Garth is a pretty regular reader here and today while I was reading his blog I came across this autobiographical account of what he learnt in his own venture into planting a missional community.

Its a story about the community that was and what may have brought it undone.

I’d say read the whole lot, but here are a few snippets that caught my attention

‘"words, ideas, and passion are nothing without action."

I sometimes think this is why people church hop, they don’t really know why, they just get enough teaching at one place until it gets stale, then there’s nothing new, but if they were shown how to walk in this theory, they might stay and walk in the destiny for which they were born. But alas, they roam for a new teaching, a new learning, a new ear tickle…..pity ….because they were born for more than that.’

‘Why didn’t it continue?
It had no ‘follow through’. It became theoretical. Just the way our modernist heritage liked it!’

‘My advice to any fledling emergent communities? People have to be prepared to live the learning and not just move onto another ‘teaching’. Look for need, seek to serve. Connect significantly and create community with those outside the church, live in their world too, expand your horizons, know their friends.’

Occasionally I feel myself too ‘action orientated’ but maybe given our heritage of talking lots and doing little it is a necessary quality for a church of our sort.

Actually reflecting on my previous post I reckon this is one of the sparks that has been ignited in me over the years – a desire to see the church actually do the stuff it talks about rather than simpy having more meetings to work it out. This actually gets quite tiring as non action oriented folks can make such activism seem like unspiritual drivenness.

Reality is we need time for reflection and contemplation as well as focused action.