Ouch.

For all those who feel like they are walking in the dark with mission this is a reminder that shunting people into our ‘light’ is not necessarily the best thing at all.

This Friday I am taking a class in church planting at our West Oz Baptist Theological College. Its part of a church health/church growth course.

I’d like to begin with 3 questions:

1. What is the gospel?
2. What is conversion and how does it occur?
3. What is the/church?

We’ll see where it goes from there. If these students are anything like I was then they will think they know the answers…

Once we get into it a little they might think again.

I’m not trying to be a smartarse (like I’d need to try…), but rather trying to rock the equilibrium a little now, so that they are better prepared for what they encounter in a missional context.

These questions took on new answers as I exited the established church scene and began to walk the missionary journey.

• walk all over me movie

I would like to suggest that the measure of a church is its ability to transform society rather than the number of people attending the Sunday service. That sounds like a great idea… but we are pretty bound to bums on seats.

Sometimes I feel like my role is to be the provoker and disturber rather than simply the teacher.

I feel like I am finally regaining some equilibrium after the Forge Summit. I was so wiped out I actually cancelled our leadership team meeting that was scheduled for last night. I couldn’t get focused on what it was we needed to discuss.

That’s a significant shift in itself from where I used to live. We don’t have to ‘get there tomorrow’ anymore. Its as important that we ‘get there and enjoy the ride’. Last night I decided to take the slower road.

After my session on Apostolic leadership on Sunday I spent some time chatting with the girls who were in the group. They commented that it felt quite blokey and testosterone charged (my words). We began to discuss whether there was a feminine form to the ‘apostolic leader’. Is the female apostolic more compassionate, merciful, pastoral etc? The girls would say ‘yes’.

Dan has made some interesting comments on the broader female question within the EMC and has pointed out some of the tensions we are working with:

– the absence of women in church leadership generally

cube dvd

– the historical factor – typically we haven’t valued women

– the nature of leadership doesn’t always attract women

There is some interesting debate in the comments as well. Al Hirsch suggests that apostolic leadership actually taps into a more masculine energy and there is also some debate on the thoughts Mike Frost presented on the feminisation of worship.

Mike’s comments on this area were a highlight of the summit for me. The idolatry of romance in western society has seen love for God translated to ‘intimacy’ of a romantic / feeling nature to the exclusion of love as action and obedience.

As always the truth probably lies in a bit of both, but it was good to hear someone give words to what I have felt in my gut for a while. I have been wondering for a while now if when we ask one another if we ‘feel close to God’ if we are in fact asking the wrong question.

But I am wondering about the apostolic women… Do they take a more compassionate shape than the blokes? Or is that simply something in the male/female make up?

If attendance is the measure of success then the National Forge Summit this weekend was supremely successful.

Over 600 people (yes – that’s the latest accurate figure) attended some part of the event and somewhere in the low 500’s were there the whole time.

The attendance does say at very least, that people are interested in what they perceive Forge to be on about. While at best it marks a landmark occasion and a galvanising of people for missional action in our nation.

Of course the question that hangs is ‘what will happen now?’ What will change because a bunch of people came together to network, hear stories, be inspired and re-think mission? If it doesn’t translate to action on the ground then nothing – yes nothing of substance has really occurred. Learning must translate to changed behaviour

If it does… then look out.

I am very optimistic about the impact of the weekend – partly because I sense this is something the Holy Spirit is doing and partly because I think we are well set up to facilitate and develop the action that has been catalysed as a result of the weekend.

Whatever else gets said this is probably as good a place as any to pay tribute to the work of Alan Hirsch as a leader and pioneer in the whole area of missional church. I have only known Alan for 3 years, but we have become really good friends and I am grateful for both his influence on my life and his friendship. I understand that he and Forge were pretty pointy in the early days as they sought to present an alternative imagination of church and that they gave a fair bit of ‘stick’ and also copped it back from others.

