Partnership for Missional Church

Part of the work of the Steering Team during Phase One of the Partnership for Missional Church is to get the entire church praying. It’s easy for me, sitting here in my office at a university, to put something like that on a To-Do list that I don’t actually have to do! But, I imagine it’s not that easy for those of you “in the trenches.” I invite you to share what your congregation is doing to see this goal become a reality. Any insights from churches in the Central Texas cluster that have already walked through this phase of the journey are more than welcome, too!

Please contact me if you have any trouble leaving a comment in the section below.

~Greg KB

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!

Jerry Wolfe, elder at the Federal Way Church of Christ in Washington, has written these rich words about the spiritual practice of lectio divina on his personal blog. He has graciously given us permission to reprint them here.

Listen. Listen. Listen. That’s what our first Partnership for Missional Church weekend was about. In the three year process the entire first year is dedicated primarily to listening. We listen to Scripture — Luke 10:1-12. ‘Dwelling in the Word’ is new language for most of us. If you wanted the ancient church language it would be ‘lectio divina‘ which means ‘divine or spiritual reading’.

Our practice of reading Scripture is to read a passage, figure out its meaning, perhaps, although not always, make some application to our personal life or the church, and then move on to another passage. And then when we have done that we ‘know what is in the Bible’. Now get this. This is a good and important way of reading Scripture. This is not something we want to lose. Knowing what is in the Bible is vital.

However, knowing what is in the Bible is a far different thing than having the Bible know what is in us. Knowing what is in the Bible, if we are not careful, turns the Bible into little more than a tool for our own purposes, to prove our own points, to set our own agendas, to create our own categories. That doesn’t have to happen, but if we are honest, we have all done it.

Dwelling in the Word — lectio divina– on the other hand is a way of reading that refuses the approach of ‘figuring out the meaning’. Not that we don’t find meaning in lectio divina, but we allow meaning to surface over time and space. We read, slowly, thoughtfully, pausing over words, phrases, thoughts, allowing them to speak deeply to us. And after reading we sit, quietly, reflectively, with the Spirit, avoiding distractions and allowing the Spirit in the text to sink in and to work on our human spirits. Over time that way of reading will bring multiple meanings to the surface and will open us up and enter our hearts and minds in deep places that a Bible class reading of Scripture will seldom find. Lectio divina — dwelling in the word — is simply listening to God tell us about Scripture rather than us telling him about Scripture. As I spoke about on Sunday, it is counterintuitive.

‘Dwelling in the Word’ is not a replacement or a substitute for our more familiar methods of reading Scripture. To exchange one for the other would be a gross mistake. But used in concert with one another they give us a richer experience of being ‘people of the book’.

Listen. Listen. Listen. Where better to start than Scripture?