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Let mission drive us

…The only way to welcome change is to have a strong understanding of the congregation’s mission, which is to say, that which commands its very existence. Without a dynamic mission that drives it, a congregation will drop to the de facto, implicit mission of having a community of like-minded people. If this is the goal, people will reject change, because as soon as they establish that community, they will focus on maintaining it, which automatically precludes transformation…

Let mission drive us

What Missional Looks Like

Living their values cooperatively

…The house sits on a quarter-acre corner lot in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. The planning committee stipulated that they find a lot with outdoor gardening space and that it be accessible to public transportation. It’s a gritty neighborhood. Once grand, the area has fallen victim to urban blight, with its crime and unemployment rates among the city’s highest and its household income among the lowest. Next door to the Lucy Stone house is a boarded-up three-story mansion, which has been abandoned for decades….

What Missional Looks Like

A Tale of Two Robinsons

“…These elements of social capital have long since been stripped from the Abandoned, and justice for the Abandoned requires substantial and personal reinvestment, family by family, block by block.  I came away with a deepened attraction that Rev Ron Robinson is on the right path with his Third Place ministry in Turley, OK.

But there are two things about Ron’s ministry that fly in the face of our UU comfort. The first is our love of personal distance. We don’t even talk much about our own personal needs. Hitting a hard time is one of the sure prescriptions for leaving this religion, although the small group ministry movement and the growth of care networks are trying to find a compromise we can live with. And in fact, readers of Ron’s blogs and FB pages will note that his commitment to Turley is centered in lifelong ties, and his extended family is still there….”

A Tale of Two Robinsons

Shalom as Freedom & Unity

“I’ve just begun to more fully understand what it means to be a peacemaker. There is a big difference between being a peacekeeper (an appeaser) and a peacemaker. I’ve come to the realization that for much of my life I’ve been a peacekeeper but not a peacemaker. Here is a thought for you; sometimes in order to be a peacemaker you have to be a troublemaker. Ponder that one for a while.”

Shalom as Freedom & Unity

Could your church be modern missionaries?

“Tomorrow we are moving the entire Courageous Church operation to Tuscaloosa, Alabama – ground zero of the worst tornadoes in decades.

I want you to come with me.  We will not be having our Sunday services, but instead will be joining churches and thousands of people in Tuscaloosa that lost everything they own and many people they love.

The buildings of Bethel Church of Pratt City were completely destroyed.  I just spoke with the pastor there, TL Lewis, and he said that CBS asked him what he was going to do since his church was destroyed.  He replied to the reporter, “Our church BUILDINGS were destroyed, but the people are stronger than ever.  Our church remains.” Wow I was encouraged by that.

Tomorrow we will worship with Rev. Platt and the people of Bethel Church and then serve them lunch after the service and host games and fun activities with the kids there….”

Could your church be modern missionaries?

What Missional Looks Like

Last night, I attended a gathering of Micah’s Porch, a Unitarian Universalist missionary David Owen and a Lutheran Minister at Micah's Porchoutreach in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was perhaps not what most people would conceive of as being mission… and I’m sure that there are more than a few people who might have an adverse reaction to it. But it works from what I think is one of the basic premises of missionary work…

What Missional Looks Like