What is a 'Missional Community?'

After preaching on A New Vision of Community (October 23, '05) I came across this excellent article that goes into greater depth on the meaning of "Missional Community".


So what is a missional community? How is it different from church as we know it in modern Evangelicalism? Probably the best place to begin is with a general definition. A missional community is a group of Jesus’ apprentices who so trust his brilliance and mastery of life, that they learn from him how to be like him for the sake of the world. Through this apprentice/master relationship, the community journeys together to become the fullness of God and thereby become a finite earthly expression of the infinite Tri-Community just as Jesus was in his earthly life. A missional community is about becoming by grace what Christ is by nature. As the community experiences this, wherever the community members live their daily lives, they are learning how to easily, naturally, and routinely embody, demonstrate and announce God’s life and reign for the sake of the world around them.
to read the whole article, click here.

9-11-05 Reading the Book of ACTS with Bi-focals

Our first week in the book of Acts. We want to understand the context of Luke's volume 2.
This entry will provide further background and resources to get the most out of reading Acts today. The sermon can be downloaded at the Christ Church site, linked here.

What do we mean by 'Emerging Church?'

The links here and this article by Marcia Ford provide some needed background and description. http://explorefaith.org/ford/emerging.html
A review of Brian McLaren' book, A New Kind of Christian, is an excellent introduction to the Postmodern turn, another term for Emerging Culture. Read it at http://www.ctlibrary.com/8630

I would add my own description based on what we've seen God do here at Christ Church. I summarize it this way....

Understanding the Emerging (Postmodern) Culture and being willing to adjust methods to advance the Kingdom, not building "bridges to nowhere."

A Christ-centered, ‘Generous Orthodoxy’ that keeps Jesus the ‘main thing;’ unity among differences of style and smaller doctrinal distinctives.

Cross Pollination of Spiritual Practices from many traditions that help us experience God with greater intimacy, often re-discovering the ancient roots of our faith.

Missional Communities- A balanced thoughtful commitment to compassion and social action. The Kingdom of God is not just about the future, it’s about NOW. We must lovingly approach our culture as a wise missionary would, actively making a difference.

Embodied proof in our proclaiming the Good News. A humble witness approach to outreach, Centered on the Great Commandment of loving God and neighbor that Jesus called His disciples to obey.

Transformation not just of the Head but seeing it lived out through the Heart and Hands
Not just right doctrine but right practice; “not just creeds, but deeds.”

Incarnational Communication - methods rooted in Jesus’ incarnation; Image along with Word, entering the scripture text and encountering God; story-telling and narrative preaching styles; renewed focus on the sacraments, the arts, with all the senses in use.

“Safe-place”, Journey environment for change – not just new programs or one time change. Grace and repentance are not one time experiences.

It “is calling the church back to what the church has always been called to be – a multi-generational, multi-cultural, open, orthodox and culturally engaged body of believers. This is what the church will need to be in order to speak to the postmodern culture with any legitimacy.” ( Dieter Zander, Re-Generation Quarterly 5, no. 3. p. 19)

Welcome!

This site will have a primary purpose of helping us understand the "emerging culture" and the ways of being the church that God is calling us to be. At Christ Church, here in Rhode Island, we're beginning a series of teachings and small group community discussions around the New Testament book of Acts.
We'll post background material and links to the teachings that will hopefully aid in the journey. So welcome to the discussion!