Missional Renaissance: Week 2!

Dear Ones,

I am hoping to put out the weekly blog from me each Tuesday of Lent.  I may put interim posts up too, should our discussion warrant, and other blog items may appear from time to time as well.  For now, I intend to respond, when I respond, in the discussion below. 

So, week two is Chapter 2 and 3.  In these chapters we hear about McNeal's "Missional Manifesto" and

So, here are some questions for this week. 

McNeal talks about the difference in saying "a" church and "the" Church.  What do you think about this?

He quotes George Hunsberger as identifying three distinct notions of Church.  1) "A place where certain things happen" 2) Going to church merely for the rites offered, and then going on about life, and 3) "A body of people sent on mission."  Which one have you most readily experienced and which one would you most want to experience, realizing these are gross over generalizations to begin with.

What about his discussion of the Bible for missional eyes?

Chapter 3 is about the first shift that being from internal to external in focus, from church-centric, to Kingdom-centric, from destination to connector (airport!), from thinking we are the point, to being absolutely the point, from attractional to incarnational (very Anglican, anyone care to comment?), from member culture to missionary culture, from proclamation to demonstration, from institutional to organic, from reaching and assimilating to connecting and deploying, from worship services to service as worship, from congregations to missional communities, from there to here. 

What do you think of his discussion of this shift?

From the first week, I sense the need in some to have this be an always "either/or".  I would remind you that I do not choose books that we would all mostly agree with necessarily, but books who will challenge both our Christianity and our Episcopalian life, perhaps to only affirm, and perhaps to look at ways to change.  There was one comment regarding worship, that McNeal was trying to do away with worship as we know it and saying it all had to happen externally.  You may feel he is, maybe he is, but we don't have to necessarily agree.  I would not, and I don't think he would either.  He would say that our work in the world should be seen as worship and that in fact, we often exclusive by claiming worship only to happen internally.  That is a challenge I am willing to face, without giving up what the internal worship works in us, in order to do the worship he speaks of externally.

Have a good week, be a blessing, and look for them around you.  Thank you for joining the conversation.

+Greg

Comments

[Kathryn Rickert]

I have started a blog, just this week, after much pondering such a thing. It isn't ready yet for others to see, but it soon will be. The name --"Finding God in Public" -- is, I think, what Greg is suggesting in his comments of today. And it's not that God does not show up at Church or with the Church etc...it is more that the reason we do find God in Church is because God is in all of these other aspects of our lives.
Once I have enough for someone to read, I will post the link, (i.e. and that means once I can actually find my own blog!

[Frederick Jessett]

I think that the Missional Church is on to something. The first thing that came into my mind as Kris and I began reading it to each other as our book for Lent, was something said by William Temple, the greatest Archbishop of Canterbury in the 20th Century (to many of us.
This is not an exact quote but it's close. "God is not only, or even chiefly, interested in religion." The natural human reaction to an encounter with the Holy, the Numinous, the Other, is to create a religion. That is shown cleartly in Peter's reaction in the Transfiguration story. "Let us build three dwellings..." That doesn't seem to be the response God was looking for, because God says, "This is my beloved son, listen to him."
I think that means God is looking for a different response, not the usual one. That's where I am as we read on.

[Kevin Johnson]

In regards to you comments about this book being non-convincing to an atheist, as you describe yourself, Gary, I have no doubt that is the case. I do not say this to be a "church smarty," but most Christians believe that it is the Spirit of God from which our leading comes, and it is not just the result of a "good" (or bad) idea. Such thinking, I'm sure, would seem odd to one who did not believe that there was a Higher Power present from whom such leading would be given. It's nonsense, and just one reason why we love our faith.

I believe that you will find many Episcopalians uncomfortable with some of the details, but not the underlining premise of McNeal's book. People who follow "The Way", or "Jesus Followers", McNeal's preferred handle, are not to be about themselves, but about others, thus the emphasis on outside of the church versus the "inside." I sense that you understand this to be "proselytizing", but I do not believe that this is McNeal's intent. His argument would seem to be for "Hey World, what can we do for you?" as opposed to the traditional "Hey, lucky World, we're here to save you!" I'll get back to the "blessing" thought that McNeal raises.

