerable portion of the conference will focus on practical engagement; through the stories and personal examples of some of the best missional practitioners from around the country.

Third, we desire Sentralized to be a wellspring of relationships, networking and collaboration. To help this take place we have created “living room” spaces around sponsors’ displays and throughout the commons area. There will be numerous opportunities for you to cultivate relationships and exchange ideas, not only with other conference participants, but with each conference presenter. We want you to have real opportunities to interact personally with each of the speakers. To have the chance to get to know the presenters and to ask questions that are applicable to your ministry setting.

Hope to see you later this month.

Alan Hirsch on What is the Church? & How Does the Gospel Change Our Community?

August 2, 2011, by 1 comment

A True Missionary Encounter with the West

July 22, 2011, by No comments yet

A missionary encounter with the West will have to be, primarily, a ministry of the laity. The professionalization of the ordained ministry has an ancient history, going back to the early centuries of the Christian church. The Protestant Reformation rediscovered the office of the believer; however, in the main branches of the Reformation churches this remained largely theoretical. Only in the Radical Reformation did it really take root, but even the churches emanating from this branch of the Reformation have today largely professionalized the ordained ministry.

For our present theme the revitalization of the office of the believer is crucial, for two reasons: first, the church’s witness will be much more credible if it comes from those who do not belong to the guild of pastors; and second, only in this way will we begin to bring together what our culture has divided, the private and public, for the lay members of the church clearly belong to the public and secular world, whereas the pastors belong to the separate, “religious” world.

David J. Bosch in Believing in the Future: Toward a Missiology of Western Culture

Seven Steps Toward Renewal

July 16, 2011, by No comments yet

I just read the epilogue (which is titled From Here to the Kingdom) from The Community of the King by Howard Snyder. It was encouraging to read his suggestions for a local church to increase its “kingdom vision and become more authentically the community of the King” written nearly 35 years ago.

1. Undertake a study of the biblical nature of the church.
2. Evaluate the quality of the community life of the church.
3. Attempt to think through what the Bible teaches about gifts of the Spirit.
4. Attempt to transcend the clergy-laity dichotomy in both thought & speech.
5. Consider forming one or two new congregations from the existing church.
6. Form some small-group fellowships as mission.
7. Identify segments of the surrounding population especially open to the gospel where new churches could be planted.

Right Here Right Now

June 19, 2011, by No comments yet

Following are four great excerpts from Right Here Right Now: Everyday Mission For Everyday People by Alan Hirsch and Lance Ford.

If we are truly committed to bringing Jesus as the center of our lives among others and to see the church renewed in the mission of God, we will lead it toward a greater respect for the unbeliever, a greater grace for those who, though they don’t attend church services, are nonetheless marked by God’s image. It will lead to a greater respect for people in general. – Alan Hirsch

Jesus didn’t say, “Come and study me.” He said, “Come and follow me.” It is through practicing what we study from the Bible in the laboratory of daily life that transformation happens in our own lives and we become a blessing to others. Bible study is not only important, it is absolutely vital and essential, and neither Alan nor I minimize its place in the daily rhythm of following Jesus. But the point here is that it is only the first step in feasting with the Lord on a daily basis, and just because we’ve studied something from the Bible doesn’t mean the lesson is learned or complete. It has just begun. – Lance Ford

The heart of discipleship is unfettered adherence to Christ, his message, and his values. He makes absolute claim to our loyalty and allegiance. When we become entangled in addictive consumption, we are complicit in many of the unjust ways and means of production of the very commodities we absorb. Jesus disturbed the status quo and rallied against injustice and lack of mercy. He was both an advocate and an answer for the marginalized and oppressed. If Jesus, the great deliver, lives in us, how can we be anything but charged with the same concern and vigor? – Alan Hirsch

Labeled by some as catacombs of consumption, there are currently over 52,000 self-storage locations in the United States with revenue of over 23 billion dollars. With the fastest rate of growth in commercial real estate, it is an industry more profitable than Hollywood. One in ten American families rents self-storage units. Storage units have become the “spare tire” around the waistline of American consumption. Just imagine the needs that could be met with the disbursement of our stored stuff and the money saved on storage rental if we would abandon our addiction to stuff and adapt the practices of God’s kingdom economics. – Lance Ford