The Forgotten Ways

What am I reading? I am posting short synopsis of what I am reading. I will not be critiquing, for that is for you to do after you engage the material for yourself.

The Forgotten Ways: reactivating the missional church
www.theforgottenways.org

Bibliographic Citation
Hirsh, Alan. The Forgotten Ways: reactivating the missional church. Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Brazos Press, 2006.

In Alan Hirsch’s follow-up to The Shaping of Thing to Come he systemically lays out a paradigm shifting pattern for a new way to understand church, or has he contends, an ancient way to understand church. Using a model he defines as Apostolic Genius, combined with a truncated study of both systems theory and chaos theory, he proposes are return to a more fluid organization and missional focus of the church. The six components, each defined in a chapter with both practical application steps and real life illustrations, are:
1. Radical commitment to a Christocentric theology.
2. Focus up intentional and ongoing disciple making.
3. Allowing for organic systems to develop instead of institutional structure.
4. Creating an apostolic environment that allows for gift based leadership to emerge.
5. Commitment to a missional-incarnational impulse where the church and the world intersect and interact
6. Communitas not just community as a gathering but rather community that practices a radical, accountable and dangerous journey of Christian life.
Hirsch contends that church that forms itself by this model becomes “profoundly ‘sneezalbe,’” easy to export and adaptive to the culture where it exists. This form of viral Christianity is the kind that has survived, even spread, in areas like Communist China, where normal practices of faith had to give away to a more organic model.

The Missional Leader

What am I reading? I am posting short synopsis of what I am reading. I will not be critiquing, for that is for you to do after you engage the material for yourself.

The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World

Bibliographic Citation
Roxburgh, Alan J. and Fred Romanuk. The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World. San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2006.

“Missional leadership is the key—but how do we do it?” Roxburgh and Romanuk begin by identifying six critical issues for helping churches transition into a missional mindset. The other five are: most models repackage old paradigms, discontinuous change is the new norm, congregations still matter, leaders need new capacities and frameworks, and that a congregation is a unique organization. They go on to address organizational behavior and characteristics, helping the leader/pastor embrace the instability of change and the uncertainty that comes with a cultural shift. With the explanation of “The Missional Change Model” the authors explore the “how tos” of the transition. The steps are: awareness, understanding, evaluate, experiment, commitment. Each step builds upon the previous to systematically and skillfully effect change within a congregation. Not only focusing upon the congregation, Roxburgh and Romanuk are careful to also focus upon the internal fortitude and characteristics of the leader who will implement missional change. They discuss personal maturity which includes “being present to oneself and others,” “being authentic,” and “being self-aware.” Additionally they take on the issue of “personal courage” as a determining factor since change always involves stress, conflict and difficulty. Lastly they answer the question that began the conversation, “how do we do it?” With a careful exposition of how to embrace and become a missional leader they provide tools and methodology for personal growth and development.

Emerging Churches

What am I reading? I am posting short synopsis of what I am reading. I will not be critiquing, for that is for you to do after you engage the material for yourself.

Emerging Churches: creating Christian community in postmodern cultures

Bibliographic Citation
Gibbs, Eddie and Ryan K. Bolger. Emerging Churches: creating Christian community in postmodern cultures. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2005.

The culture is changing. According to authors Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger, there are six essential cultural changes that are causing the marginalization of the church:
1. Shift from modernity to post-modernity.
2. Shift from westernization to globalization.
3. Communication revoloution featuring a shift from print media to electronic media/cyber communication.
4. Economic revolution with a shift from industrialization to an information based economy.
5. Breakthroughs in health and biology creating a myriad of ethical dilemmas.
6. The convergence of science and religion.
With the onset of Generation X & Y’s “emancipation of self” they are coming of age and realize that the like Jesus, “Jesus is not the problem. It is the church they dislike, because they do not readily see the church living out his [Jesus] teachings.” They go on to observe that, “In postmodern cultures of the twenty-first century, a linear or text-based ecclesiology perpetuates secularity in the church and denies the church’s call to live incarnationally.” The ecclesial shifts that will facilitate the church living incarnationally include a shift from systematic to non-linear methodology, from elitist cultural disconnect to engagement with visual culture, an embracing of both transcendence and immanence of God, and an intentional incarnational engagement with the wider culture. Lastly, the creation of Christian community in postmodern cultures requires six practices (each with a featured chapter): welcoming the stranger, serving with generosity, participating as producers, creating as created beings, leading as a body and taking part in spiritual activities.

