• Archive of "church" Category

    Younger Missional Leaders, the Lausanne Movement, and the Shape/ing of the Church

    April 24, 2012 // 1 Comment »

    A College Memory

    For about a year and a half during and right after college, I got to live in a house w/ a group of guys, most of whom I still consider good friends and interact with regularly. This was one of the most formative (and fun!) times of my life. One memory in particular has come back to my attention recently.

    A few of us were sitting around on the front porch talking and the conversation turned toward the future. One friend commented on how he had had a personal epiphany recently. He said that he realized that he had developed, in no specifically methodical fashion, a vision of the man he would be someday. He went on to offer a litany of characteristics that he believed would accurately describe him when he was, say, 40 or 50 years old. That wasn’t what struck him however. The epiphany sprung forth from the idea that he was not just going to magically wake up and be this person that he imagined at some point, but that he was right then and there, in the present, either moving closer toward or further away from actually becoming the kind of man he envisioned. It’s probably characteristic of college-age students to disassociate who they are from the person they hope to become, but in the midst of an impending graduation, my friend, and through him the rest of us, began to wake up to the reality that there is no such thing as the person we imagine we will be someday, only the person we are actually becoming.

    The Inevitable Changing of the Guard

    This realization has important implications for how we think of our own formation for sure, but it begs the consideration of another reality; namely, that like it our not, in terms of Christian leadership, the younger generation inevitably becomes the older generation. The sad passing of people like John Stott and Chuck Colson bear this out.

    At 33, I feel like this is beginning to be important. I occupy something of a shared liminal space. Whereas I could rattle off a long list of Christian leaders that I and others have looked to for theological guidance over the last 15 years or so, the fact of the matter is, in another 15 years, many of these people will have offered most of what they have to offer and a younger generation of emerging Christian leaders will be looking to (gulp!) my generation for the same sort of theological guidance. Which compels me to ask the question, “What kind of Christian leaders are those of my generation becoming and how will these men and women serve and shape the Church?”

    I was insanely fortunate to have had the opportunity ride my wife’s coattails all the way to South Africa back in the fall of 2010 for the Third Lausanne Congress. I am equally grateful that I will get to participate in the upcoming Consultation for North American Younger Leaders. The Lausanne movement doesn’t need to be seen as THE locus for a quest to discern the future shape of the Church, but I have to agree with Dave Dunbar, the President of Biblical Seminary, when he supposes that perhaps Lausanne, and especially the Cape Town Commitment, hasn’t really received the attention it deserves (it’s a pivotal document for the initiative I’m working with, the Missio Alliance). They seem to have managed to bring a more globally and ecumenically representative tribe of Christians together than any other endeavor, and for the fact alone, I think it’s a worth-while point of reference. I think this brief video of my friend and Lausanne’s International Deputy Director for North America, Tom Lin, gets at some of this.

    From the Experience and Questions of “Wilderness” to the Experience and Questions of “Exile”

    Another friend, Geoff Holsclaw, and I have discussed that while Christian leaders of our generation (those under 35) have benefited greatly from the example and writing of many missional theologians and pastors, our actual experience has been quite different than theirs. They have had to navigate a ton of terrain on the journey from modernity to postmodernity / Christendom to Post-Christendom / denominational stability to denominational irrelevance, leading them to ask certain questions in certain ways with certain expectations and assumptions. By and large, this isn’t a shared experience for those of my generation. For most of us, the destination of our theological mentors has been the beginning point for us, leading us to ask (even if not altogether) different questions in different ways with different expectations and assumptions.

    To generalize, we don’t wonder about the shift of Christianity to the global south, we take it for granted. We don’t feel the same sense of Western (missionary) guilt, because colonialism wasn’t our project. We aren’t all that interested in conversations about restoring Christianity to the center of culture, because, for the most part, we’ve never known it, or, in a more theological sense, we reject it as not befitting the nature of Christian faith anyway. This list could of course be added to and argued with (as it should be). It also obviously wouldn’t resonate with the experience of everyone across the board (what does?!) But, my sense is that it nevertheless outlines some of the generational realities that shape and inform not only the questions we’re asking, but the way in which we ask them and, consequently, the shape the Church will inevitably take as younger leaders begin to take on more and more responsibility.

