Partnership for Missional Church
Since July 2006, Abilene Christian University has been partnering with numerous congregations in the Partnership for Missional Church (PMC). Essentially, PMC is a network of local churches joining together in a process of congregational transformation: listening to God’s call and letting him send us and empower us to participate in God’s mission in the world.
Each of the clusters of congregations, comprising 10 to 15 congregations (one in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex and one in the Pacific Northwest), will spend three years discovering, experimenting, and evaluating and implementing the things they have learned while on this journey.
Why “Partnership for Missional Church”
The PMC is a Partnership in that it involves individuals and congregations working together with educators, consultants, and staff from various institutions. Through the sharing of stories we are all supported and encouraged. Times of worship, of prayer, fellowship, these all serve to bind us together on this journey. We are all taking risks, but we’re not alone!
It is Missional in that we are focused on participating in God’s mission of reconciling, restoring and redeeming the world. The process of spiritual discernment helps us discover just how God is sending us into our communities, so that we may be better partners.
The word “Church” is used because we are building on the traditions and strengths of our congregations, not trying to build some new organization from scratch. The central location of mission in this growing world is the local congregation, and this project depends on the dedication of folks in church, both those in the pews and those in leadership roles.
Discovery, Experimenting, Embodiment
The first phase of the process is Discovery. This could best be described as a time for learning to listen. We listen to the witness of Scripture and the leading of the Spirit of God in allowing ourselves to be shaped and formed for sending into the world. We also learn to listen to our partners, those who help us understand ourselves and the context in which we live and work. A number of inventories, self-studies and evaluations will be used to take the pulse of each congregation, which will aid in the second phase of the project.
Experimenting follows Discovery. After learning about who we are, where we live and who we are sent to, the next logical step is to take action. The information uncovered during the first step will hopefully lead us in developing plans of action for innovating missional transformation. This involves more risk taking, and while not every risk will be rewarded, there is as much to learn from the mistakes as from the successes.
In the last phase, Embodiment, congregations will begin moving toward living in God’s preferred and promised future. After discovering and learning from the successes and failures of the experimenting phase, churches and their leaders will develop plans for congregational transformation, and will better know how to focus attention and energy toward attaining those goals.
Of course, the last phase is not truly the last phase. Congregations will need to constantly evaluate their situations and experiment with new actions and activities as their contexts change. As the church moves toward this promised future of being partners with God in his mission in the world, the process and learning and growing will be ongoing.
Follow Along
Since July, a cluster of ten congregations in Central Texas has been hard at work in the first phase of the PMC. A cluster of fifteen congregations is scheduled to begin in February of 2007. We hope to use this space to share some of their stories, to learn from their successes and failures, and to be blessed by looking in on their journeys.
Feel free to drop in and “take a peek” at what these congregations are doing, and join in the conversation. Ask questions about what these churches and their leaders are experiencing.
We hope you’ll come back often to find out what’s going on, and we hope you’ll feel free to contact us if we can answer any questions or concerns you may have.