Mark your calendars for an event coming up this September in Kansas City. We will be hosting a conference titled “Turning the Church Inside/Out” with Reggie McNeal.

The conference will be on Tuesday, September 14th from 9:00am to 5:30pm. McNeal will lead three main sessions focused on helping church leaders understand the cultural shifts taking place in North America and how to best maneuver the necessary missiological and ecclesiological changes. There will be special emphasis on the importance of developing and deploying church members as missionaries in local neighborhoods and work places. There will also be six breakout sessions offered that will assist participants in making personal application in a local context.

The conference fee is only $30, which will also include lunch. For additional information on the conference, including location, lodging and a detailed schedule check out the conference website here. If you have further questions about the conference leave a comment or send me an email at brad.brisco@gmail.com

I am excited to share more information on the mQuest training series that will be kicking off in August. The training involves a cohort based learning format where participants will join a small group of like-minded sojourners for training from presenters like Alan Hirsch, Dan Kimball, Neil Cole, and others.

There are several unique aspects of mQuest. First, the training begins with a one-day interactive format that will be limited to 30 participants. Additionally, the one-day event will be captured on video so participants can review the material at a later date. Second, there will be two live webinars where participants can continue to dialog with the main presenter. Third, there will be on-going online peer learning and coaching provided on the Shapevine platform. Fourth, the training will be presented in six different locations around the country to provide regional networking opportunities, as well as making the training as logistically convenient as possible. The first training will take place in Los Angeles with Neil Cole on August 23rd.

The additional dates and locations include:

September 20 or 21, 2010: Philadelphia with Dan Kimball
October 19 or 20, 2010: Dallas with Alan Hirsch
November 1 or 2, 2010: Nashville with Neil Cole
November 9 or 10, 2010: Los Angeles with Alan Hirsch
December 6 or 7, 2010: Philadelphia with Neil Cole
December 13 or 14, 2010: Kansas City with Alan Hirsch
January 18 or 19, 2011: Nashville with Alan Hirsch
February 17 or 18, 2011: Dallas with Dan Kimball
February 23 or 24, 2011: Philadelphia with Alan Hirsch
February 23 or 24, 2011: Los Angeles with Dan Kimball
March 14 or 15, 2011: Kansas City with Neil Cole
April 5 or 6, 2011: Kansas City with Dan Kimball
May 16 or 17, 2011: Dallas with Neil Cole
October 12 or 13, 2011: Nashville with Dan Kimball

To learn more about mQuest check out the video below, or simply go to the mQuest page at Shapevine. After viewing the information online if you have further questions shoot me an email or leave a comment.

Over the past year I have had an increasing number of conversations with pastors and church leaders about the church’s inability to “reach” their local communities. Many local churches have come to the realization that they have lost the ability to “attract” people to church programs and events. They sense that something has changed, but they are unsure about the essence of the change and what ministry adjustments might be necessary. In most cases, the leaders have no “grid” or “framework” to rethink the form and function of the church. Therefore, they lean towards a solution that ultimately involves more of the same church growth principles and programming.

I believe, as many of you that follow this blog, that a significant portion of the “solution” begins with recapturing the missionary nature of God and His church. The “framework” that is necessary is found in the best of the missional church conversation that is taking place today.

I have been studying and participating in this conversation for the past decade. Last year I completed a doctoral project that was targeted on assisting churches in the development of a missional ecclesiology. The core of the training project included three major elements.

The first piece of the training attempted to answer the question, “What is Missional Church?” During this portion of the training we examined the biblical, theological, and missiological underpinnings of the missional conversation. We also conducted a brief survey of the history of missional church, along with exploring what others were saying on the topic.

The second portion of the training focused on understanding the cultural shifts that have taken place in North America, and how those shifts have contributed to the marginalization of the church. This second element speaks to the question of “Why is the Missional Church conversation important?”

The third element of the training dealt with missional practice, or the question, “How can an existing church cultivate a more missional posture?” In this final section of the training we focused on issues surrounding community engagement and transformation, as well as how to make incremental changes in a missional direction with resources such as prayer, time, staff, facilities, and finances.

I share this brief training outline as an introduction to what I would be willing to share with other local congregations. I would like to make available a customized seminar that would focus on the series of topics mentioned above. The training could be customized to any size group that was most helpful. It could range from a two hour presentation targeted to a selected group of church leaders to a full day seminar presented to the whole congregation. You would decide the best fit for your situation and local context.