    I’m curious. Regardless of what generation you happen to find yourself in, what are your thoughts or impressions on the qualities, characteristics, and perspectives of younger Christian leaders and how do you suppose these will influence the future shape of the Church as these leaders shoulder more and more responsibility over the next 30 years or so?

    Posted in christendom, church, conference, culture, evangelicalism, lausanne, leadership, missio alliance, missional, modernity, post-christendom, postmodernity, spiritual formation, theology, western culture, young adults

    Missio Alliance: Discerning the Shape of Theology & Practice for Mission

    April 18, 2012 // 3 Comments »

    This is a very overdue post.

    A Personal Vocational Transition

    At the end of last December I resigned my position at Northern Seminary in order to begin helping direct the efforts of a new theological initiative. The transition was quite seamless as Northern has actually become an early and major sponsor of this new initiative, the Missio Alliance. In this new role I get to work alongside Chris Backert (serving as Ex. Dir. & Regional Dir. for Eastern US), JR Woodward (serving as Regional Dir. for Western US), and Dave Fitch (serving as Regional Dir. for Central US).

    What is the Missio Alliance?

    This initiative has grown out of the Ecclesia Network, a group I’ve been privileged to be a part of for the last 5 years or so. Whereas Ecclesia has become a home and source of support, training, and encouragement for missional churches and church planters, the Missio Alliance has more to do with bringing a broader array of practitioner-theologians, missiologists, pastors and other Christian leaders together for dialogue, training, and the creation of resources. Here’s a fuller description of the origins and aims of the Missio Alliance from the initial web page that we have up…

    As the Church in North America wrestles with the complex realities of an increasingly Post-Christian cultural context, there’s a need to consider afresh what God is doing and calling us to in His Mission. In recent history we have witnessed increasing fragmentation within evangelical Protestantism and sharp denominational decline. Yet even amidst these challenges, we believe there is a unique opportunity to work toward the renewal of the Church for Mission in North America. 

    The Missio Alliance seeks to provide a seeding ground for such renewal. We aim to bring pastors, practitioner-theologians, leaders, and missiologists together from across the spectrum of the North American Church to work for a Kingdom-driven, gospel-centered, biblically grounded theology and ecclesial practice for God’s Mission in North America. We seek to provide a place for theological dialogue, training, and the creation of resources to navigate present and future missional challenges. Grounded in The Capetown Commitment of the Third Lausanne Congress, these endeavors will emerge out of a strong and distinctive theological identity that is rooted in relationships. We will seek to cross cultural and denominational boundaries, creating by the Spirit a gospel dynamic for discerning the challenges of our time. 

    Dave Fitch has talked about the need for something like the Missio Alliance to emerge. As he wrote in this post…

    As I said previously, and as I have said in my new book The End of Evangelicalism?, evangelicalism is at a tipping point. We are cracking. The emergent conversation started by Brian McLaren et. al. has not produced theological leadership (it seems Love Wins is another case of this).  The herds of disenchanted evangelicals are left to either wander or head for the newer coalitions of the Neo-Reformed. Yet as I’ve said here, this isn’t going to take us into Mission. Based in the impulses in both of these movements, we need an alternative place for the work of theology and mission. Without it – it is questionable whether these much needed conversations can place. Without an alternative coalition (that can bring certain parts of these existing factions together into conversation with the Holiness, Anabaptist Missionals), the aftermath of traditional evangelicalism is going to devolve into defensiveness and fail to produce a missional movement. There’s some of us working toward that end (of nurturing an alternative theological coalition). In the meantime, this for me, is the lesson of the Rob Bell fiasco.

