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Theology Matters
A Publication of Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry Vol 10 No 4 · Sep/Oct 2004
The Missional Church
By Alan J. Roxburgh
century the mission field for the Gospel had shifted
Introduction and Background
dramatically. The greatest challenge to Christian mission
Words insinuate themselves into the vocabulary of a
was now those very nations that had once sent
culture when a group uses new language to articulate
missionaries out around the world. It was the people of
something that is felt and needs to find expression. This
Europe, shaped by the Western tradition, that were rapidly
has happened with the phrase
missional church over the
losing their identity as Christian. In one memorable
past half dozen years. In 1998 Eerdmans published a book
epithet Newbigin asked the question:
Can the West be
with the title
Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending
converted? That question captured the imagination of
of the Church in North America. It was written in the most
many church leaders in the UK and Europe. It represented
unlikely manner by a team of missiologists, theologians
one of the fundamental issues that had to be addressed by
and practitioners who met for three years to compose the
the church but had not been articulated clearly until that
book. The book's genesis lay in the convergence of
point. The challenge facing the Western churches was the
various people inside a new network called the
Gospel and
re-conversion of its own people. Newbigin wrote
Our Culture Network (GOCN). Comprised of people from
voluminously on this subject, addressing underlying issues
a variety of church backgrounds (Methodist, Lutheran,
and outlining the missiological challenge such a situation
Reformed, Baptist and Anabaptist), GOCN coalesced
presented to the church.
around the writings of Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, a
missionary in India for over thirty years. Newbigin, upon
This European and UK conversation found its way into
his retirement in the late 60's, returned to his native
North America. Newbigin came to America on numerous
England to discover that the Christian culture he had left
occasions to lecture and teach on the themes of a
some thirty years earlier had all but disappeared. Having a
missionary engagement with Western society. His writing
keen missionary sensibility, Newbigin recognized that
and conversations caught the attention of academic
by the latter part of the 20th
missiologists and theologians on this side of the Atlantic
where numerous leaders were themselves struggling with
similar questions about the nature of Christian witness in
Alan Roxburgh, D. Min., is President of the Missional
Leadership Institute. His most recent book is Crossing the
Bridge: Leadership in a Time of Change
(Percept, 2000).
Table of Contents
He is one of the authors of Missional Church: A Vision for
the Sending of the Church in North America
(Eerdmans,
The Missional Church ............................ p. 1
1998).
Can the Church be Converted? .................. p. 6
The Initial Steps of Transformation ............. p.11
Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry
Page 1
where numerous leaders were themselves struggling with
most confused by and suspect of the word
missional.
similar questions about the nature of Christian witness in
They perceive it to be another unnecessary piece of
Western societies at the close of the millennium. It was
esoteric language invented by clergy and seminary
out of these stirrings and conversations that a small group
professors. Thus there is suspicion of the language and
of such leaders began to have more intentional
not a lot of trust that it means more than a fancy idea about
conversations with one another and, eventually, formed a
evangelism or mission. There is a need for clarity and
network that became GOCN. Through its gatherings and
explanation. Where do we start in a description of what it
conversations, it became clear that there was a significant
means? There are multiple levels to an adequate response
amount of work to be done in addressing issues of Gospel
which is what makes the problem of meaning significant.
faithfulness in North American culture. It was against this
If the language of
missional church is to become a helpful
background that the Pew Charitable Trust provided
way of forming communities of God's people in a
generous funding to form the team that wrote
Missional
radically changing culture then we have to spend the time
Church.
and energy to understand what is at stake in the language
we are using. Simple sentence definitions are not
adequate.