Unanticipated Consequences

I received word today that another annual conference is divesting from conference level youth ministry. They insist that the congregations will pick up the slack and that if it is a priority for local churches they will do what needs to be done. I have three primary concerns with such a divestiture. First, we are essentially “cashing in” our long term investments for short term savings. Secondly, we are living out one of the primary complaints I hear from young adults, a contradiction of spoken and lived values. Finally, we are saying to the next generation, you are not nearly as important as we were when we were your age. These are dangerous, and I believe eventually disastrous precedents to set that are sowing the seeds of an eventual demise of my beloved United Methodist Church.

When I was younger I began investing in my retirement plan. There are times when I could have really used those extra resources to help feed my family, pay tuition or just make ends meet but I still had it withdrawn from my income and place securely in long-term investments. It has been tempting to move my retirement to shorter term, potentially higher yielding investments but since I am for the long hall (another 25+ years I hope) it is wiser to ride out the trends and fluctuations in the markets.

In the United Methodist Church I am consistently seeing staff person after staff person in every level of the Church get the word that their position in youth and young adult ministry is being merged, refocused or simply eliminated. I have just seen an interesting graph by Craig Miller that shows that in the age group 40-69 we are approximately even with the US population but with those 18-39 we are well behind the population trends. I grew up with well staffed, well funded youth ministry (I’m 43) that will soon be a thing of the past. We have yielded to the “day trading” nature of our culture wanting microwave results. We are abandoning the long-term investment that is youth and young adult ministry and using the funds to prop up ailing programs, support special initiatives and finance the “flavor of the month” programs that we hope will fill our churches and our offering plates. What will this divestment yield? In twenty years, if trends continue, our churches will be coffee shops and pubs like they are in England and Australia. Perhaps those institutions will invest for the long-term.

Secondly, we are living out a contradiction of spoken and lived values. Every decision is a theological decision. Our words are filled with admonitions about the importance of youth and young adults. Our actions are saying that what is really important is the maintenance of the institution. We clamor to establish an Division of Ministry with Young People but do not fund it adequately to make a significant impact. We support vocal resolutions and cut positions. We turn youth ministry into a revenue stream rather than a place for investment in the future.

If there is one thing that young adults abhor, it is inconsistency between spoke and lived values. I have written about this before, but this blatant disregard is almost unfathomable. If we want to insure that the youth of today will not be United Methodist, then lets eliminate United Methodist centered youth ministry.

Now to respond to the argument that the “churches will fill in the gap if it is valuable to them.” This is absurd. Churches tend to follow the leadership of the Conference. If the bishop says its important, then it is important. The old adage still stands, “what gets measured, gets done.” The opposite is also true, what gets ignored gets eliminated. While it is true that some churches, especially those that are large and well-funded will continue to do significant ministry with you and young adults, most of our United Methodist Churches are not large or well-funded. Most struggle to pay their pastor, keep the lights on and do vital ministry in their community. Their youth leaders are part-time or volunteers who have a heart for ministry but maybe not the training and resources needed. Conference level youth and young adult ministry provides events that encourage young people and shows them that there are other faithful followers of Christ in the UMC connections. Conference ministry provides training that is affordable and accessible to those with heart that need help. Let us not fall victim to claiming that ministry with young people is important to us in one breath and eliminating it in another.

Lastly, and perhaps hardest for me understand, is why the Boomers who are making these decisions can do so when they grew up in the age of explosive youth ministry? They are essentially saying to they youth and young adults of today that they are unimportant and that other “missional priorities take precedent” to them. These men and women who grew up around camp fires de-fund camp ministry. Those who answered their call to ministry in a Wesley Foundation gathering or college chapel are advocating eliminating the line items that fund campus ministry and telling the directors to find “alternative revenue streams.” Those who gathered crossed arms with their friends and prayed the prayer of dismissal are now performing the benediction on youth and young adult ministry by draining its funding and eliminating those who would speak boldly and work tirelessly to reach the next generation.

