Tag: leadership

Reimagining Church

Finished “Reimagining Church” last night. A good followup to Frank Viola’s book “Pagan Christianity” The book picks up in many places where Pagan Christianity left off – but also works as a standalone piece as well. As the summaries and publishers suggest, Pagan Christianity deconstructs the church and Reimagining reconstructs it.

Don’t know if it fully reconstructs it – but it definitely get’s the ball rolling.

Viola explains in the introduction:

Herein lies the purpose of this book: to articulate a biblical, spiritual, theological, and practical answer to the question, Is there a viable way of doing church outside the institutional church experience, and if so, what does it look like?

Many could see Viola as a threat to the church – especially the institutional church – but perhaps that’s why I really enjoy the book. He adds in the introduction, “I’m writing this volume because I love the church very much.” It’s the institution that he (and I tend to) have problems with. (Viola later suggests that “institution is any patterned human activity.”)

Viola argues that the institutional church as we know it is ineffective and also without biblical merit. That our current churches are constructed more on programs and rituals than relationships. That institutional churches are built around a highly structured “worship service” where the audience is separated or set-apart from the professionals (pastors, ministers, worship leaders, etc.).

In the institutional church, congregants watch a religious performance once or twice a week led principally by one person (the pastor or minister), and then retreat home to live their individual lives.

In place of the institutional church (which Pagan Christianity explains came about through many Greco-Roman customs — especially during the Constantine era), Viola argues for a more organic approach to Christianity. One in which there is no separation between lay-persons and the clergy. One in which each person’s spiritual gifts are valued and each person takes part in the group gatherings. One that meets in homes during the week rather than multi-million dollar sanctuaries/malls.

Viola compares these two views of church throughout the book, but perhaps the most beautiful illustration is one from Hal Miller.

Miller says that institutional churches are like trains. They go a certain direction and continue on that direction making a lot of noise and blowing a lot of smoke. They’re easy to find, hard to stop and can’t change direction without coming to a crawl and someone flipping the switch on the track.

Organic churches are more like people walking through a neighborhood. They move much slower but can turn at a moment’s notice. Because of their slow pace they can be genuinely attentive to the world around them, as well as to the Lord.

And because of it’s organic nature, the organic church is always growing and reproducing. And no matter where it grows or shows up, this organic church should always reflect the same DNA elements ::

  • It will always express the headship of Jesus Christ in His church
  • It will always allow for and encourage the every-member functioning of the body
  • It will always map to the theology that’s contained in the New Testament
  • It will always be grounded in the fellowship of the triune God

Those first two points are probably the stickiest points for everyone and likely why Viola spends a vast majority of the book discussing them. Unfortunately, I felt like he spoke more on what that didn’t look like than what it did look like.

In addressing these issues, Viola argues that the body of Christ must not be about the hierarchy systems of the world but must instead be about mutual edification and mutual submission. I personally believe this is a lot of what Christ spoke of in John’s 1st letter ::

I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me. (john 17)

Imagine the impact this would have on the world around us if we all truly lived as one. Where no one person took precedence, where church decisions were based on consensus rather than dictatorship or democracy. If the members of Christ’s body are truly submissive to Christ and to one another, I believe Viola would argue that this would turn the world upside down.

Yet for someone who’s grown up in a traditional, institutional church, the idea of a church led not by a man (or woman or group of men) but by the headship of Christ (through the Holy Spirit) is foreign. And yet I can definitely understand the reasoning behind it. I can agree with the Scripture Viola uses to make the point — but to picture it and understand how you would bring that about is foreign to me (and probably 99% of “church-going Christians). Perhaps this will be addressed in future books.

It does look as though this is part of several more in the “series” as Viola mentions two more books coming out in the near future. “From Eternity to Here” is the next one on the map.

Regardless, this book leaves me hungry for seeing something more in our churches today. It’s a great supplement/compliment for what I’m feeling/thinking/dreaming in my soul. It leaves me aching for truer community, where there are true spaces of grace, intentional relationships and God experiences are shared by all.