The Missional Language
The
missional language found expression as the book took
What follows is a brief overview of how we might
form over that three-year period and thus, became its title.
approach the issue of describing what is meant by
It has now become a part of the
lingua franca of the
missional church. Each of the points developed below
church in North America. Almost everywhere one goes
should be unpacked, understood, appreciated and engaged
today the word
missional or the phrase
missional church is
within the church in a context of dialogue. The missional
used to describe everything from evangelism to re-
church conversation is far more than finding new words
organization plans for denominations, to how we make
for old ideas. It is not about putting new paint over the
coffee in church basements and denominational meeting
cracked and chipped frames of an established way of
rooms. In a very brief period of time a new form of
thinking. The missional church conversation challenges
language entered the common conversation of the church
some of the most basic assumptions we have about the
and diffused itself across all forms of church life. At the
nature and purpose of the church. Implicit in this
same time, it is still not understood by the vast majority of
conversation is the need to challenge and change some of
people in either leadership or the pew. This is a stunning
our assumptions concerning the practice of church life in
accomplishment: from obscurity to banality in eight short
North America. What then are some of the characteristics
years and people still don't know what it means.
of this missional conversation?
These facts suggest something of the flux, stirrings and
search for points of reference that are now shaping the
Missional Church: Characteristics and
church in North America. The missional language would
Meaning
have died and disappeared like so many other words and
1.
Western society as mission field: As indicated in the
movements of the church if there wasn't already present an
introduction, the language of missional church has to do
underlying sense that something is amiss about the
with the recognition that somehow the Western societies
Christian life and identity at this point in time. Anyone
are now themselves a mission field. This is saying
with a passing familiarity with the movements that have
something more than simply needing new evangelism
shaped the church on this continent over the past half-
tactics. To a large extent modern evangelism was
century is aware that this has been a period of massive
practiced from within a context in which people generally
change and upheaval. It was into this context that the
took it for granted that the Christian story was a normative,
missional language came and was received as a hopeful
regulative part of the cultural backdrop within which they
sign of how we could talk again about the challenges
lived. Put simply, most folks knew the basic story in one
facing Christian identity. But at the same time, it is a
form or another. Evangelism was about understanding
testimony to the absorbing power of modernity that the
why they no longer accepted or lived in the story,
missional language could become so meaningless so
developing a form of presentation or apologetic which
quickly. Each of these sides--the readiness of the
church
addressed those issues and pressing for commitment.
to receive
missional language in the midst of tremendous
Evangelism assumed an environment of prior Christian
flux and change, as well as, the capacity of modernity to
understanding or background.
absorb and neutralize it--must be part of our discussion.
What is happening behind these dynamics? What are the
The use of missional language is to suggest that this
implications of the
missional language today in the life of
memory of the Christian story as the essential background
the church?
to evangelism is, in most Western societies, essentially lost
and can no longer be taken for granted. In this sense, most
Western societies are post-Christian and are mission fields.
Missional Church: What Does it Mean?
We can no longer assume that the Gospel story is part of
In conferences, teaching sessions or simply dialogue with
the cultural narrative of people. Now this is more-or-less
other leaders, the question is still continually asked: What
the situation. Certainly, in Europe and England it is the
do you mean by missional church? The non-clergy are the
case that the Christian story is all but a faint and vague
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Theology Matters · Sep/Oct 2004
memory that has no shaping power in people's lives except
toward God not the other way around. The
missio dei is
among increasingly small minorities. In 2002 a major
about a
theocentric rather than
anthropocentric
British tabloid published a front-page interview with a
understanding of Jesus' life, death and resurrection which
Catholic bishop in that country. The headline quote was:
itself, as the apocalyptic engagement of God with the
Christianity has almost expired in the UK! Stark language
world, breaks into creation in order to call forth that which
but not inaccurate. The same comment could be made for
was promised from the beginning--that in this Jesus all
most of Western Europe.
things will be brought back together and made new. The
focus of this movement is doxological. It is not about, in
The majority of the emerging generation in Canada is
the modern, Western, expressive individualist sense,
growing into adulthood with no memory of the Christian
meeting my needs. The personal pronoun is not the
narrative. What must be emphasized here is that twenty-
subject of the narrative; God is the subject.