It takes great courage to keep leading when you are going against the flow and when others are calling you a fool and a heretic. As this weekend passes and there is a growing acceptability for the EMC it would be easy to forget the pain of birth that Alan and others have endured as they have led the way here.

back to gaya dvdrip

I Thank God for both Alan and Frosty who put their balls on the line and led the way in calling us to dance to a different tune when it was not popular to do so.

I have a sense that Australian Church History will remember Alan as one of the greats and one of the true pioneers and revolutionaries. Yes… that’s a big rap, but I have a feeling that we are seeing a huge shift occurring in the church and we need to say thanks to God and to the people who have the courage to lead where he calls.

Good on ya Hirschy. You’re a bloody legend!

Its been great to make some new connections at Forge this time round, as well as deepening some friendships that I’ve had a for a while.

It was really good to catch up Mike and Rachel for dinner tonight, to meet Digger, Andrew McKenzie and Steve Barrington for the first time. As an introvert I have found myself ducking for cover every now and then as I have been all peopled out. The only problem is that there is very little cover!

I think my elective session went reasonably well. It was looking at the heart of an apostlic leader.

The eight qualities I listed (mostly from 1 Cor 9) were:

1. A compelling desire to initiate, pioneer or start new ministries.

An apostolic type loves starting new stuff – apostello = sent one – unreached people

2. Usually task focused and therefore needing to function in a team setting

Paul always worked in teams – got the job done, but prob had a few pointy edges

3. Courageous… Singled minded” resilient”

Focused on the gospel – not willing to let anything stand in the way – willing to suffer

4. Willing to pay the price of effectiveness

Training self to be godly – takes resp for personal spiritual formation

5. Will establish DNA and fight for truth

lays theological and philosophical DNA and will fight for it / guard it as needed

6. Empowering Others and relinquishing control

looks to raise up and trust people to do the job so can move on

7. Enjoys a regional/wider influence

tends to find one local role a bit restrictive – enjoys wider scope of ministry and influence

I was reading Bob Clinton’s stuff on the presence of ‘power / miraculous’ gifts among the apostolics, but I’m not sure were that fits…

We have one day left of the Summit and then two days after with the 60 interns and .acom students. As good as it is I am now one of those people who misses his family and would rather got home sooner than later.

I think that’s a good thing!

I’m off tomorrow morning to the Forge National Summit. Its the first one we have had, so it’ll be interesting to see how it feels to be around 400-500 people all sharing the same sense of mission and purpose.

I have two sessions to present, one entitle ‘A Daring adventure or Nothing – The Heart of An Apostolic Leader’, looking at some of Paul’s stuff and what stirs the passions of apostolic types. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it! The other is simply entitled ‘Swimming Upstream’ and looks at the call to develop disciples who live genuinely counter-cultural lives in the middle of a fairly self centred world. I’ll also be part of a panel that is exploring the question of sustainability in missional ministry.

You may hear from me while I am there… but then again 🙂

Each Wednesday I meet up with a small group of guys who are also in the process of thinking thru what it means to do mission and be church in this 21st C. Its one of those informal groups that has managed to sustain itself on some good relationships for over 2 years now.

This Wed the question we will tossing around is this one:

With the National Forge Summit about to happen” is the ’emerging missional church’ likely to be a movement that will ‘replace’ the existing church or is it a movement within the established church that will exist for a while, bring some reform and then disappear when its time is up? Is it the 21st C equiv of a vineyard like movement that calls the church back to some core truths or is it the way of the future for the church as a whole? My good mate Stu Wesley sees that the EMC may be a ‘calling back’ to core stuff, while another good friend, Alan Hirsch has said the established church has 10 years left before we start to make the shift to ’emc’ types of churches as the dominant form.

Sound like an interesting conversation?…

Its not a closed group, so if anyone wants to join in you can rock up to Kailis Bros Cafe in Oxford St Leederville at 7.30am this Wednesday morning. I’m looking forward to hearing the thoughts.

