Missional Think Tank begins!

The Missional Think Tank kicked off tonight, Sunday, April 11th at around 6 PM at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. The event is co-sponsored by both the World Mission Initiative and Church Innovations. Participants of this invitation-only event include pastors, theologians, denominational officals, and staff members of the sponsoring organizations. The main question the Think Tank will be addressing is "How does the missional church look?" Basically, this question can be broken down into two other questions, namely "What is a missional church (how would one recognize a church as being missional)?" and "What is a missional church looking at (paying attention to)?" What we pay attention to is what we are moving toward. We in the church often look past what is most important. One speaker at the event pointed out that most churches tend to focus upon the ABCs - Attendance, Budget, and Campus, while not always giving due attention to the surrounding community of which our churches are a part. In exploring the question, "How does the missional church look?", we will be listening to one another, hearing each others' ministry stories, and trying to discern how and where God is at work, that we may join in that work.

After brief opening discussion, we spent some time dwelling on a pasage from Luke 10:1-12 about Jesus sending the 72 out in pairs to announce the coming of God's kingdom. We did a form of "lectio divina"-type meditation on the passage, then shared our insights, first in pairs, then as a whole group. Many were struck by how simple and direct Jesus' instructions were, and how much grace and faith it required on the part of those going out into the villages to rely upon God and their hosts for all their needs. We will return to this passage throughout the Think Tank, to glean more insights.

After this scripture exercise, we heard the stories of three area churches that were attempting to live out their missional callings in practical ways. Although these churches were in different areas and very different cultural contexts, there was a common theme to their experience. Missional ministry, in practice is very messy. Radically following Jesus' call to go out into the community and minister to people where they are requires much grace, faith, patience, and perseverance on the part of congregations. Often congregations are shaped by the process as they are stretched beyond their comfort zones.

After hearing these stories, we broke into our cohorts for further discussion. We were all assigned to cohorts based upon our ministry role - I am part of a cohort of younger pastors. In our first cohort meeting, it was the messiness and chaos of missional ministry that our cohort focused upon in our discussion time. What does it look like to be attentive to the Holy Spirit's work in the midst of chaos? In our churches, we often long for comfort and control, yet the call of Jesus Christ is to radically engage with others and demonstrate the gospel to them in their circumstances, which is often messy and out of our control. It is a difficult place to abide, one participant noted. We often like to see ministry happen in a linear fashion with clear, measurable success evident. One participant noted that missional ministry is more like the rumblings of a coming earthquake - we can sense the movement, but don't always know exactly what will come about, or when or where, for that matter. Our moderator suggested that part of missional leadership was learning to become attentive to the seismic movements of the Holy Spirit beneath the surface to sense where God is at work in our churches and communities. Ultimately, being truly missional is being truly authentic in our relationship with Christ and one another. We may be tempted to package and market the gospel to suit our own needs. However, being truly missional does not allow for this. As one young pastor put it, "we don't package the gospel, it packages us."

More tomorrow. Have a blessed evening.