five years ago this was not the case in Canada. The
corrosive forces of change that had been building up for
This is a fundamental element in the
missional
decades under the surface of popular culture suddenly
conversation. Enough has been written about this issue of
reached the tipping point and rapidly transformed the
the locus and intention of the Gospel and its debasement to
culture. The dislodging of Christian life in Canada from
an individualistic, needs-centered story in North America
the mainstream to the margins has been astoundingly
that it doesn't require further expansion in this brief essay.
rapid. Canada is not unlike America where the same kind
But whenever this part of the conversation takes place, it
of thing can and will happen. Thus, the missional
creates consternation and confusion among both clergy
language was created in order to emphasize that we are
and laity alike. If, they ask, the Gospel isn't about the
confronted with a radically new challenge in the West.
individualistic, personal-need-focus of expressive
We are not in a situation that requires minor adjustments
individuals in North America, then what is the nature of
and course corrections. We're not in a place where simply
the Gospel? The question reveals the level at which our
planting thousands more churches or changing existing
framework must be radically changed in order for the
congregations to
seeker-driven outlets or developing
people in North America to hear and practice the Christian
methodologies for
natural church growth, is going to
narrative once again. There can be no minimizing the
address the massive changes now transforming the
level of the change required for the Gospel to be heard
landscape of the West. We need to fundamentally rethink
again in the West. The language of
missional was coined
the frameworks and paradigms that have shaped the
in order to capture and express a) the locus of the Gospel
church over the last half-century. The basic stance of
on God and God's actions, b) the depth of the compromise
denominations and congregations must be transformed to
that has overtaken Christian life and c) the extent of the
that of missionaries in their own culture. This requires far
challenge we face in addressing this situation.
more than adjustment. It calls for a radically new kind of
church.
3.
Missional church is about the nature and purpose of
the church: The church is an essential part of the
2.
Mission is about the missio dei: Latin phrases may not
missional conversation. The question which the authors of
be the most appropriate form of communication in the 21st
the book
Missional Church set out to address was the
century, but this one does capture a theme central to the
nature of the church in North America as the agency of
missional conversation. If the West, including North
God's mission in the world. That part of the discussion
America, is once again a mission field within which the
focused attention on two critical areas of dialogue a) the
central narratives of the Gospel have been either lost or
nature of the culture in which we currently are located as
profoundly compromised by other values and stories, then
North Americans and b) the purposes of God in the world
the focus of this mission is the
God who has encountered
as revealed by Jesus Christ and his Gospel. In terms of the
us in Jesus Christ--the One whom we confess in the
former, the church is no longer at the center of the culture.
Trinitarian confession of Father, Son and Spirit. This may
This raises fundamental questions about the relationship
seem like such an obvious statement that it needs no
between Christian life and the pluralistic culture in which
comment; however, this is not the case. The missional
we now live. In terms of the latter, the message of Jesus
conversation is convinced that throughout Western
was about the in-breaking of the reign of
God into the
societies, and most especially in North America, there has
world. Therefore, on the basis of both these motifs, the
occurred a fundamental shift in the locus of the
church is the
called out community of God in the midst of
understanding and practice of the Christian story. It is no
the specificity of a culture. The genitive in that phrase (the
longer about God and what God is about in the world; it is
of God) is not an objective but a subjective genitive. In
about how God serves and meets human need. More
other words, the church is called out for the sake of
God;
specifically, the God who encounters us in Jesus Christ has
this is what God has done in Jesus Christ in order to call
become the spiritual food court for the personal, private,
into being a new society whose life and focus is God.
inner needs of expressive individuals. The result is a
debased, compromised, Gnostic form of Christianity
The church is, therefore, an
ecclesia, a called out assembly
which is not the Gospel at all.
