We have been going through a video series Alan Hirsch did mirroring a book he wrote called “The Forgotten Ways.” In the book, Alan tells us how we can reactivate the church back to its mission and be a movement that continues to change the world. He states that there are certain components that need to be in place to have a movement. He calls it mDNA.
The last piece of the Structure of a Gospel Movement is Communitas. This is different from just community. Wikipedia defines Communitas as "a Latin noun commonly referring either to an unstructured community in which people are equal, or to the very spirit of community. It also has special significance as a loanword in cultural anthropology and the social sciences. Communitas is an intense community spirit, the feeling of great social equality, solidarity, and togetherness. Communitas is characteristic of people experiencing liminality together."
Here is how Alan explains it:
[vimeo_video height="300" autoplay="no"]http://vimeo.com/15969311[/vimeo_video]
When we first started Vineyard South Loop. We had tons of people interested in being part of it. At the time, we felt we were doing all the right things. We invited people in. Our small groups grew. People came and went. We felt a community was forming and it was. Then, things started to get difficult. Eventually, the difficult circumstances led to a meltdown. My thoughts in hindsight was that there was a safe community but no real risk or ordeal happened to bind everyone together. Then, when the meltdown happened, hardly anyone had each others' backs. It has been a few years since and Amanda and I have grown as leaders but it has been a challenge. Many people have left because they like the safety and security that a regular church may bring. They have realized that we are forming something diffrent. The people who are a part of our team now see how ministry is happening along the way. They just like us have grown through the challenges. It has been difficult but it has been worth it.
My Questions are: What ordeal or task are you doing with others? Who are your comrades? How do you create a culture of communitas not just community?
We have been going through a video series Alan Hirsch did mirroring a book he wrote called “The Forgotten Ways” In the book, Alan tells us how we can reactivate the church back to its mission and be a movement that continues to change the world. He states that there are certain components that need to be in place to have a movement. He calls it mDNA.
The 5th component of viral Jesus movement is Organic systems or the organizational structure of a movement.
Check out what Alan has to say.
[vimeo_video height="300" autoplay="no"]http://vimeo.com/14271534[/vimeo_video]
From studying different movements I have heard the life or death of a movement is if they become institutional or not. I think there are pros and cons on both sides. The idea that Alan Hirsch shares here gives me much hope. It helps me to know that it all doesn't depend on me. My job is to just pay it forward and begin with the end in mind.
Many people I respect and hold up highly try and put us in a box asking if we are church planters or what kind of church we are planting. I come away from the conversations a bit perplexed because I want to see people come to know Jesus, come to look like Jesus and come to teach others the way. I have had pastors come to me and say thanks for pastoring my people.
Planting a church is sometimes more challenging with church people. One group goes to this cooler church and the other group does not like the worship at another church and we are left with a bunch of churches in competition for members so we can keep the system going. Then, people leave if you challenge them on an issue.
Anyway my thoughts more recently are that I am not called to plant a church, I am called to make disciples. To help people regardless of "where" they go to church or even if they go to church . My job is to help them to be better disciples and to then go make disciples themselves. They could go to a church down the street but if God has given me influence into their lives then I should follow his lead. My hope is to see a movement of people in all different churches looking like Jesus and acting like Jesus. My end in mind is to see Chicago look more and more like the Kingdom of God. I would love to hear your thoughts.
How do we as a church become more united working together instead of having church brands? How do we encourage our churches down the street? How do we pay it forward?
We have been going through a video series Alan Hirsch did mirroring a book he wrote called “The Forgotten Ways” In the book, Alan tells us how we can reactivate the church back to its mission and be a movement that continues to change the world. He states that there are certain components that need to be in place to have a movement. He calls it mDNA.
Today we are going to talk about the 4th piece and possibly one of the most controversial: Apostolic Environment.
Check out what Alan has to say about it.
[vimeo_video height="300" autoplay="no"]http://vimeo.com/15476015[/vimeo_video]
I was recently listening to a guy(Ed Stetzer) who is well known for studying the missional church and church planting. Check out his website at www.edstetzer.com He was interviewing a guy who works for Barna Research and wrote "God is Alive and Well." His name is Frank Newport. I am not going to get into all the conversation. But I wanted to set a context for where I am going. The conversation was about the statistic that there is a rise in the "nones" For a minute I thought because of the new pope that something happened I didn't know about and more women were becoming nuns. I learned a few minutes into it that was not what they were discussing.
