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Milfred Minatrea is founding director of the recently launched Missional Church Center and author of Shaped By God's Heart: the Passion and Practices of Missional Churches (Jossey-Bass, 2004). Minatrea coaches churches and individuals in their quest to live God's mission, assisting them in clarifying vision and developing strategies toward His preferred future.
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What does a missional church look like?
The word 'missional' is an adjective that describes the kind of church we believe God desires. A missional church is a reproducing community of authentic disciples being equipped as missionaries sent by God to live and proclaim His kingdom in their world. This description can apply to any church, regardless of location, size or worship style.
How does a church become missional?
There is no single way to be missional; every church must find its own way in this arena. The comprehensive DNA of missional churches is expressed in three components that must converge for any church to pursue a missional posture:
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The content of the Gospel |
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The context in which the church expresses mission |
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The capacity of congregational members |
The unchanging component of those three is the Gospel--it is the biblical narrative that informs us of God's missional purpose. There are no missional churches apart from authentic disciples--"learner followers"--of Christ Jesus, who is revealed by the Spirit through the sacred Scriptures. |
How is a missional church structured?
Missional living is about spirituality before it is about strategy or congregational structure. So, the first big issue is the reclamation of authentic discipleship. Churches must rediscover spiritual formation for missional living and develop systems for encouragement and accountability of a living faith.
Becoming a missional church is about being-–being conformed to the image of God, bearing His heart--before it is about doing. Therefore, leaders must connect their congregations with His heart via the Scriptures.
At the same time, structure and build short term mission opportunities, both local and global, into the regular life of the church calendar. Set aside resources so that you can be fluid; ready to respond when God opens a door. I have seen churches who wanted to be involved in God's mission, fail to be readily available when disaster or natural tragedy opened the doors that were previously closed to the Gospel.
How does a missional emphasis go beyond a church's immediate community?
While the number of nations open to professional Christian missionaries may be declining, globalization is opening doors of business interaction. More and more, churches understand that globalization means their members are already going all over the world in their everyday business roles. The person who is in the pew on Sunday may be in an office in Prague by Monday afternoon.
"Business as mission" is a phrase that has floated around for a while, but today the roots of that ideology are going deep into the fabric of the missional church. It appears that God is reminding the church that it exists to equip all of its members for mission and that it is pleasing the Father to use those who have never been "ordained" as primary instruments in His missional purpose.
How can a church involve its people in a missional transition?
It's important to recognize the skill sets already present. One church I recently worked with identified 34 nations that their members already have |
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connections with. We need to recognize our congregations' capacity through its skill sets, connections, interests and passions.
Engage the nations. Be multicultural. Be in the community. While there are wonderfully active multicultural churches, as well as many congregations that are globally aware and active, there is still a majority of congregations in North America which seem to be retreating from the world, rather than engaging it missionally. I have observed that as church members get to know people from other nations and cultures, they establish long-term relationships that penetrate and destroy isolated congregational existence. Where this happens, it is a tremendously effective witness to the power of the Gospel and its transformational influence via the church in society.
What attitude do you appreciate in missional churches?
It's amazing how many churches act as if their best days are behind them. I value congregations who look at the opportunities God is giving today, have a clear sense of His direction, and pursue that which matters most.
The above interview was conducted by Stephanie Plagens. For more information, or to contact Milfred Minatrea, visit http://www.missional.org or email stephanie.plagens@leadnet.org |
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