whose public life is a
sign, witness, foretaste and
instrument to which God is inviting all creation in Jesus
The biblical narratives are about
God's mission in, through
Christ. The church, in its life together and witness in the
and for the sake of the world. The focus of attention is
world, proclaims the destiny and future of all creation. In
Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry
Page 3
this sense, local congregations are embodiments of where
imagination. People look at churches full of people and it
God is calling all creation. The church anticipates the
seems to them that these are signs that all is well in the
eschatological future of all created things through the
land. Indeed, the assumption is that if there is a problem
power of the Spirit. This is why Lesslie Newbigin gave so
with a specific congregation or denomination, in terms of
much energy in his early writing to understanding the
dwindling membership or finances, it is because that
nature of
election in the biblical narratives of the reign of
particular group has wedded itself to outdated
God. Election is not the
rescue of human beings from
methodologies. All that needs to be done is to figure out
some future damnation. It is the call of men and women
the correct methodology for the moment and recalibrate
(in the mystery of God's purposes) to submit their lives to
the system for success just like those other church groups
the God who encounters us in Jesus Christ
for the sake of
that seem to be thriving. This is precisely the lie that the
the world. Again, to put that into the context of the church
religious leaders of Jerusalem used against Jeremiah prior
in North America (which is largely middle class and
to the exile. It was all a matter of finding the right tactics;
suburban) the call of God is to a vocation for the sake of
God was, after all on their side and nothing could change
the world,
not one's own personal needs. In this context
that reality. Therefore, a little change here, a little
(and not any other in this conversation) the church is not a
tweaking there and all would be well. This is the situation
gathering of those who are finding their needs met in
today.
Jesus. This is a terrible debasement of the announcement
of the reign of God. The God we meet in Jesus calls men
But the formation of a missional church is going to be a
and women in exactly the opposite direction--to
very costly matter. It calls for a people who are willing to
participate in a community that no longer lives for itself
conform their lives to practices and habits of Christian life
and its own needs but as a
contrast society whose very life
which, at their root, are about the willingness to give up
together manifests God's reign. How the North American
one's personal needs and rights. This is a terrifying,
church could take this story, especially one focused around
archaic, almost anti-human thing for most contemporary
the One who, according to Philippians 2
emptied himself
people to imagine. Human life is not about my needs and
by giving up all his rights in obedience to the Father, into a
me! The humanity that God calls into being in Jesus
story about God wanting to meet
my needs, is a question
Christ is one shaped by obedience and conformity to
that makes abundantly clear the church's own need for
habits and practices learned by God's people in the Old
radical conversion to the Gospel of God in Jesus Christ.
Testament through the
Torah and in the early church
through the development of catechesis, offices and
4. As a
contrast society the church is formed around a
practices. Therefore, the missional church is about a way
set of beliefs and practices which continually school and
of life that cuts across the grain not only of the culture but
form it in a way of life which cannot be derived from the
the pastoral models of therapeutics or management and
particular culture in which it is found, but must be
control. Missional church is about the formation of a
embodied in translatable forms within a particular culture.
people in the particularity and materiality of real contexts
Our North American culture is commonly designated as a
in neighborhoods and communities. Therefore, missional
modern or a postmodern one in which individual rights are
leadership is more about the rediscovery of the ancient
paramount. We live in a context where it is simply
work of the
abbot among a people. This is terrifyingly
assumed that in this tolerant and open society personal
hard work for contemporary pastors because nothing in
rights, feelings and desires are to be affirmed. As a
their training or habit of life has prepared them for such a
contrast society the church is formed around a set of
vocation. The missional church conversation calls for
beliefs and practices that continually shape it in a way of
leaders themselves to become novices; but novices who
life which cannot be derived from the particular culture in
return to ancient practices and novices who choose to live
which it is found but must be embodied in translatable
under the authority of Scripture among a community of
forms within a culture. Therefore, missional church is
people where the I is replaced by the We.
about what Catholic missiologists call
ressourcement
meaning a return to the sources. Missional church is not
The Work of a Missional Ecclesiology
about the modern mantra that we must reject the insular,
A major critique of the missional church conversation is
conforming demands of the past with their so-called
that it's primarily an academic discussion among
cultural captivities, for some new future that is all about
intellectuals and academics which, while interesting and
meeting the needs of middle-class expressive individuals.
