I am hopeful that "missional" language, concepts, and practices will provide a framework for our church to fulfill its calling to engage our homes, neighborhoods and communities and "world" in meaningful, transformational ways. "Going missional" reflects the heart of FUMC’s connecting and equipping ministries.
To use Dietrich Bonhoeffer's language: "The church is only the church when it exists for others."
I do want to leave you with some questions to ponder over the next couple of weeks. While there are many different thoughts and descriptions about how a congregation becomes "missional" (i.e. recaptures a biblical sense of its presence in the world), there is consensus that it includes changed thinking (i.e. imagination) and changed behavior (i.e. shared practices) allowing others to experience (firsthand) God's goodness and consider a new way of life made possible by Jesus Christ.
Here are initial questions for those of us who are church leaders and members: What might change if we designed worship for the sake of others? What might change if we taught the Bible for the sake of others? What might change if we thought of discipleship as for the sake of others? What might change if we created fellowship for the sake of others? What might change if we used our gifts and resources for the sake of others? What might change if we established budgets for the sake of others? What might change if we considered vocation as a call for the sake of others? You get the idea. What are your thoughts? Don't hesitate to give some feedback.
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