Even in the face of the well-documented chronic, decades long, serious decline of Christianity in Australia (the West) the experience has been that only a miniscule number of church members will take up opportunities for 'coal face'. local mission.
Although not all, the vast majority of western Christians today have the cemented-in mindset that ‘church’ is largely what happens in certain, mostly bespoke, buildings, generally on Sundays. Further, the main Christian activity of most (when measured by time) is something called ‘going to church’, again generally on Sunday. This is because centuries of living … Continue reading The Future Lies in Going Back to It!
The story of one man’s encounter with a Missional Community and his ensuing spiritual journey. ****** One of the good things that happened at the recent SEEK Day is that we got a chance to be encouraged by stories. We heard quite a few but one in particular was both encouraging and instructive. This was … Continue reading Ben’s Story
A Spring morning early. Hushed except for a few Lorikeets chirruping in the Gum trees that green-cloak the Escarpment. A hazy rising Sun tries to shine through the mist over the ocean. In Spring morning's glory God whispers His presence yet, 'The Fool says in his heart there is no God' Psalm 14.1
Most local churches have a stated aim to see the lost won for Christ. Commonly, this desire is expressed in the organisation and resourcing of a range of ‘Outreach’ activities. Even though not always clearly articulated, the methods used usually follow the same process that has generally been basic to all mission since the time … Continue reading Unbounded Church – A One Stop Shop
“You Don’t Get to New Places by Following Established Tracks” … Continue reading Gleanings for ‘Unbounded Church’ from those ‘Already on the Road’
It is not uncommon during a conversation about the Missional Communities that comprise ‘Unbounded Church’ networks to be asked what the membership is, i.e. how many ‘members’ do you have? That however, is a question that belongs to the mindset of traditional church thinking where membership can be measured by how many people come through … Continue reading Because We Were There!
I recently came across this quote from Greg Sheridan, the Australian journalist and author of ‘God is Good for You’, who headed a recent article with – ‘The West cannot survive without a re-energized belief in Christianity’ Sheridan’s blunt, but I believe hard to argue with, observation flows from the fact that the socio-spiritual culture … Continue reading A Crisis in the ‘West’
‘The Church is Dead, Long Live the Church!’ ###### Around five years ago I wrote the following paragraph as an introduction to a booklet I was writing at the time. ‘Up to some point on that icy, dark north Atlantic night in 1912, on the SS Titanic’s fatal journey towards the notorious iceberg, there remained … Continue reading Out of the Ashes of This Present Insanity the Phoenix of a ‘Church That Lives’ Can Arise
‘Go (keep on going ) and make disciples’ ***** The goal of the standard strategy adopted by churches for local mission over many decades has been to draw people into Sunday services. Such a strategy has traditionally involved running special ‘guest’ services or other events that will attract non-Christians into the ‘church’ … Continue reading Mission Pluto