important, does not lend itself to practical application in
Missional church, like the biblical texts of Jeremiah and
congregations and denominations. It is fair to say that has
Isaiah, is convinced that God has brought the Western
been true. From its beginnings the conversation, shaped to
church into an experience of liminality within its own
a large degree by the
Gospel and Our Culture movement,
cultural world, a place of marginalization, in order that
has been the academic and intellectual work of
through its loss, anxiety and chaos, it might hear again the
missiologists, theologians and biblical scholars seeking to
Word of God. This was the experience of the exile in
bring theological and sociological resources to the
Babylon.
question of the church's missional engagement with our
own culture. The numerous books written by members of
The missional church conversation does not claim a
the Gospel and Our Culture Network (GOCN) reflect that
parallel between our situation and that of Judah after 587
engagement. This has been an appropriate focus of work
BC. The language of exile is alien to the North American
and energy. There was a need to frame the issues the
Page 4
Theology Matters · Sep/Oct 2004
church must address in our context first, from a
learners that results in change. Paulo Friere in Latin
missiological, theological and biblical perspective. The
America understood that change is not simply a matter of
importance of this focus was that it made clear that the
transmitting information but requires a whole new way of
missional church conversation was not just one more tactic
thinking about how people learn for themselves. The
for church growth or other pragmatic means of success.
missional church movement must address this issue of
The work of these academics underlined the extent and
pedagogy and change if this critical conversation is to
depth of the issues that face the churches of the West.
diffuse into the churches in ways that bring about a deep
Therefore, the critique of the movement is accurate and yet
shift in understanding and action.
fails to be cognizant of the monumental shift in biblical
and theological imagination required of the church. The
Third, there is a need to develop tools and resources that
church must return to its sources not by copying some past
congregational and denominational leaders can use in the
time but by discerning the shape of a faithful Christian
work of missional transformation. Within certain elements
witness today.
of the missional church conversation there has existed a
resistance, perhaps disdain, for this kind of practical work.
A second element of the "too theological, too academic"
But the nature of the case is that most of us learn by doing,
critique from pastors and denominational leaders is the
by involving ourselves in processes of missional action
reality that in North America the churches and schools in
that enable us to see an alternative way of being the
the 20th century often failed to cultivate leaders with the
church. The majority of us do not first learn a set of
intellectual capacities to understand or teach theology.
abstract ideas and then put them into practice. Without
Theology is sometimes considered an abstract discipline
well-developed tools, processes and resources for
with little real relevance for the practical work of pastoral
innovating and cultivating missional church, the
ministry. There is a critical need for theologically
movement is dead at birth. To this point a few of those
informed leaders capable of engaging their people in a
within the missional conversation have focused their
very different kind of reflection on what is happening in
attention on addressing this issue. People like Craig Van
their lives and in the church at this moment in time. It is
Gelder, Pat Keifert and myself from within the missional
only a church that re-enters the power of its rich
church movement have made available such tools for the
theological and biblical traditions that will have any
practical application of missional church in congregations
chance of missionally engaging the culture.
and denominational systems.
Having said all that is not to deny that the missional
In conclusion, the missional church conversation is one of
church conversation has, to a very large extent, failed to
the most hopeful movements to emerge in the last decade.
address the issues of translation. It has remained a
This is partly why the term quickly became popular
relatively theoretic and abstract academic conversation
throughout the church. It is an indication of the church's
about the church. Its books and ideas have been shaped
searching for ways to understand its current malaise and
more by internal conversations within the missiological
discover a faithful and fruitful future under the reign of
academy than attentiveness to the needs of the churches.
Christ.
Unless this critical issue is addressed, the missional
movement will die because it has failed to create an
environment which can nourish its life in the churches.
