Partnership for Missional Church

Jay Hawkins’ sermon from the 2007 ACU Lectureship is available through the iTunes Podcast Directory. Click this link to access it.

One can hardly say the word mission without bringing strongly to mind the Great Commission and globe trotting evangelists. This is not bad, its just so. The irony of the missional church movement is that it hopes to produce a new imagination around a word that has a fairly iron clad conceptual world surrounding it. Is it possible to rehabilitate a word that has such strong resonance among church members? This remains to be seen.

I am finding it fruitful to talk just a bit differently when describing what the missional church is up to. Instead of simply saying that a missional church defines itself in relation to the mission of God (Missio Dei), I am asking people to think of the church in relation to the ultimate purposes of God for all of Creation. When I ask church members to write down what they think of serving the mission of God, the range of responses is predictably narrow. The range of answers expands noticeably when the ultimate purposes of God for the sake of creation becomes the field of reflection. Admittedly, it is hard to say “ultimate purposes of God for all of creation” church. And for this reason among others, I think keeping the word missional in play is important. However, I think this points to the fact that leaders need to find multiple ways to talk about the shift that the missional church movement represents.

- Mark Love

This reflection on the Kingdom of God comes from Matt Tibbles at the Federal Way Church of Christ:

Snap!

The sound of the camera invades the environment of the picture I have just taken. I love to take and look at pictures. Moments in time captured and treasured. A picture to be looked at over and over again so I can relive that special moment.

As I think about the kingdom of God, words seem very inadequate for me. So, I must rely on the pictures of life to help me grasp what this elusive kingdom of God is all about.

The first picture is of Quinton. Quinton is a young boy in elementary school. He lives on 51st Street in Tacoma, Washington. He has two sisters. His father is in construction. His mother stays at home. He is much like any little boy—full of energy, always on a great adventure and good at Madden Football. He has a mohawk (it was blue at one time). He dresses in hand-me-downs. As my youth group began to paint Quinton’s neighbor’s house, he was always there to help. The minute we would drive up, Quinton comes running out of his house with expectations of helping us. As the days pass, Quinton and I begin to develop a friendship. We talk about what fun things he did the night before, school and family, all the while expletives rolling off the tongue of his mother. It dawned on me one day, the kingdom of Heaven was being brought near to Quinton and Quinton was eagerly receiving it. He was experiencing a place of peace through the camaraderie of teenagers and adults painting a house. This snapshot of the kingdom of Heaven provides images of love, acceptance and peace.

Another picture came unexpectedly. The location was a community fair. This was not a ordinary community fair. A blowup jumping toy and face painting were the only “fun” activities for kids. The main portion of the fair was designed to help a community of people who had been displaced learn about the resources that were available to them. As each displaced mother, father, child and grandmother entered into the fair, they were greeted with love and respect. As they were handed a bag full of school supplies, a list of what schools were actually open, the anxiety of being displaced began to slowly be replaced by love and support. Each table they encountered brought new information about health clinics, job opportunities, educational services and emergency services. As the stories of surviving a hurricane and the worst national disaster in American history were told and retold, a strange thing began to occur—the sounds of laughter and hope began to fill the air. As we conversed with individuals and families, listening to the stories of survival and hope, an overwhelming awareness of the kingdom of Heaven began to settle in and make itself at home. What we thought would be a day that we would bring the kingdom of Heaven to people turned out that they were bringing the kingdom of Heaven to us. In this particular snapshot the kingdom of Heaven was full of hope, laughter, restoration and love.

These are just two of the snapshots God has graciously allowed us to participate in. These two snapshots have opened the eyes of our faith to see the kingdom of Heaven in the pictures of life.

Snap!

The article below comes to us from Jerry Wolfe, on behalf of the elders

at the Federal Way Church of Christ:

We in Churches of Christ, like many other Christian traditions, have not spoken frequently about the Kingdom of God. We have spoken of personal salvation. We have emphasized individual response to the Gospel. We have described salvation as a plan. We have referred to Jesus as both Lord and Christ. We have insisted upon the church as the location of the saved. But we have said very little about the kingdom of God.

Yet it appears that in order to understand the church as a part of the missional work of God we must begin to grapple at length with

what is meant by the words “the kingdom of God”. This grappling appears to be no small task. In fact, it seems as if it is a little bit like Jacob wrestling with God. He struggled mightily to overcome, finally settled for hanging on, asked for a blessing, and came away with a limp. Jacob received his blessing, but this encounter set his life in a different direction. It seems likely that in our wrestling with the mysterious stranger we call the kingdom of God that our lives too will be re-directed.