I want to make perfectly clear, that I am not trying to “make a buck” off of the missional church conversation. In fact, because I am supported by a national mission organization, the North American Mission Board, I would lead such a seminar with no required fee. I simply desire to assist churches and church leaders to better understand the missional conversation, and the significant implications it has for a local congregation.

If you have questions or would like to discuss what this might look like for your church, simply email me at brad.brisco@gmail.com

Most of you that follow this blog are familiar with The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch. It is certainly one of the most significant books in the present missional conversation. If you are not familiar with the book you can read a series of post I did here. I would also highly recommend the more recent The Forgotten Ways Handbook, which I wrote about briefly here.

To move the conversation beyond the written word, and to hear directly from Hirsch himself, check out the training videos created by Lance Ford at Shapevine. The training involves eight sessions, or “podules,” that include an introduction, a session on chaos theory, and a session on each of the six mDNA elements described in The Forgotten Ways. The eight session training is priced at $39.95, however Shapevine is currently running a special which includes the same online training in a DVD format. In other words, you can get instant access to the online training while having the DVDs shipped in the next couple of weeks.

For those of you in the Kansas City area, keep a watch out for the development of some local learning cohort groups as we work through this excellent training together.

One last reminder for the Verge conference next month in Austin. You will save a couple of bucks if you register today.  I am very excited about the networking opportunities, not to mention the lineup of presenters, including Ed Stetzer, Francis Chan, Alan Hirsch, Neil Cole, George Patterson and Hugh Halter, just to name a few. For complete schedule and registration information go here.

Here are the first two audio presentations from the Kansas City Missional Network Gathering.

In session one, Eric Swanson, author of The Externally Focused Church, shares the characteristics of EF Churches. These characteristics include:

They believe that their communities can’t be healthy without the church.
They believe Christians don’t grow until they begin serving.
They understand the power of service.
They lower the thresholds to service.
They partner with other entities.

Swanson’s presentation is replete with excellent illustrations and examples of churches that are impacting their communities as they learn fresh ways to serve their cities.

In session two, Swanson spends time discussing the crucial importance of combining good deeds (that create good will) with good news.

If I had to choose only one conference to attend in 2010 it would be Verge, February 4-6 in Austin. I have the privilege to be a part of the conference social media team, which means I will be blogging/twittering before, during and after the conference. I am very excited about the missional community focus on the conference, along with the stellar lineup of presenters, including Ed Stetzer, Francis Chan, Alan Hirsch, Neil Cole, George Patterson and Hugh Halter, just to name a few. For complete schedule and registration information go here.

I also anticipate this to be a great time of networking with like minded folks. If you plan to attend let me know, I would love to connect while in Austin. I’ll buy the coffee!

History of Missional Church – Part I
History of Missional Church – Part II

The Gospel and Our Culture Network

As Newbigin’s writings gained a larger circulation and the British programme received greater recognition, a version of the Gospel and Our Culture conversation began to emerge in the United States. A network began to take shape in the mid-1980s and by the early 1990s, under the leadership of George Hunsberger, the Gospel and Our Culture Network (GOCN)[1] was publishing a quarterly newsletter and also convening a yearly consultation. “By the mid-1990s, the movement in the United States had begun to find its own voice beyond the influence of Newbigin, and the Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company began to publish a series of books under the moniker The Gospel and Our Culture Series.”[2] To date the following volumes have been published in this series:

George Hunsberger and Craig Van Gelder, eds., The Church Between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North America (1996).

Darrel L. Guder, ed., Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (1998).

George Hunsberger, Bearing the Witness of the Spirit: Lesslie Newbigin’s Theology of Cultural Plurality (1998).

Craig Van Gelder, ed., Confident Witness — Changing World: Rediscovering the Gospel in North America (1999).

Darrel L. Guder, The Continuing Conversion of the Church (2000).

James V. Brownson, ed. StormFront: The Good News of God (2003).

Lois Y. Barrett, ed., Treasure in Clay Jars: Patterns in Missional Faithfulness (2004).

While the Gospel and Our Culture Network does not offer a precise definition for “missional church,” they do provide what they refer to as “indicators of a missional church.” The indicators are an effort to identify what might be some of the key aspects that contribute to the church’s unique ability to better understand and therefore connect with the diverse cultures within the North American context.

1.  The missional church proclaims the gospel.

What it looks like: The story of God’s salvation is faithfully repeated in a multitude of different ways.