The answer here is not the creation of more missional
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books. Commentaries and hermeneutics on missional
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work for academics which will, over the long term, bear
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fruit for the church. But the pressing need of the moment
is for three things. First, translation of materials and
Theology Matters
resources that make available to pastors and leaders the
P. O. Box 10249
rich resources have already been developed within the
Blacksburg, VA 24062
missional conversation. This work has yet to be done with
any seriousness.
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Second, there is a critical need to understand how people
learn, how they enter into dialogue as communities of
Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry
Page 5
Can the Church be Converted?
How "Missional" Came to College Hill Presbyterian Church
By Stephen Eyre
College Hill Presbyterian Church celebrated its 150th
we observed a great deal of exciting ministry programs,
anniversary in 2003. Throughout its rich and diverse
we didn't find the foundational thinking and theology that
history it has had an impact on Cincinnati and the world.
we hungered for. Eventually we seized on the book
The period of its history during the 70's and 80's was a
Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church
particularly exciting time under the leadership of Jerry
in North America as the guide for our re-visioning and re-
Kirk. Worship services were packed. People showed up
development. What we found in
Missional Church was
15 to 30 minutes early to get a seat. The church developed
exactly the foundational thinking and theology that struck
into an "Equipping Center" for the U.S. and the world.
a spark within us.
People came from all over to take courses on "Rational
Christian Thinking," "Apples of Gold," and "Speaking the
Truth in Love." The church's impact not only included
The Missional Church
worship and education but evangelism and mission as
There were a number of themes in the
Missional Church
well, generating a significant number of PCUSA
that captured our interests and inspired us. Perhaps
missionaries and pastors. In the late 80's Jerry Kirk left the
foremost was the acknowledgement that the church in
church to begin the National Coalition Against
North America was increasingly in a "missionary"
Pornography and in 1991 Pat Hartsock was called to be
situation. The culture was rapidly changing from Christian
the senior pastor/head of staff.
to non-Christian due to the secularizing process that had
been unfolding around us. Life in the late 90's in America
During its "Equipping Center" years, the College Hill
was very different than life in the 70's, particularly in the
Church had struggled with its relationship to the
understanding of the centrality of God. We were conscious
denomination. Of particular concern was the issue of the
that ministry in the present situation could not be merely a
role of active practicing homosexuals in ordained
duplication of the past.
leadership. What was a smoldering fire of concern in the
70's and 80's broke into a full fledged flame in the early
A second theme was the use of the kingdom of God
90's. A significant minority was no longer content to
theology and the unique role of the church. It seemed to us
oppose the homosexual issue within the denomination.
that the church experience was being limited and localized.
Instead they called for the church to pull out. The
Members allotted the church a limited role in their lives,
conflicts over whether to stay or leave consumed the
alongside of all kinds of other activities that competed for
church's energies and despite a good deal of pain and hard
their time. The authors of the
Missional Church described
feelings eventually led to a "gracious separation."
the role of the church in the mind of most people as "
Somewhere between 400 and 600 people left to begin their
...the place where Christianized civilization gathers for
own church in 1996.
worship, and the place where the Christian character of
society is cultivated." (p. 80.) In contrast,
Missional
After such a massive departure, the church was faced with
Church articulated a call for the rediscovery of the
re-staffing and replenishing its leadership. As a result of
kingdom of God as the comprehensive realm of God's rule
the gracious separation all but two of the session members
that encompassed all of life. The church becomes, not
left as well as most of its staff. I came to CHPC in 1997 as
merely a place where one goes, but an instrument of
a part of the new staff team that eventually numbered six
witness that displays to all the world what God's kingdom
ministers/pastors. Much of the wind had been taken out of
is like. As such, the church is not one place among many,
the sails of the church. What were we going to do to get it
but the hub of one's life in which all activities find their
moving again? While building on the church's rich
meaning.
history, we felt that we needed to articulate a new vision
for the church that captured imaginations and inspired
A third theme of the
Missional Church was that of
members. In search of material for the vision we visited
community. Instead of the church being "a place where"
several mega churches around the country and attended
religious goods and services were provided for the
several "advanced" church leadership conferences. While
Christian public, we hungered to cultivate a network of
people in Christ who were interwoven into life-shaping
relationships. As the authors of the
Missional Church put
it, "The church is not simply a gathering of well-meaning
Rev. Stephen Eyre is Associate Pastor at College Hill
individuals who have entered into social contracts to meet
Presbyterian Church. Stephen has authored many books,
their privately defined self-interests. It is, instead, an
Bible studies and devotional guides. Stephen is also the
intentional and disciplined community witness to the
author of the Theology Matters'
Heidelberg study.
power and the presence of God's reign" (p. 158).
