Thanks Hamo for getting this blog happening!I wanted to briefly share something I have gleaned over the last 3 or 4 years on this journey toward missional. Living in Binningup it had to have something to link it to the ocean!
Over the last few years I have noticed a bit of a phenomenon in the local church scene. A number of long established churches have struggled in various ways to keep their heads above water as their congregations have moved away to a large, professional, "purpose driven" kind of church on the other side of town - our own congregation has suffered and struggled with this as well.
As we were just starting out on our own missional journey at about the same time all this was happeningn it got me thinking about what it was we were trying to do to get more involved with our local community and in grappling with the role of the local church in the community, compared with what the big, attractional church in the nearby city was doing to successfully grow and reach its community.
The conclusion I came to was that we were actually in a much better position to have a real effect on our town and to see our focus change from attractional (which simply wasn't working for us anymore for a whole range of reasons) to missional, than the big church perhaps ever would be. I also came to realise that while the big church was incredibly successful at growing large, it actually wasn't at all successful in being active in the community outside its walls.
So I concluded, what was true of ships was also true of churches: A big ship takes a long time to turn around, yet a small ship or boat can turn relatively quickly when it has to, especially if it believes it has a good reason for turning in the first place!
In smaller congregations there are less people to keep happy, there are usually more people already involved in, or with an interest in the organisational side of things, and there is usually a greater sense of community (that's real community - people involved in each others lives on more than just Sundays and in real and meaningful ways) and loyalty among those members who have stuck it out.
So even though a number of those who have gone before say it is virtually impossible for any institutionalised incarnation of the church to turn, if it is going to be possible at all, it's the small ship that has the greatest chance of success.
I would love to hear about and discuss your experiences so far on the journey towards missional.
I am really looking forward to hearing what you have to say and to getting to know more about you all and your experiences.
- How have things like institutionalised thinking contributed or ditracted from your experience?
- What are your experiences - good and bad - in getting more involved with the community around you?
- Are you a big "ship" trying to turn or a small "boat" like us? What are your experiences?
- Are you trying to "turn" at all or rather just incorporate a missional praxis into your established setting?
3 comments:
G'day Andrew - part of the reason I 'jumped ship' was because i couldn't seem to re-orient my own life within the system.
I have done this effectively now and occasionally wonder if I could venture back in and help others do the same.
I'm not sure I could. There is a very strong culture in many churches and even at a practical level people often 'like the ideas' of mission, but just don't implement.
Our church has encouraged and is shifting towards being a 'community of communities' - that is, a network of small groups ("small boats") that hopefully can orient themselves towards mission more effectively.
However, the "big ship" (weekend services etc) still seems to be the main thing for many.
I understand where Hamo is coming from - re-orienting within the system is hard. But I hope that I'm helping some others to 'jump ship' into a missional life.
Thanks for your responses guys.
I imagine it would be hard to return and help re-orient Hamo. Though I think there is a place for working from the "inside" out - which is, I guess, why we're doing Re-Imagine and why Forge has developed it!
I think it is very difficult for many people to get away from the "big ship" kinda thinking. It is very much entrenched in our Christian psyche. Perhaps we need to meet the "big ship" people where they are at, while gently challenging them along the way, while also providing opportunities for "little ships" to do their stuff as well.
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