I hope to come back and share some of the many quotes/thoughts that stood out to me in my reading — but I just started a new book by Greg Garrett, “Stories from the Edge – A Theology of Grace” so it might take me a week or so to get back to “Reimagining Church” :-).

related ::
www.reimaginingchurch.org
www.housechurchresource.org
www.ptmin.org
SSL :: looking back at a house of prayer
encounter :: priests in the hood
encounter :: tribal faith

Kingdom of God leaders

I’ve been reading Frank Viola’s “Reimagining Church” over the last week or so. It’s been a great companion to go along with Brian’s message series (priests in the hood). The book also seems to apply directly to what I envision for our community groups at encounter (and beyond).

This morning I read Luke 22:25-26:

Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: “Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It’s not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant.

As community group leaders/facilitators/hosts I think Viola makes some great points about what we should avoid striving for and what we should strive for:

  • in the gentile (secular) world, leaders operate on the basis of a political, chain-of-command social structure — a graded hierarchy. in the kingdom of God, leadership flows from childlike meekness and sacrificial service.
  • in the gentile world, authority is based on position and rank. in the kingdom of God, authority is based on godly character. note Christ’s description of a leader: “let him be a servant,” and “let him be as the younger.” in our Lord’s eyes, being precedes doing. and doing flows from being. put differently, function follows character. those who serve do so because they are servants.
  • in the gentile world, greatness is measured in prominence, external power and political influence. in the kingdom of God, greatness is measured by humility and servitude.
  • in the gentile world, leaders exploit their positions to rule over others. in the kingdom of god, leaders deplore special reverence. they rather regard themselves “as the younger.”

I hope and pray that we’re all being leaders/facilitators/hosts that fit in with the kingdom of God model and not the gentile/worldly model that surrounds us everywhere we go. I also pray that each of us are encouraging our group members to do the same. By becoming servants to all, leadership will be a natural extension to them all.

Change for the better

Shared this with our community 2.0 leaders today….

Hello community 2.0 peeps…

Last night at our community group the three of us (yeah it was a slow week :-)) sat and talked about a number of things from prayer, to leadership, to future community groups etc. etc. We each talked about how refreshing Sunday at encounter was this past week. How it was a change from the ordinary and really seemed to spark something new.

It made me think about how often we get set in a routine even in our weekly community groups.

This morning, Small Group Dynamics touched on that as well. If things are starting to get “stale” or “traditional” in your group maybe it’s time to change things up a bit. Here are some of the things they suggested…

  • Change the expectations. If people expect to gather around a Bible study or a DVD curriculum or even around social interaction, the presence of the Spirit will be minimal. If people expect to meet with God and trust Jesus’ words: “Where two or three gather in my name, there I am also,” then people will seek something different in the group’s life even if they do not know how.
  • Shorten the Bible study to make room to wait on God together.
  • Take the risk of allowing silence during the meeting.
  • Vary the agenda from week to week.
  • Eat together. You might be surprised by this one, but I have found food as essential to connecting with one another and in inviting God’s presence into our midst.

    • I know some of the groups have had “coffee house night” and met at a local coffee house. Its not only given a change of pace for the group members, but also opened opportunities for discussions with others.

    What other ideas have you and/or your group done to change things up and keep it fresh?

    Changing roles in ministry

    Mike Blythe writes about his recent changes from being a physician at the hospital in Jos, Nigeria, to helping oversee much of SIMS IT work in the area.

    It’s interesting how sometimes God calls us from one ministry to the other. He may call us to the front lines, only to later call us to move into a background role – in support of others on the front line. And vice-versa. Sometimes we’re willing and ready. Sometimes we go kicking and screaming.

    Sometimes we have to be pulled and pushed by those around us as well just to even get started in a ministry. What frustrations, issues have you found as God moves you from one direction to another?

    New leadership podcast

    Just found the Threadsmedia Leadership Podcast from Lifeway.
    Very good stuff.

    Training Tip 5 talks about teaching people with various learning styles. This is a great listen for anyone who leads anyone anywhere.

    “Engage every learning style… Engage as many learning styles as possible.”

    Some may learn better by listening and taking notes, others may do better with music, others may do better making art or doing something with their hands. I’m sure my mom could give some great examples of this.

    “Culture never informs Scripture but Scripture informs culture.”

    “The type of question you ask in your small group could engage learning styles or disengage learning styles.”

    What if you walked in to small group and a pile of pipe cleaners were lying in front of you and the leader said, “The one thing I need from God this week is… Answer it with a pipe cleaner.”

    What if we thought about our small groups/church like the game Cranium? Engage the whole brain.

    “A small group leader who understands the concepts behind Cranium, that’s a great small group leader.”