What shall we do? I have a few suggestions (for those of you who read me often you not be surprised)…
1) Challenged your annual conference to expand your youth and young adult ministry, especially those events and training that will benefit small and mid-sized churches.
2) Support your staff person who works in these areas with your prayers, your presences as a volunteer, even if its just to stuff envelopes and make nametags, and your gifts. Provide funds directly to sponsor youth who may not be able to afford to attend events.
3) Send your United Methodist youth to United Methodist camps, youth events and activities. Help them begin to realized the power of the connections and buy into to being a part of our Church for the long-term.
4) Advocate with General Conference, Jurisdictional Conference and Annual Conference members and delegates to support youth and young adult ministry with connectional funding. After working in the connection for several years I have come to realize that there is money for whatever is deemed “vital and urgent.” If this need, that goes to the very existence of our denomination, is not “vital and urgent” then I do not know what is!

I am employed at the offices of the Southeastern Jurisdiction and am not even sure that at the end of July when our Jurisdictional Conference meets if I will have a job, but that is not why I advocate for youth and young adults. I advocate because I was a youth from a broken home that was sent by my church to camp and there, beside the popping of a roaring fire, got on my knees and bowed my head and received Christ as my Savior. I was the kid in who discovered my identity in Christ at my weekly youth group lead by good-hearted volunteers and made life changing decisions and youth events. I am the adult worker who has seen my children mature because they spend a week with other United Methodist youth getting to know Christ and each other building relationships that will last for eternity. I will, with my last breath, call for our church to reach the emerging generation no matter where they are or who they are because another generation did the same for me. I remain:

Consumed by the Call,
Marty
Gracious God, who seeks the least, the last and the lost to lead the Kingdom of God, let the voice of Your Church cry out in unison to change the world, one young person at a time. Amen

Indigenous Jesus:
What An Emerging Community
Looks Like

What would a truly indigenous community look like? If I were to list a few essential components they would be:

1. The Arts! This is a generation of expression. Art speaks to the heart of who they are. One of this generation’s artistic heroes is Banksy, a mysterious graffiti artist from London. http://www.banksy.co.uk/. His art is more than images; it is filled with meaning, metaphor and messages that connect with the people that encounter it. Our modernist culture has reduced art to entertainment when it is so much more. Art is a prophetic expression of life. It is commentary and criticism with a paintbrush or on stage. Art is a spiritual encounter with reality.
When I do this type of worship I invite local artists, Christian and pre-Christian, to express the theme in visual arts (painting, sculpture, etc) or dramatic arts as part of the worship service. Rather than trying to copy the culture, real art creates culture. So much of “Christian art” is simply a sanctified copy of what secular artists are doing. We do not need to be afraid of letting the art speak for itself rather than trying to interpret it. An emerging community of Christ followers would be filled with art that caused people to pause and struggle with life, purpose and passion and invite them to see Christ in the struggle.

2. Mystery! So do you want the red pill or the blue pill (if you don't get that, watch The Matrix). This generation believes that the real world is hidden from them and they are willing to embrace the divine mystery far beyond their pragmatic Boomer parents. They know that everything can't be explained by the scientific method and they crave the sacramental embrace of the Savior. They do not shrink from the unexplainable. They know that the four simple rules of life do not come anywhere close to explaining the complexities of existing in the twenty-first century.
Worship that embraces mystery includes both powerful, sensory filled music and times of silence. It values the proclamation of the scripture, but allows times for lectio divina, the simple reading and hearing of the text without anything added or taken away. The emerging community will gather around the table of God to receive the sacrament, knowing that what happens in them and to them is beyond simplistic explanation. An emerging community of Christ followers would embrace and live with mystery.