The "nones" are those who do not claim any religion or faith. They may have grown up Christian or Buddist or Muslim but now claim "none" as their religious category on a survey or census.
During the dialogue I was thinking to myself, "Are the nones apathetic towards God?" So I asked them in the forum this question and Ed Stetzer's answer to me was profound.
He said he believes it isn't so much apathy but honesty. In the past to not be a Christian you would be looked at weird. Now that is not the case. People have the chance to be more honest about their feelings about religion, among other things. That leads me to my point.
What do we do about that? The world is changing and fast. How do we live as Christians in this environment? The ways we're doing church are not having the results we or God rather want them. What are we doing? What are we going to do?
I believe we have to create environments to allow people to speak their mind and be honest and to show the love of God in ways that may not be in the form of an alter call or Sunday service. I believe He is calling some of us back to re-imagine church but not forgetting the things that our Pastors and Teachers have taught us. Your thoughts?
We have been going through a video series Alan Hirsch did mirroring a book he wrote called “The Forgotten Ways” In the book, Alan tells us how we can reactivate the church back to its mission and be a movement that continues to change the world. He states that there are certain components that need to be in place to have a movement. He calls it mDNA.
Today we are going to focus on Missional Incarnational Impulse.
A couple weeks ago my wife and I were invited to share in a college classroom about what we are doing. This was not a Christian school. Actually I think most of the students were not followers of Jesus. Surprisingly, the idea that Alan shares in this next video came up. Check it out to get the context.
[vimeo_video height="300" autoplay="no"]http://vimeo.com/15475634[/vimeo_video]
Before we get back to the story in the classroom, I want to share some of our story and what I think God may be doing. As we have been starting both a coffee shop and a church the big questions often asked are: How big is your church? When are you opening the next shop? Both of these are questions about getting wider or scaling up. Just to be clear I love growing. I love seeing things get larger and more people connecting to God.
But often I wonder about another question: How deep are we both as a culture and as individuals?
Alan Hirsch shared that as we Go Deep then we will go Wide. Its an impulse thing.
Now, back to the classroom. We were sharing in a Social Enterprise class. The prof (probably not a Christian) wanted to share how our culture is a wide/up culture that we try and make impact without depth. He shared how maybe we should create roots in an environment and do a few things well and as we do that we can get wider. An example he used was Inspiration Café.
This set us up really well to share. As we have been starting a church and a coffee shop we have been focused on going deep. Building deep relationships with people and the community through a third place. We have been establishing trust and favor along the way.
I wonder if maybe going deep over a longer period of time will help us go wider.
What are your measurements for depth? How do you balance between the two growing deep and growing wider? Your Thoughts?
Two weeks ago we shared a video featuring Alan Hirsch on the components of a movement. The components of a missional movement can be described best in this diagram.
Last week we went into greater detail on the centerpiece, “Jesus is Lord.” This sentence is a powerful statement. It is a worldview in 3 words.
Now we come to the next biggie: Discipleship! Here is Alan’s video about discipleship.
[vimeo_video height="300" autoplay="no"]http://vimeo.com/15475814[/vimeo_video]
He said “Consumerism is the alternative religion of our day” and “If we don’t disciple, culture and media will and they are doing a great job at it.” Do you agree?
Also, Alan says the methods used to create consumers are marketing and media. The question that we have been discussing is this: If we want to make disciples of Jesus (and not people just consuming one religious or spiritual high after another), what are the best methods? We guess they probably are not the same methods for creating consumers - marketing and media. The best answer we have found so far for our context is a discipleship huddle. You can read about it on our huddle page.
What are your thoughts? How are real disciples created? How do we get a different result? How do we avoid building a church on consumerism and pursue creating a group of people willing to pay the price (as Jesus put it, die)?
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus in America? As we have been planting a church here in the city we have asked ourselves that question many times. The challenge is that we want people to come to our service or our event and they often want a tame Jesus and make him a not so dangerous Jesus. Amanda and I have caught ourselves catering to that desire of the people we want to join us. As we are pursuing God here in the South Loop I want us to have the centerpiece right. That we know "Jesus is Lord" That it shows in our lives and it is sneezed out to the people around us. That they in turn are inspired to grow. Jesus gets the rights to define what that looks like, not me or the people that are a part of our community. Your Thoughts? [vimeo_video height="300" autoplay="no"]http://vimeo.com/15475326[/vimeo_video]