2.  The missional church is a community where all members are involved in learning to become disciples of Jesus.

What it looks like: The disciple identity is held by all; growth in discipleship is expected of all.

3.  The Bible is normative in the church’s life.

What it looks like: The church is reading the Bible together to learn what it can learn nowhere else – God’s good and gracious intent for all creation, the salvation mystery, and the identity and purpose of life together.

4.  The church understands itself as different from the world because of its participation in the life, death, and resurrection of its Lord.

What it looks like: In its corporate life and public witness, the church is consciously seeking to conform to its Lord instead of the multitude of cultures in which it finds itself.

5.  The church seeks to discern God’s specific missional vocation for the entire community and for all of its members.

What it looks like: The church has made its “mission” it priority, and in overt and communal ways is seeking to be and do “what God is calling us to know, be, and do.”

6.  A missional community is indicated by how Christians behave toward one another.

What it looks like: Acts of self-sacrifice on behalf of one another both in the church and in the locale characterize the generosity of the community.

7.  It is a community that practices reconciliation.

What it looks like: The church community is moving beyond homogeneity toward a more heterogeneous community in its racial, ethnic, age, gender, and socioeconomic makeup.

8.  Peoples within the community hold themselves accountable to one another in love.

What it looks like: Substantial time is spent with one another for the purpose of watching over one another in love.

9.  The church practices hospitality.

What it looks like: Welcoming the stranger into the midst of the community plays a central role.

10.  Worship is the central act by which the community celebrates with joy and thanksgiving both God’s presence and God’s promised future.

What it looks like: There is a significant and meaningful engagement in communal worship of God, reflecting appropriately and addressing the culture of those who worship together.

11.  The community has a vital public witness.

What it looks like: The church makes an observable impact that contributes to the transformation of life, society, and human relationships.

12.  There is a recognition that the church itself is an incomplete expression of the reign of God.

What it looks like: There is a widely help perception that this church is going somewhere – and that “somewhere” is a more faithfully lived life in the reign of God.[3]

One final note from the writings of the Gospel and Culture Network: Darrell Guder emphasizes the importance of having congregations formed by hearing the Bible “missionally.” He points out that when missional renewal is happening, different kinds of questions are brought to the Bible. He writes:

Congregations are open to being challenged, to looking hard at their deeply ingrained attitudes and expectations. The missional approach asks, How does God’s Word call, shape, transform, and send me . . . and us? Coupled with this openness is the awareness, that biblical formation must mean change, and often conversion. Christian communities may discover that their discipling will require repentance and that their way of being church will have to change.[4]

---

1. “The GOCN is a collaborative effort that focuses on three things: (1) a cultural and social analysis of our North American setting; (2) theological reflection on the question, what is the gospel that address us in our setting? And (3) the renewal of the church and its missional identity in our setting.” George Hunsberger, The Church Between Gospel and Culture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 290. For more information on The Gospel and Our Culture Network see www.gocn.org

2. Van Gelder, The Missional Church and Denominations, 4.

3. Walter C. Hobbs, “Method,” in Treasure in Clay Jars: Patterns in Missional Faithfulness, ed. Lois Y. Barrett (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 160.

4. Darrell L. Guder, “Biblical Formation and Discipleship,” in Treasure in Clay Jars: Patterns in Missional Faithfulness, ed. Lois Y. Barrett (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 70.

Here is one last reminder of the conference we will be hosting in Kansas City next month. The conference will begin on Tuesday, November 10 at 1:00pm and conclude on Wednesday, November 11 at 3:30pm. The cost of the conference is $25, which will include lunch on Wednesday. We will have two primary presenters, Eric Swanson and Jonathan Dodson. For bios for both Eric and Jonathan check out this earlier post. You can register for the conference here. If you have questions shoot me an email at brad.brisco@gmail.com

Conference schedule:

Tuesday, November 10th

12:30pm Registration
1:00pm Welcome & Prayer
1:15pm Becoming an Externally Focused Church: Eric Swanson
2:45pm Break
3:00pm Combining Good News & Good Deeds: Eric Swanson
4:15pm Break
4:30pm City Networks: Jonathan Dodson
5:30pm Conclude
6:00pm Optional – Community Transformation Discussion

Wednesday, November 11th

8:30am Worship & Prayer
9:00am Engaging a Community: Eric Swanson
10:30am Break
10:45am To Transform a City: Interview with Eric Swanson
11:45am Lunch
1:00pm Best Practices of Missional Communities: Jonathan Dodson
2:00pm Break
2:15pm Panel Discussion
3:30pm Conclude

Mark your calendars for an event coming up this November in Kansas City. Along with the North American Mission Board we will be hosting a Regional Missional Network Gathering on November 10-11, 2009.