So what is the kingdom of God? Scholars and commentators have struggled to define it. It defies our best attempts at nailing it down in concrete ways. Maybe one of the best clues to the elusiveness of the kingdom is that the synoptic gospels portray Jesus himself as speaking of the kingdom indirectly through parables. “The kingdom of God is like…” is Jesus’ favorite way of describing it. He doesn’t say “this is it”. He doesn’t define it. He offers comparisons…”it is like a hidden treasure, it is like a pearl, it is like a mustard seed”. And he leaves it to his hearers to wrestle with it.

So at best we are able to name certain characteristics of the kingdom. It is a hidden kingdom. It grows in mysterious ways. It appears in surprising places. It is something to be received with joy, yet it may bring hardship. It can be entered, but it can never be contained. It is related to the church, but the kingdom is not the church and the church is not the kingdom. Jesus is Lord on the throne of the kingdom and where God’s will is done there God’s kingdom reign is seen. Jesus cautions against believing people when they say, “here it is or there it is” yet Jesus also says, “the kingdom is among you”.

If the Missio Dei is the coming of the kingdom in its fullness and if the purpose of the church is to be a sign, a foretaste, and a witness of the kingdom of God then we must learn to speak of the kingdom with greater regularity and deeper insight. Not so much to define the kingdom, but in order to begin to see ourselves as a church that has been caught up in the great mission of God.

And so to that end as Jesus’ modern day followers we must wrestle with and hang on to this mysterious stranger that has crossed our path. In our wrestling may we receive a blessing.

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.

Summer Walters shared this story on her blog, about how she and her husband responded to the call of God in their lives. Be blessed:

Chad and I have been convicted lately that Jesus repeatedly tells us throughout the Bible to take care of those in need around us and give to the poor. We have done this through tithing, but after some discussion and prayer, our small group decided to take it a step further. With Chad’s leading, we set up a shared account with everyone who wanted to participate. People can contribute anonymously any amount they decide. After only a few months, we had collected several hundred dollars. Some give a regular amount every month and others just contribute when they can. The point is to set aside money collectively with the intention of using it only for those in need, and then be on the lookout for anyone who might need it. A few examples so far: we were able to help a struggling family by providing Christmas presents and groceries, we paid for someones car to be fixed, we’ve paid for meals for several people we have met on the street or the side of the road and medicine for one man’s sick wife. We have already been amazed at the way God has multiplied the money in the account. There always seems to be enough, so we all just keep finding ways to share it. It’s amazing!

This is my favorite story so far: Chad has the unique opportunity to be in people’s homes through home health. He sees several patients a week in their home, many of whom live at the poverty level. Last week, he came home talking about an aging couple whom he has really grown to care about from Boston who have been down on their luck. The wife has been in the hospital and needing full time assistance, so the husband had to take off of work, and this has put them behind in their bills and rent. Chad happened to see several bills on their refrigerator and asked if they needed any help financially. The man (a tough Bostonian) almost broke down in tears. He explained that they were behind in the rent and their gas would be turned off next week, but it would be several weeks before he could go back to work. Chad consulted a couple of folks from our small group and we were able to use money from our fund to pay their bills and give them a good amount toward their rent so the landlord would let them stay. The couple was completely humbled and thankful, and wanted to know what they could do to show us their appreciation. Chad just told them that when they could, they should do something to help someone else who needed a hand. Yesterday, when Chad went back for his home health visit, the couple was so excited to tell him that they met a homeless man who needed a place to sleep for a few days, so they let him stay at their house for 3 nights and fed him. Then the husband went on to tell Chad that he wanted to start contributing to the fund we have set up, even if it’s only $5 a month. Suddenly, WE were humbled and grateful!

The amazing thing about giving is that it blesses those who receive and those who give, and God is glorified again and again! Still it’s easy for me in our consumer driven society to think I can’t give because I have school loans and car loans, and my daughter needs new shoes, etc. There is always something else I think I need, but God is faithful. I am only beginning to know God as provider. Whatever we give seems to come back– sometimes in an anonymous gift of money in a time of struggle, sometimes in gifts from friends, and sometimes in the wonder of witnessing someone with so much less give with such an open and willing heart!