11 Practices of Missional Spirituality

October 8, 2012 By Steve Knight

Thanks to Scot McKnight for summarizing these 11 practices laid out in the book Missional Spirituality: Embodying God’s Love from the Inside Out by Len Hjalmarson and Roger Helland: Practicing union with Christ: abiding in Christ is what discipleship is all about. Focus on John 15:1-17. Practicing obedience: “the spiritual life is the surrendered life.” Practicing humility. Practicing missio reading and prayer. Not just prayer that fosters intimacy but prayer that fosters love for others, the Jesus Creed. Practicing worship.... Read more

Missional Monday: Sentralized September, Lance Ford Books, The Feast Feeds Missional Imagination

October 8, 2012 By Steve Knight

Here’s a recap of the last few weeks in the missional conversation: Sentralized Conference took place at the end of September, and I’m just now getting around to talking about it! Put on by Forge America and its Kansas City hub, KCSentral, Sentralized is an annual conference that is designed “to continue to bring clarity to the missional conversation.” InterVarsity Press co-sponsored “The Great Forge Write-Off” to scout “unsigned talent,” and according to IVP editor David Zimmerman, six entries are... Read more

We Are All Pirates Now

September 19, 2012 By Steve Knight

It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day today, and I’m excited to recommend the best possible book for this auspicious occasion — Kester Brewin’s latest Mutiny!: Why We Love Pirates and How They Can Save Us. I confess I’m only about a third of the way through, which means I’ve already traversed the first two dense chapters filled with rich pirate history. In chapter three, Brewin is beginning to steer the ship into the open waters of the wider implications of... Read more

Missional Monday: Homeschooling Kerfuffle, Brian McLaren Book Tour Continues, CommonChange.com

September 17, 2012 By Steve Knight

Here’s a recap of last week’s major highlights from the missional conversation: Is Homeschooling Missional? Or Not? — Last week, Tony Jones stirred up a hornet’s nest with two very provocatively titled blog posts that effectively declared that Christians who choose to homeschool their children are not being “missional” in their communities, because they are opting out of a social institution (public schools) that are an important part of the social contract we share as citizens of these United States.... Read more

9/11 and the Emerging Missional Church

September 11, 2012 By Steve Knight

In this exclusive interview, my dear friend Rev. Dr. Fred Burnham shares his personal experiences on September 11, 2001, as he faced certain death with Archbishop Rowan Williams, who was his guest at Trinity Wall Street on that fateful day. It created a “circle of love” between the two men (and their other companions) that continues to this day. It was also Fred’s entree into the emerging missional church conversation, as he witnessed first-hand the reality of self-organizing complex systems,... Read more

#GodWhoSends: The Struggle With Defining Missional

September 10, 2012 By Steve Knight

In his seminal book God Who Sends: A Fresh Quest for Biblical Mission, Dr. Francis M. DuBose describes the challenge he saw in defining “mission”: “Why the need for a fresh quest? The simple answer, which is profound in its implication, is that we do not have an accepted definition of mission. … “A major problem in defining mission stems from the fact that, except for a few instances in the Revised Standard Version, the word mission does not appear... Read more

Missional Monday: Wild Goose West Recap, New Brian McLaren Book Bows, Parish Collective Rocks

September 10, 2012 By Steve Knight

Here’s a recap of last week’s major highlights from the missional conversation: Wild Goose Festival West Coast 2012 — The first-ever Wild Goose Festival on the West Coast took place over Labor Day weekend, and I was honored to be able to participate as part of the volunteer team. The Corvallis Gazette-Times had a nice write-up, and I’ve begun curating the many great photos, videos, blog posts, tweets, etc. More on that soon! Brian McLaren’s New Book Bows on September... Read more

I Can Haz Missional?

August 28, 2012 By Steve Knight

OK this is just funny — from @Synodocat on Twitter: here iz a church i tranzformd. Almost as good as Missional Ryan Gosling. Read more

Missional Monday: Wild Goose Goes West

August 28, 2012 By Steve Knight

Sorry, I don’t have a real Missional Monday post today. I’m getting ready to fly out to Portland on my way to Wild Goose Festival West in Corvallis, Oregon, this weekend. If you’ll be at Wild Goose West, please come find me and say hello! Read more

SynergyIGNITE Event for Megachurch Leaders Announced

August 24, 2012 By Steve Knight

The folks at RiverTree Christian Church have announced a two-day SynergyIGNITE conference for anyone interested in igniting “a stronger missional dynamic in your church.” Alex Absalom writes, “As a successful megachurch that has transitioned from attractional to missional that is attractive, our desire is to provide others with the practical nuts and bolts to make the Missional Church theory become reality.” The conference will take place at RiverTree in Massillon, Ohio, Wednesday-Thursday, October 10-11. Are you a megachurch leader that... Read more