For those who can’t make the Forge National Summit here’s a ‘heads up’ on a great weekend of inspiration coming up.  It just so happens we have 3 cutting edge, creative thinking missioners in

Perth

at one time so we are looking to use them for a ‘storyfest’ around new ways of being church and doing mission. 

1.  Friday 22nd July      Warehouse Café           7.30-10.00 John Jensen

John comes to us from sunny Southern California, where he and his wife Raquel and daughters Adriahna and Cheyenne have been involved in ministry for the last 19 years.  In that time they have been youth pastors, associate pastors, and church planters.

They also worked with Church Resource Ministries focusing on church planting in the post-modern post-Christian parts of society.  John worked with Michael Bischoff creating the first new church incubator for emerging churches.  John and Raquel have started or helped to start nine churches over the last ten years, and are currently planting a church in the working class suburb of Melbourne, Footscray.

John is one of the staff members of FORGE

Victoria

team, and is a regular presenter at the intensives.  He draws from his experiences in church planting, as well as his interesting history as a bullfighter, a repo man, punk rock gang member, an artist, and a no rules cage fighter.  His main focus is on bringing the gospel to people outside of the regular influence of the church.  His excitement for community life and evangelism is contagious.  This is a rare opportunity to connect with a gifted and creative church planter! 

2.  Saturday 23rd July  South

Perth

Church of Christ   1.00-4.00 Ash Barker

Ash is the director of UNOH an incarnational mission to the poor, operating in

Melbourne

and

Bangkok

.  Ash has written two books, Submerge and Finding Life in which he describes his experiences as a missional leader in these challenging settings.  He is an amazing apostolic leader with a real working knowledge of what it means to live and share Christ among the poor as he lives with his own family in a slum in

Bangkok

.  Don’t miss this one!

(There will also be a gathering at 10.00am at the Como Hotel to debrief on Dangerous Stories)

3.  Sunday 24th July     Venue TBA       10.00-12.30 Darryn Altclass

Darryn is the Tasmanian director of Forge and leader of

Third Place

Communities in

Hobart

.  These guys seek to spend a lot of their time in what they call ‘third places’.  First places being homes, second places being work and third being preferred ‘leisure/hang out’ type places.  This means a lot of time is spent in the local pubs as well as developing community development projects in the high schools and various other activities with local artists and thinkers.  When people ask ‘is anyone actually doing this stuff effectively’ around

Australia

, (the ’emerging missional church’ stuff) Darryn is one of the stories we can point to and say a very loud ‘yes’!  He is a radical, sharp thinking and adventurous first world missionary who will challenge your own understandings of what it means to be the church and do mission in the western world.

You can come to one event or all three as they do stand alone. 

The $$$$$ Question: Normally we would charge money for each of these events, but this time we’d actually like to take an offering at each one which we will then pass on to the guys who are all missionaries relying on other people’s support for their income. 

We are going this route quite shamelessly in the hope that generous people may actually give more than we would charge!  We also appreciate that for some of you on lower income the up front charge can be prohibitive, but an offering will allow you to still contribute generously as you are able.

I’d encourage you to come along and share a few hours with these guys who are pioneering and following God into different places.

RSVP!: It would really help us if you could RSVP as soon as possible so that we can get an idea of the numbers than will be present at each occasion.  Just drop Kent Morgan an email on suno@wa.su.org.au

Steve has done an interview with Al Hirsch on his new book that is soon to be published.

The sound quality is a bit ordinary, but Al does give a bit of an insight into where the book heads.

Great picture of Hirschy too!

Today I went to catch up with old friends – John & Angie Wilmot, now with 6 kids who are missionaries in Malawi.

I dropped in for lunch at 12.00 and left at 4.00. It was one of those days when time flied and common bonds had us talking and totally losing track of time.

I find I now learn much more from overseas missionaries than I do from most local Aussies. We are running on very similar tracks.

Today was supposed to be a study day at the library. I think I could safely say I did a lot of learning – just not with books!