3. Conversation! Conversation (blogs, discussion boards, coffee houses) are the heartbeat of spiritual discovery for this generation. Venues allowing them to receive solid teaching and then interact with it as to how they embody the gospel are essential. This is a generation unafraid of the deep teachings of scripture. They want to wrestle with the difficult texts and discover the deeper truths. They crave to live in a community where life can be lived together. They want to discuss their discoveries, hear the stories that mold other Christ followers, and find their points of intersection and points of contradiction. An emerging community of Christ would be open to engage in conversations of life, love and the difficulties of life.

4 Ritual! This generation craves to tap into something ancient with roots. Their lives are filled with disposable philosophies and short-term realities. They seek a deeper life and desire the experience of something that has lasted through the ages. There is even a kind of resurgence of postmodern monasticism (ie. Shane Claiborne) that has sprung up and become very popular. This is a generation that is ready to fully embrace ancient rituals if it they are well explained and clearly taught. An emerging community of Christ followers would embrace ritual as part of their ongoing spiritual journey.

5. Mission! This generation would rather make a difference than make a dollar. They throw themselves into their commitments with abandon. They want to change the world, they want to feed children with AIDS in Africa, find racial reconciliation in their communities and solve the problem of poverty. They are moving into marginal neighborhoods and staking a claim for justice. An emerging community of Christ followers would find ways to change their community and the world with their resources, time and talents.

In my dream world, were I to be given another chance to plant another church (my last one was cool, hip, emerging and not financially viable...lol) I would consider a private/public partnership by starting a fair trade (social justice) coffee house that hosts artists and Christian conversation and also hosted worship every Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The coffee shop could cover operating expenses and the congregation would be free to pour their resources, time and talents into mission. See http://www.cravestl.org/ as an example.

Emerging Worship: A Meandering Email

So, I have gotten lots of response from my article, "Why We Are Losing Ground..." One of the emails I received was from a pastor who is committed to reaching this generation and asked for my thoughts. Below you will find the email I sent him. I hope it helps you think about things in a whole new way as well. If nothing else, there is a great reading list at the bottom!

Jim,

The good news that you realize you don't know everything. The biggest obstacle I run into is the "it worked before" syndrome of successful pastors. The willingness to engage in a completely new visioning process is a healthy place to be.

Secondly, if you have "googled" me you realize my strong evangelical commitments. I hope you don't think I was advocating abandoning Scripture an any form. I am a strong Wesleyan believing in the primacy of Scripture. But I also am committed to social action, for as Wesley observed, you can't hear gospel if your stomach is growling (that the Marty version of course).

I might suggest you gather those committed young adults and spend 6 weeks working through the Catalyst Groupzine on Culture (http://www.catalystspace.com/resources/groupzines.aspx). It has some serious discussion and reflection questions. You might also visit Mars Hill Church (Rob Bell) or Imageo Dei Church in Seattle to see how some pastors are connecting with their indigenous young adults.

In my dream world, were I to be given another chance to plant another church (my last one was cool, hip, emerging and not financially viable...lol) I would consider a private/public partnership by starting a fair trade (social justice) coffee house that hosts artists and Christian conversation and also hosted worship every Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The coffee shop could cover operating expenses and the congregation would be free to pour their time and talents into mission.

These are the meanderings of a would be post-modern prophet with a heart for evangelism and mission. I hope I answered some of your questions. I included a reading list below that will be far more helpful that my above comments. I'd be happy to come and help you engage a visioning process if you like. Until we meet, I remain:


Consumed by the Call,

Reverend Marty J. Cauley, Director

Some suggested reading:

Kimbrall, Dan. Emerging Worship

Kimbrall, Dan. They Love Jesus but Don't Like the Church

Cunningham, Sarah. Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation

Kinnaman, David and Gabe Lyons. UnChristian.

Frost, Michael and Alan Hirsch. The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century.
Hendrickson, 2003.

Gruder, Darell L. The Continuing Conversion of the Church. Eerdmans, 2000.

Hirsch, Alan. The ForgottenWays: Reactivating the Missional Church. Brazos Press, 2006.

Roxburgh, Alan J. and Fred Romanuk. The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World.
Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Setzer, Ed. Planting Missional Churches. B&H Publishing Group, 2006.