    Who’s Involved & How can I Connect?

    At present, we are working toward a launch conference in April of 2013. Among those who have already agreed to be a part of that conference are Dallas Willard, Scot McKnight, Roger Olson, Cherith Fee Nordling, Amos Yong, and Jo Saxton among others.

    If connecting w/ this sort of community sounds of interest to you, feel free to drop your email over here to stay in the loop, or connect w/ us on Twitter or Facebook.

    If you’re out West, we are planning a regional conference on Oct. 19-20 near Los Angeles featuring Alan Hirsch, Dave Fitch, & JR Woodward w/ engagement and responses from 6 local pastors. Stay tuned for more info on that as the date gets closer.

    We’ve already begun to establish working partnerships w/ a handful of denominations, seminaries, and leaders of various networks, but if you represent an institution or organization that might be interested in partnering with something like I’ve described above, please be in touch via: connect [@] missioalliance [dot] org.

    Posted in anabaptist, christendom, church, church planting, conference, Ecclesia Network, evangelicalism, lausanne, missio alliance, missional, Northern Seminary, post-christendom, theological education, theology, western culture

    Ecclesia 2012

    March 22, 2012 // 3 Comments »

    The annual Ecclesia national gathering was held this week down in Chevy Chase, MD. As always, it was not only ministerially helpful, but personally encouraging and just plain fun!

    …Lots of JR’s, Amy & Aubrey got to coma along, some good basketball games, lots of time to enjoy friendships and start some new one, we officially announced the Missio Alliance (site, twitter, facebook – all in development), and a group on younger missional theologians (plus Dave Fitch ;) got together to discuss doing some work together.

    The theme for this year’s conference was: Church as Center of Reconciliation: Living as One Reconciled Family Across Racial, Economic, and Generational Lines by the Power of the Spirit. Leading us into reflection on that theme were Ivy Beckwith, AJ Swoboda, and John P. Perkins, the grandson of Dr. John M. Perkins who was slated to be there, but had to cancel due to health issues. Dave Fitchchimed in with some profound theological thoughts on the subject and then, as is customary, a number of leaders from within the Ecclesia network of churches had opportunity to share out of their own lives and experiences.Perhaps one of the most meaningful times of the conference was when we welcomed 5 new church planters into the community and those Ecclesia pastors who had been walking with them up to that point had the chance to speak words of encouragement and exhortation over them. I can’t speak for everyone else, but the whole thing felt thick with Kingdom significance to me.Toward the end of the conference, Chris Backert initiated a time of reflection. We were asked to consider what part of the conference it seemed like God was most powerfully impressing upon us. Then, we got into groups to pray. We were invited to pray that God would do a work related to whatever it was that was sticking out to us not only in our own lives, but also in the lives of our children. As I thought about it, what came to mind was the way in which issues of reconciliation had come to me later in my journey as a Christian. My prayer for Aubrey was that this wouldn’t be the case for her – that she would never know of a gospel that could be understood as anything other than God’s incarnational mission of reconciliation in the world through Jesus buy the power of the Holy Spirit.This was something that I think will stick with me forever and, I continue to pray, will continue to shape the life and decisions of our family in as many ways as possible.If you’re looking for some additioanl reflection/resources realated to this year’s gathering, check out:

    Zach Hoag | A Sermon

    The Burner Blog | Part 1, Part 2

    If I come across (or remember) others, I’ll come back and add them here. Eventually there should also be some audio up over at ecclesianet.org.

    Posted in church, church planting, conference, Ecclesia Network, God, gospel, missio alliance, missional, reconciliation, theology

    A New Era of Theological Education May Be Dawning

    March 1, 2012 // No Comments »

    OK, that title might be a little over the top, but a guy can hope right?!  Time, as it always does, will tell!

    Last summer I started to talk about a partnership that was brewing between Northern Seminary and 3DM (Part 1, Part 2).