Page 6
Theology Matters · Sep/Oct 2004
A fourth theme from the
Missional Church that resonated
England, under the influence of Newbigin, had been
deeply with the new staff team was the entanglement of
struggling with on an academic level for a decade or so.
church and culture created by the Christendom of our
But whether on an academic level or on the local church
European heritage. The authors lamented that "discipleship
level, all of us were faced with the shocking reality that the
has been absorbed into citizenship" (p. 78). The tangle of
West was no longer a Christian culture and that Western
gospel and culture in the end meant both the loss of the
Christians were now in a missionary situation. Instead of
church's unique identity, as well as, its sense of mission.
the word "missions," Hunsberger, Guder and others coined
We wanted our congregation to become an intentional
the word
missional because the word
mission had come to
community with a clear sense of Christian identity and
mean proclamation of the Gospel "across the seas" and on
mission in the midst of our secularizing culture.
the "mission field." What was needed was a word that
meant we were engaged in mission, not only "over there,"
but "over here" as well.
Spreading the Word
Having become convinced "missional" was honoring to
As it had been practiced in the West by the evangelical
God and faithful to the gospel, our task now was to spread
church for the past centuries, evangelism assumed a
the word. Our first challenge was to seek session support.
Christian culture shared between the speaker and the
We began session meetings an hour early, initially for six
listener. In a common Christian culture both the speaker
months, but the time spread far beyond that. We assigned
and the listener shared an understanding of God, sin, and
books to read, made presentations and had lively
the ultimate fate of humanity beyond death. The
discussions. The response from the session was
evangelistic task was, for the most part, to seek to bring
encouraging but not overwhelming. Many session
conviction of sin to the unconverted and extend a call to
members didn't quite "get it." One problem was the word
believe what the speaker and listener both "knew" to be
"missional." It was a word they had never heard before
true. Even those who didn't believe the Gospel to be true
and it seemed cumbersome. And what was the difference
understood its meaning. The missional perspective
between missions and missional anyway? If we were
however, requires that the speaker of the gospel now grasp
seeking to introduce a missional vision, were we saying
that such common shared understanding can no longer be
that College Hill hadn't been involved in mission and
assumed and that a translation effort must take place if the
evangelism in the past? Didn't our church have a great
Gospel is to be understood.
track record in both evangelism and mission?
In order to help the session understand the missionary
Not only was the concept of missional difficult, the
challenge we are now facing in our own country, my paper
application of the missional perspective to specific
told the session the story of "The Peace Child." The
ministry programs was difficult as well. While we, the
missionary Don Richardson faced cultural barriers that
pastoral staff, were talking about the need for a change of
kept the Sawi people in Irian Jaya from understanding the
"identity" of the church within the broader culture, session
Gospel. The Sawis were head hunters and cannibals. They
members wanted to know what programs and practices
lived in a constant state of conflict with other head hunting
were going to be put into place. Our response, "It will
cannibal tribes in their area.
emerge as we go forward" was hardly the clear and
In the context of their culture they could not understand
compelling call to action that session members were
Jesus as a savior, only a fool, because they valued betrayal
looking for. Looking back on that time period it amazes
as the highest expression of social skill. To their way of
me that the session was not more resistant. They
thinking, Judas was a hero and Jesus was a sap. Only when
continued to ask questions, we continued to lead
Richardson discovered the concept of the Peace Child was
discussions.
