... . Enter and re-tell the culture's stories with the gospel: Missional churches enter into their culture by showing sympathy toward ... of common grace and the image of God in all humanity; missional churches are able to re-tell their cultures stories in light of the biblical ... culture through a theology of work; and to become culture-makers; missional churches encourage people to demonstrate love ...

... I will post some further commentary for explanation and interaction. Event-Driven Missional Church: I am not saying events are bad, but that event-driven churches miss the mark of ... impact through gospel witness. Events aren’t bad, but when we mistake event for missional church we get off track. People will see it as just another program, which it is, unless we explain to them that mission ...

... relationship to theological education, I have been thinking more and more about how we are equipping leaders to lead truly missional communities. Though it’s in no way a brand new topic of interest to me, I want to unpack, in a ... next 20 years - let alone having the kind of impact they should be capable of as we engage in this missional adventure. In an interview I shot with Eddie Gibbs a couple ...

... during the past few years. Now there are gatherings (conferences) that revolve around how we can be more missional. (Several local and regional gatherings have already happened, though I haven’t been ... the Verge in Austin, those who will host online conversations around becoming & being missional communities, both before and during the Verge conference. Start those conversations via blog, ...

... that I'd been refining (some would say "mired in") for some time. Anyway, although I know that for the missional crowd it's not about "going to church," I recently switched churches and now go to one that clearly wants to embody the missional outlook. Is it all just talk? Is it really just a superficial "new thing" that will soon ...

... recent blog post Ed Stetzer asks, “Why are so many missional Christians uninvolved in God’s global mission? As ... In my admittedly limited experience, I’ve found missional churches in the UK very involved in global mission. I ... often perceived (rightly or wrongly) to be entrenched, disengaged, formal. So missional church in the US is largely a response to its ecclesial context. It&# ...

... as biblical pastor as possible, therefore, I examine exhaustively. Before the last week or so I have only known missional living intellectually. I could talk a long time ... hope to help change that. 3) To take God at his word. Yes, this is missional living. If we actually take him at his word our lives will look radically different. They will look like we believe he can and will actually save ...

... to provide a bit of annotation, something to describe, briefly, how each of these COULD function as a Methodist missional group even if it currently doesn't fulfill that potential. I'll also note in each ... unit) that there is very real potential (and indeed, there has been extraordinary fruit over time!) for these to be missional "class meetings" for women. Their mission is all ...

... Fitch calls Fort Wayne the “Missional Mecca of the Midwest,” which is really catchy, and also happens to be true. ... stuff, and those who are wanting to dive into it more. So it’s the Third Annual Missional Learning Commons – A Non-Conference. We call ... Eucharist/worship and communal economics shape us into missional people and further God’s mission in our local communities ...

... Fort Wayne, Indiana again. This is a nice time for missional pastors/leaders/church planters to gather ... Fitch is once again trying to push Fort Wayne as the "missional mecca of the midwest." It's called ... found it very worthwhile. Unfortunately I won't be able to be there this year. I will be involved in a Missional Leadership Initiative with Reggie McNeal the very same weekend ...

... in many cases. Pastors, churches, and even seminaries have been bold to proclaim themselves “missional.” The problem is that it is a frustratingly slippery word. Brian MacLaren defines it ... . After some opening observations Stetzer then asks some questions: All this provokes me to ask, “Why are so many missional Christians uninvolved in God’s global mission?” As the ...

God is “missional” because he sends and is sent.  The Father sends the Son.  The Father and Son send ... church.  But does this mean that “sentness” or “missional” is an attribute in the nature of God? I’ ... justice, and goodness can all be traced to him pre-creation.  Missional cannot. But neither can mercy or wrath be displayed or exercised until creation ...

... have a simple process that moves people from the warehouse to the street. These churches are simple and missional. They are simply missional. We are often asked if there is a relationship between our two books, Breaking the Missional Code and Simple Church. Is there a relationship between a church being missional and a church being simple? Read Full Story »

This year has been an interesting year for me in my thinking about 'missional motherhood'. There have been many exciting things that have happened as well as some heartbreaks - ... detail here! But what I can share is what I've been learning and being reminded of this year, and through the missional motherhood posts in November. * I'm continually being reminded that this is something ...

Verge is a "Missional Community Conference" in Austin, Texas, Feb 4-6, 2010. They have offered ... Patterson is one of the speakers. And Austin rocks! Related: Small missional communities is a social network that was just started by Ian Adams in the UK. Expect some good resources in the near future including how to start your own small missional community. verge, church planting movements