    Well, at long last that partnership has been officialized as Northern now offers a masters emphasis in Discipleship & Mission as well as a DMin in Discipleship and Mission, while 3DM is able to offer those who journey through their Learning Communities as part of a “Scholar Track,” seminary credit for doing so.  You can read Northern’s announcement here and 3DM’s here.

    I think this partnership embodies an important and concrete step toward one way to get at the new models of theological education that I’m convinced we so desperately need.

    While it’s not a full program – the masters emphasis is equivalent to 9, 3 credit-hour courses and the DMin track leaves only 3 additional “core courses” – what is being presented here seeks to make theological education…

    more accessible - through regionally, or ever nationally accessible intensive courses

    more affordable - by bringing the support of churches and ministry organizations more centrally into the mix and allowing students to remain where they live and work

    more integrated - as all learning is structured around its relevance for and application to actual ministry contexts and diverse subject matter (biblical studies, theological reflection, and ministry training) is interwoven amongst all modules as opposed to segmented out into their own courses

    more sustainable - as these options are deigned for those who take a longer-term view to their theological formation

    more formational - as students aren’t just offered content, but are invited into mentoring relationships with content experts who are also ministry practitioners

    more robust - as students root their education in a community of learning as opposed to simply tackling it primarily on an individual basis

    These are the sort of advances and initiatives that those of us who launched thefutureoftheologicaleducation.com and contributed to the production of the video and white paper hosted over on that site get really excited about!

    Of course I hope that this partnership and these program options are fruitful.  But even more, I am anxious for what will be learned as schools like Northern open themselves up to models of theological education that are simply better suited for preparing men and women to serve the Church as reflective practitioners, missionary leaders, and Kingdom citizens.

    Posted in 3DM, christendom, church, discipleship, individualism, kingdom, leadership, missiology, missional, missional theology, Northern Seminary, post-christendom, sustainability, theological education, theology

    We’ve all got a “Girl in the War” (Josh Ritter)

    February 29, 2012 // No Comments »

    Every so often a song, or at least a few lines from a song strike me and I’ll get on a kick of listening to it over and over and over.  Josh Ritter has done this to me a few times, most recently with his 2006 song, Girl in the War.  Josh himself talks about the song here on NPR and here in a performance for the Center for American Progress so I won’t attempt any lengthy exposition on the meaning of the song.  Except to say this…

    This song happens to coincide with a flurry of reading I am doing on the history of the church w/ regard to its missionary posture and involvement in the world.  Most of said history, if not marked by the absence of mission, is marred by sad if not deplorable actions.  This has me remembering, we too, as the Church, have a “girl in the war,” and it’s near impossible for me to think of anything that ought to be more central to our conversation, and engagement.  Sadly, many things distract, preoccupy, and consume our attention, thereby sabotaging our unity and compromising the integrity of our witness.  It seems that perhaps we too could do w/ an imagination in which the “dove from up above is a dragon and our feet are on fire.”

    Lyrics, video, and audio are below…

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

    Peter said to Paul you know all those words we wrote
    Are just the rules of the game and the rules are the first to go
    But now talking to God is Laurel begging Hardy for a gun
    I got a girl in the war man I wonder what it is we done

    Paul said to Peter you got to rock yourself a little harder
    Pretend the dove from above is a dragon and your feet are on fire
    But I got a girl in the war Paul the only thing I know to do
    Is turn up the music and pray that she makes it through

    Because the keys to the Kingdom got locked inside the Kingdom
    And the angels fly around in there but we can’t see them
    I got a girl in the war Paul I know that they can hear me yell
    If they can’t find a way to help her they can go to Hell
    If they can’t find a way to help her they can go to Hell

    Paul said to Peter you got to rock yourself a little harder
    Pretend the dove from above is a dragon and your feet are on fire
    But I got a girl in the war Paul her eyes are like champagne
    They sparkle bubble over and in the morning all you got is rain
    They sparkle bubble over and in the morning all you got is rain
    They sparkle bubble over and in the morning all you got is rain

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

    Posted in church, culture, missiology, music, theology

    A Quick Hop Back Into the World of Student Ministry

    February 14, 2012 // No Comments »

    As a college student at Malone University, I majored in youth ministry.  I did internships as a handful of different kinds of churches, the last of which actually led into a full-time role as a student pastor at a large church, overseeing separate junior, senior high, and college-age ministries.