I have a mixed reaction to the book thus far. As I've stated before, I grew up in Evangelical Land, in church settings where the focus was inward for the purposes of creating Christian Community, and outward was about "soul winning." Full stop. Community efforts as McNeal is describing would have been considered "liberal social gospel." However, my father was never big on "soul winning," but was much more, as McNeal describes, being about "blessing" others. He and my mother operated a "mom and pop" dental clinic that Dad saw as his "ministry," but not for the purposes of proselytizing, but rather, if we (The whole family participated at one time or another in the practice.) were in Christ, then what did a dental practice look like being in Christ. Thus, this concept is far from foreign to me. (As an aside, as a teen, I was a bit disappointed that Dad was not more aggressive about the financial side of his practice, as I was aware of his dental peers who had much greater financial "success." Ironically, at mid-age, I realize that I have implemented the exact same "ministry" philosophy in the running of my private practice, and speech and language clinic.).

Though still relatively new to the Land Episcopal (Four years, come Palm Sunday.), it has been my experience that the "outward" focus is an Episcopalian "default" setting. As St. Mark's, this focus seems to be "organic" in that service to the community seems to be both from top-down, and down-top. Ironically, St. Mark's is also a place where the "inward" is "outward" in that the Seattle community, IMHO, assumes upon it to meet a spiritual need (See significant cultural phenomenon number 3), and the giftedness and God-breathed desire to do so is there, I believe, providentially.

I am in agreement with McNeal's thought regarding "blessing" those around us, but perhaps because of my Evangelical background, not wild about the idea of telling others that's what we're doing, which immediately brings attention to ourselves. I much prefer the strategy attributed to St. Francis -- "Teach the Gospel; Use words if necessary." In this day and age, this is evangelism. There was a day when "proselytizing" necessitated quoting many Bible verses in order to prove the truth of what one was "sharing" and convince the "lost" of their "lostness." Well, in a society where the Bible is suspect, that is a self-defeating methodology, and entirely misses the point. Love God, love others, and see who joins the dance.

[John Leech]

1) What would it mean, for each of us, to see our congregations as God's people called to mission in this place at this time?

2) How can leaders help their congregations to take delight in fellowship and faith?

An infectious faith, a joyous faith, will be winsome and welcoming to the people around us.

One reason we are studying the Baptismal Covenant this Lent in my parish is to prepare for the renewal of Baptismal vows at Easter; another is to remind ourselves of what our mission is....

Here from last fall's address to diocesan convention, is Bishop Greg's clarification of our mission:

"I believe our mission — cogent, clear, life-changing — is our Baptismal Covenant, found on page 304 of the Book of Common Prayer. Were we to follow it to its end, the world would be totally transformed. It gives us a lot to do and a lot to be."

http://www.ecww.org

[margie]

This is all about putting Christ's love into action. It is what we proclaim through our concluding prayer each Sunday. We have accepted the Body and Blood of Christ to give us strength and courage to do this hard work. This is not easy. It does take courage and it does take strength. We are people living in a world run by our pocketbooks. It is so much easier to write a check than to roll up our sleeves and volunteer in our communities. McNeal is on to something here, but there is nothing like participating in Episcopal worship with a full congregation and a lovely choir. I have heard that Episcopalians fear the "E" word. Evangelization won't work if we are uncomfortable with the outcome. Being generous in our neighborhoods is another way to look at the "E" word. Isn't it? Also, I do like the idea of the airport - church as a place of connection. But it can be a place of destination for those who just can't be missional (such as shut-ins). Don't you think?
We are sent. But we must take care where we go. No politics, public schools, etc.
And What does the missional concept imply about our sacraments? Just a thought that I would like to delve into.

[margie]

Kathryn, I do like your idea about the blog on finding God in public. I am in graduate school in NYC and last night I got on the subway in the Bronx and noticed a Muslim women totally in black robes except for her eyes. I often see Muslim women but not quite as covered. One stop later an older man sat across from her. He was wearing a yarmulke on his head. That's finding God in public, wouldn't you say?!

[Greg Rickel]

Margie, I like your question, "What does the missional concept imply about our sacraments? I don't know that it implies anything, but it would be good for us to consider it. Of course, there are many sacraments, but the Church chose a few to basically watch over, steward, focus on. I may be missing your point but I don't think the missional approach does anything detrimental to our sacraments, but instead adds to their meaning. But, this will be a question to take forward! What do others lurking out there think?

Greg