Well, at least according to Joanne McNeil, who is quoted as saying, “A good curator is thinking not just about acquisition and selection, but also contextualizing.” So there is, in a sense, a missional aspect to curation (the contextualization piece). What do you think about curation as a missional act? (via exp.lore.com and @BobCarlton) Read more
The new Missio Alliance network is holding its first regional event at Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, NY, today. David Fitch is speaking on the topic “The Future of the Church: Emerging, Neo-Reformed, Missional?,” and the event is being livestreamed online starting at 3:55pm ET. Watch the livestream Read more
As some have suggested, it might take some disruptive innovation to get an existing church to think missionally, so here’s some helpful hints on how to do that (from Fast Company magazine): Totally eliminate your industry’s persistent customer pain points — What practices exist in your church that drive people crazy? Identify these practices and “wipe them out.” Ask yourself: Can we turn our perspective around, to look through the lay person’s eyes as though they were the church leadership... Read more
If you’re wondering what the urgency is for existing churches to make the missional shift for the sake of younger generations (and also why I’m actually very excited about the missional potential of these younger leaders), just read “a letter from an exhausted/exasperated young person who has a complicated love/hate relationship with the church (part 1 of 2).” Here’s just a sample: “There are a couple things young people simply won’t tolerate. They will not put up with what they... Read more
Missional leaders take note: LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman in his book The Start-up of You writes: “Uncertainty never goes away. Fear of failure never goes away. The way to feel comfortable with these entrepreneurial strategies is to have one plan in your life that’s highly certain. That’s Plan Z: a reliable plan you shift to when you no longer have confidence in Plan A and B, or when your plans get severely disrupted. The certainty of the Plan Z backstop... Read more
Adam McLane, from The Youth Cartel, has written an excellent guest post for the Asbury Seminary Seedbed site on “Why Youth Ministries Are Not Working in America,” and the first item on his list is … “Amissiological approaches”: “If you were to move to a new community as a church planter or if you relocated cross-culturally as a missionary your first year would be heavily engaged in research. You’d spend months doing ethnography, learning the nuances of language, understanding norms,... Read more
Here’s a quick recap of last week’s major highlights from the missional conversation: The winner of last week’s book contest giveaway is … Brian C. from Nebraska! Brian will be receiving a signed copy of Chris Guillebeau’s new book The $100 Startup, but we’re all winners really because so many great missional business stories/ideas were shared. Thanks to all for participating! Ed Stetzer taught Anglican Church in North America leaders (gathered at a Southern Baptist retreat center in North Carolina... Read more
While Godspeed: Making Christ’s Mission Your Own would not be the first missional book I’d recommend — even to conservative evangelicals (who are the primary audience for this book) — I’m still grateful for it (and other books like it). Why? Because hopefully books like Godspeed will introduce readers to other missional writers and broader kingdom theology. Written by evangelical megachurch pastor Britt Merrick (and endorsed by a host of other evangelical megachurch pastors), the book builds on a sermon... Read more
This past week I’ve been blogging through Chris Guillebeau’s new book The $100 Startup and giving away a free signed copy! Today is the last day to enter to win » There’s a lot more great stories, enlightening insights, and practical advice in Chris Guillebeau’s book The $100 Startup — more than I could blog through in a week, so I just want to wrap-up this series with a rapid-fire list of some of the other stand-out nuggets in the... Read more
The Anglican Church in North America held its “Assembly 2012” this past week at the Southern Baptist Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. And Southern Baptist missiologist Ed Stetzer was one of the convention’s keynote speakers, speaking three times on “The Local Congregation” to the 700 delegates from 16 countries gathered. Stetzer gave the ACNA this advice: Multiply everything: disciples, ministries, groups and churches. You cannot lead what you do not live. Model multiplication: What you celebrate you become. Let... Read more
Missional Shift
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