The conference will begin on Tuesday, November 10 at 1:00pm and conclude on Wednesday, November 11 at 3:30pm. We will have two primary presenters, Eric Swanson and Jonathan Dodson. I think many of you are familiar with one or both of these guys, but if you are not you should be!

Not only will they both be presenting, but we will have plenty of time for Q&A and dialog. In the next few days I will post a detailed schedule and lodging information, until then if you have questions send me an email or ask via comments. In the meantime here is some info on Eric and Jonathan.

Eric Swanson works with Leadership Network as Leadership Community Director for Externally Focused Churches working with dozens of externally focused churches around North America. He is also co-founder of Good Cities, a global movement focused on kingdom transformation. Eric served with Campus Crusade for Christ for twenty-five years before joining the staff of Leadership Network. He holds D.Min. degree in Transformational Leadership in the Global City from Bakke Graduate University and is co-author of The Externally Focused Church, Living a Life on Loan, and the soon-to-be-published To Transform a City. Eric has been married to Liz for over 30 years, have three children, two grandchildren and reside outside of Boulder Colorado.

Jonathan Dodson is happy husband to Robie, and proud father of Owen and Ellie. He is the lead pastor of Austin City Life church and Directional Leader for PlantR, an Austin-based church planting network. He also serves on the board for Acts 29 Texas Region, providing church planting coaching and direction, and is active in teaching and training overseas. Jonathan holds a B.A. in Anthropology and M.Div and Th.M degrees in Theology from Gordon-Conwell, and is author of Fight Clubs: Gospel-centered Discipleship, and has published articles in various journals and webzines such as The Journal of Biblical Counseling, Boundless, and The Resurgence. Be sure to check out Jonathan’s blogs at Creation Project and Church Planting Novice.

The next Missional Network gathering will be Thursday, May 14th, from noon to 3:00pm. This month we are continuing our discussion through “The Contempaltive Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction”  by Eugene Peterson. Thus far the book has been a wonderful breath of fresh air as Peterson speaks with words of wisdom seldom found in contemporary pastoral ministry literature. 

In the foreword of the book, Rodney Clapp writes of Peterson:

“He pastors and writes from a scholarly background, having mastered the biblical languages and done doctoral-level work with the magisterial William F. Albright. But none of the learning is for show. Peterson is, in fact, uncomfortable with persistent questions about his books, insisting that his identity and aim in life is merely being a dependable pastor. In a world of mounting hype and glitter, he has dedicated himself to the unsung promotion of honesty, simplicity, and substance.”

Kansas City Network 
Thursday, May 14th
12:00noon – 3:00pm
Kansas City Association
8745 Ballentine
Overland Park

 

The next missional network gathering will be Thursday, January 22nd from 12 noon to 3:00pm. (There will be free food for lunch!)

For at least the first two meetings in 2009 we will be examining ReJesus: A Wild Messiah For A Missional Church, the new book by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch.

In addition to discussing the book during our network times, we will create opportunities on the blog to dialogue on a chapter by chapter basis. You can download the introduction and chapter one here and here. 

Here are a couple of excerpts from the introduction that will provide a bit of the book’s flavor:

What ongoing role does Jesus the Messiah play in shaping the ethos and self-understanding of the movement that originated in him?

How is the Christian religion, if we could legitimately call it that, informed and shaped by the Jesus that we meet in the Gospels?

How do we assess the continuity required between the life and example of Jesus and the subsequent religion called Christianity?

In how many ways do we domesticate the radical Revolutionary in order to sustain our religion and religiosity?

And perhaps most important of all, how can a rediscovery of Jesus renew our discipleship, the Christian community, and the ongoing mission of the church?

And

So this book is dedicated to the recovery of the absolute centrality of the person of Jesus in defining who we are as well as what we do. As hard as it is to truly follow him, we assert that we must constantly return to Jesus to authenticate as well as legitimize ourselves as his people. We have no other Archimedean point by which to set our coordinates or any other touchstone by which we can assess the abiding validity of our faith and to see if we are authentically Christian.

