Don’t let that title mislead you — all of the thinking and writing that has gone into this link is greatly appreciated!
But, wow, there is a lot of it!
If you (or your leadership teams) want to become conversant in what missional communities are, and how they function, this is a great place to start! It incorporates input from a well-rounded selection of leaders on each of the 7 questions, and it even including some audio interviews.
Just make sure you give yourself the time to take it all in!
7 Questions about Missional Communities
One of the things that is extremely important to state is that churches and missional communities embody the permission — in fact, the insistence — to define themselves organically. The concept of “missional community” is a loose organisational framework, but the specifics are unique in each case, depending on the leadership’s priorities, the gifting of the participants, and the needs of the community.
Caution! These days one needs to be Biblically discerning when it comes to the Evangelical (vs. Biblical?) Church in N. America and their overuse of words like emerging, emergent, missional,contemplative, transformational and a whole bunch of other words not found in Scripture language. (I know! Paul said be ‘transformed’…..) Problem is, we Christians just love to ‘transform’ the meaning of words as we jump on (or off) various word bandwagons. (eg; Fundamental—look it up in the dictionary and then decide where you will take a stand)
Dick, this isn’t the first time you’ve raised a caution flag here. Are you perceiving a lack of discernment? Are you worried about the word ‘missional’, or the idea behind it? Maybe you can express your concern more clearly.
Just to reassure you, we try our best to make sure the resources we share have a strong understanding, consistent definitions and clear biblical processing of the language they use. “Missional” is certainly trendy, but that on its own doesn’t make it wrong.
We don’t hang our faith on a transitional word, that would be disastrous. (And yet paradoxically, even a transitional word, a bandwagon, or a fad can be effective in steering hearts toward our timeless God.)
We hang our faith on the Word — Jesus Christ — and we partner with his purpose in the world. May that continue to be true long after “missional” sounds totally passée. :-)
Thanks. I think my first word should suffice in explaining the rest of the comment. One ‘specific’ concern I do have is that many of these ‘transitional’ words originate with other innocent words like emerging/emergent. And there’s plenty to be ‘cautious’ about that association.