    When I was a grad student at Fuller Theological Seminary, I continued to serve in the world of high school student ministry as an interim director at yet another kind of church.

    Later, after some time working in a seminary context, I launched into yet another pastoral position at a new church, this time working exclusively with college students and other young adults.

    However, I haven’t really done much in the way of student ministry since the spring of 2009.  So, after nearly a 3-year hiatus, I was excited when my college buddy, Scott, who’s been a long time youth pastor at The Chapel in North Canton, asked me to come back into town and help lead a retreat for his high school student leaders.

    As you might expect, the topic of the retreat was leadership.  There were to be three main sessions over the course of our time together Friday night and through the day on Saturday, plus a final sermon on Sunday morning.

    The theme for Friday night was, “Leadership as Followership: Jesus’ Plan to Destroy Your Life.”  Here, we focused our discussion around Matthew 20:17-28 and reflected on how Jesus’ role as a leader was located not so much in clever skills and abilities, but a central focus on following where and how God was leading him.  We talked about how a relinquishing of our personal ambition and agenda is fundamental to receiving what it is that God might have for us.  I also sought to pass on a discipleship framework for leaning how to get better and better at recognizing where and how God is at work and responding faithfully.

    On Saturday morning our theme was, “Leadership as Discipline: It’s Always Easy… Until You Have To Do It.”  We moved our attention to Matthew 26:36-46 and we spent some time talking about how, contrary to the aberrant Celebrity Culture that seems to mark contemporary Evangelicalism, Jesus-shaped leadership is anything but glamorous.  Rather, a commitment to lead like Jesus did will nearly always take you to a place of utter desperation, disappointment, and dependence upon God.  In terms of discipleship, we focused on what it might mean and look like to structure our lives around practices that intentionally root us in relationship with God, fellow believers, and others who are hurting and/or far from God.

    The final session of the retreat on Saturday afternoon revolved around the notion of, “Leadership as Mission: Death as a Way of Life.”  As we spent time working through Matthew 28:16-20, we discussed what actually drove Jesus as a missionary-leader, namely submission to the unique role he was to play in God’s mission in the world.  We also reflected on Jesus’ commitment to equip and send others as opposed to keeping everything isolated to his direct (human) endeavor.  This led naturally into presenting a process for discipling others toward maturity and mission.

    On Sunday morning, in sharp defiance to the notion the Piperian notion that, “God has designed christianity to have a masculine feel to it,” Amy and I preached the sermon, “Leadership as Partnership: Embodying a New World Order,” as partners who together, as male and female, reflect the imago Dei!  We spoke out of Acts 2 and Ephesians 4, calling attention to the primary role of the Holy Spirit in constituting a body of people who, against all worldly convention, seek to lead one another out of their unique giftedness in partnership for mission.

    Seeing some family and friends was a highlight as always, but man, getting back around high school students for a while was a blast.  I was super-appreciative of just how seriously they took our time together and how much creativity and passion they brought to the discussions.

    Shame on youth pastors (Scott’s not one of them!), who sabotage their opportunity to shape a generation of students because they are so focused on growing a huge, cool youth group.  Double shame on senior/lead pastors who, out of their own insecurity, put that kind of pressure on youth pastors to do it!

    Posted in Amy, church, discipleship, God, Jesus, leadership, preaching/teaching, sermon, travles, young adults, youth ministry

    « Previous Entries