The love of Jesus, and our commitment to live in conformity to him, is in effect an inbuilt spiritual mechanism at the heart of the church’s theology and experience that provides an instrument for our ongoing renewal. It seems to us that a constant, and continual, return to Jesus is absolutely essential for any movement that wishes to call itself by his name.

Kansas City Missional Network

Thursday, January 22nd
12:00 – 3:00pm
Kansas City Association
8745 Ballentine
Overland Park

The next Missional Network gathering will be Thursday, February 21st. We will be continuing our discussion of Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect by Joseph Myers. If you were not able to join us last month don’t hesitate to jump in to the discussion since we only got as far as chapter one!

Here again are a few helpful reviews/reflections on the book: Adam Cleaveland at Pomomusings, Todd Littleton at The Edge of the Inside, Ariel Vanderhorst at BitterSweetLife and here at Emerging Women. I also hope to blog through the first few chapters between now and the 21st. Here are a couple of quotes from chapter one that kept us busy for a while last time:

“Organic community has the human complexities that promote artistry over mechanics. In our worship of ‘how-to’ pragmatism, we have in some cases treated the church as an object and programmed the life out of it. It would do us well to remember that our job is to help people with their lives rather than build infrastructures that help institutions stay alive.” (p. 27)

“‘Where are we headed?’ is a destination-based question. ‘Where’ necessitates that we respond with a place or point. ‘What are we hoping for?’ is a journey-based question.

‘What’ asks for an answer that will help with the journey — where-ever it may take us. ‘What’ also helps us recognize the substance of the journey, not merely the direction or destination of the journey. We often have little control over precise direction. We do have some control over the substance of the journey.” (p. 32)

Kansas City Network
Thursday, February 21st
4:00pm-7:00pm
Kansas City Association
8745 Ballentine
Overland Park

The next Missional Network gathering will be Thursday, January 24th. For this gathering we will be discussing Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect by Joseph Myers. Hope you will get a copy of the book and be prepared to discuss it together.

Here are a handful of helpful reviews/reflections on the book: Adam Cleaveland at Pomomusings, Todd Littleton at The Edge of the Inside, Ariel Vanderhorst at BitterSweetLife and here at Emerging Women. Also here is a bit of the description from the book cover:

Community is a fundamental life search and one of the key aspects people look for in a congregation. But community cant be forced, controlled, or easily created. The problem, says Joseph R. Myers, is that churches are too focused on developing programs instead of concentrating on environments where community will spontaneously emerge. Organic Community challenges key leaders to become environmentalistspeople who create or shape environments. Outlining nine organizational tools for creating a healthy environment, Myers shows readers how to diagnose their current situation and implement patterns that will develop possibilities for healthy communities.

Kansas City Network
Thursday, January 24th
4:00pm-7:00pm
Kansas City Association
8745 Ballentine
Overland Park

The next Missional Network gathering will be Thursday October 18th. For this gathering we will be discussing The Sacred Way by Tony Jones. The Sacred Way offers a helpful survey of the practices of the spiritual life. I like how Jones categorizes the practices into contemplative approaches to spritiuality including such practices as silence and solitude, sacred reading, centering prayer and spiritual direction; and bodily approaches to spiritually with such things as fasting, service, sabbath and utilizing the Labyrinth. Jones also provides a very helpful list of book and web resources for further study with each of the practices.

I think Jones’ book is very applicable for incorporating spiritual practices in everyday life, especially important for those with a missional mindset where the desire to see the church “go and be” rather than “come and see” is presented.

While all the practices are certainly not for every follower of Jesus, Jones uses Thomas a Kempis to provide wisdom concerning the varied type of practices:

All cannot use the same kind of spiritual exercises, but one suits this person, and another that. Different devotions are suited also to the seasons, some being best for the festivals, and others for ordinary days. We find some helpful in temptations, others in peace and quietness. Some things we like to consider when we are sad, and others when we are full of joy in the Lord.

KC Network
Thursday, October 18th
4:00pm-7:00pm
Kansas City Association
8745 Ballentine
Overland Park

I want to make you aware of the Missional X conference coming up September 20-22 in Tucson. The conference will feature Jim Henderson, author of Evangelism Without Additives and Jim and Casper Go to Church and Darrin Patrick, pastor of The Journey in St. Louis and Vice-President of Acts 29. For more information, including workshop topics be sure to check out the site.