Thursday, March 13, 2014

223. The Missional Incarnational Journey and Missional Communties

One of the defining characteristics of missional communities is how they organize their rhythm of life around being on mission to a particular neighborhood or network of relationships. A missional community is, after all, a community with a mission. That particular mission, however, can (and should) look different for every missional community.
In time, disciples, leaders and missional communities multiply. This creates the potential for missional communities to focus on the various people groups and places of your city. This is the beauty of missional communities: they provide a common vehicle that allows people to pursue a diversity of callings.

Missional-Incarnational Impulse

While every MC will have a different look and feel, they should all be shaped by what Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch have coined as the “missional-incarnational impulse.”
The missional impulse is the notion that we are to be a sent and sending presence in the world. This is the “going” of our collective vocation as the people of God. As a sent people, we are inherently movemental, which is to say, in Bible-speak “apostolic.” Part of living out the missional impulse is being willing to cross boundaries and engage people on their own turf as it were.

Thursday, March 06, 2014

222. Developing a Rule and Rhythm of Life in Church Planting

Founding a new community will lead you to encounter unusual levels of chaos. New people, new places, new plans, and new priorities are just a few of the dynamics at work behind the chaotic experience of a planter. Although typically avoided, chaos is not always a bad thing. Under the right conditions, it can actually facilitate growth and innovation. This is why we often see a new leader(s) emerge during chaotic situations. In fact, one of the staple features of leadership is the ability to bring order out of chaos. Those who manage to facilitate order in the midst of chaos are often invested by the group with charisma. That is, the group deems such people as being worthy of following.
In the beginning phases of a plant, it is often the leader(s) charisma that provides the initial energy in the life of the new group. The leader(s) vibe (personality), vision, values and virtues serve as a point of reference around which the group will organize itself. Without this point of reference in the leader(s), a new group will struggle with a sense of identity and purpose.