he able to actually translate the Gospel faithfully so that it
could be understood culturally. The peace child, a
swapping of two infants between warring tribes, was a
Missional Foundations
means by which hostile tribes could trust each other. As
In the fall of 1999 I wrote a paper that attempted to
long as the peace child lived, tribes were bound to keep the
summarize the essential concepts of the missional church
peace. The murder of a peace child was the one act of
for the session using as its basis the work of Lesslie
treachery that was considered unacceptable. Richardson
Newbigin. I had been exposed to the work of Newbigin for
realized this insight provided the key to "translating the
some years through George Hunsberger, one of the authors
gospel" in ways that connected to the tribe's mental world
of
Missional Church. Leslie Newbigin, a missionary to
and culture. Once the Gospel was proclaimed in the
India for 40 years, retired to his home in England and
context of their culture, Jesus as God's peace child, they
discovered that he was as surrounded by the unconverted
truly heard the Gospel and responded.
at home as he had been on the "mission field." He
published a revolutionary article in a mission publication
In light of the missionary task before us, the paper
in 1967 entitled,
"Can the West be Converted?"
challenged the session to find ways to translate the gospel
so that the secularized people around us could grasp its
That article of Newbigin's became a catalyst. I wanted the
meaning as Richardson had done with the Sawi people.
session to see that what we were beginning to struggle
with as a church, missiologists in North America and
Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry
Page 7
What's Next?
Before we could begin to think together in earnest they
As we moved into 2000, members of session finally
needed to be brought into the missional discussion. The
seemed to be getting the idea of the missional church and
book I used to "initiate" them was one that I had recently
were willing to talk about moving forward. But then we
come across by Alan Roxburgh, also an author of the
faced a new set of problems. What specifically and
Missional Church. He had written another book on the
concretely would this change of thinking mean for setting
missional challenge,
Crossing the Bridge:
Church
the direction of the church? How would the way we do
Leadership in Time of Change. What attracted me to this
ministry change?
book was that Roxburgh not only talked about the
missional church, but he also addressed the leadership
One area that we explored was worship. We were aware
actions necessary to move a church from traditional to
that our style of "blended worship" that had worked so
missional. Drawing upon biblical resources, Roxburgh
well at College Hill Presbyterian Church for the past 30
drew insights for leadership from Israel's exilic and post-
years didn't seemed to be connecting across the age
exilic period. Just as with Israel in its exilic and post-exilic
spectrum anymore. Older members of the church didn't
experience, turbulence and discomfort could be expected
enjoy some of the more "cutting edge" contemporary
in the church due to vast shifts that were taking place in
pieces that were now being "blended" in. Younger
Western culture.
members were becoming impatient with the classical
music that we "blended" into our worship services. How
Several months into our discussions there was a growing
could the idea of the missional church help us continue to
understanding of missional. There was a growing
minister to the older members of our church while
understanding of the challenges that missional
connecting with the younger members of our congregation
transformation brought to leadership. But there was little
who were drifting off to churches that offered a more
new insight into the session's questions about what steps
contemporary style?
needed to be taken in our missional journey. Since
Roxburgh's book so directly addressed the issues of
We also explored how our facility could be considered
missional leadership, I thought it might be good to invite
from a missional perspective. We wondered how our
him to speak. I issued the invitation, and then asked the
sanctuary could be altered to enhance more diverse styles
"Think Tank" if they would help me pull off the event.
of worship. We also sensed that there was a new hunger
for gathering spaces. Starbucks and book stores like
In the fall of 2001 Roxburgh spoke to the session on
Barnes and Nobles were rising up all over Cincinnati to
Friday night and then to 70 or 80 members in our
meet the need. We wondered how we could alter our
Fellowship Hall the next day. Chatting by the podium
facility in order to make the church a gathering place.
before I introduced him on Saturday, Roxburgh said to me
almost under his breath "I warn you, you are entering into
The exploration of worship and facilities changes occupied
a process." Having been engaged in a process for the
us during most of 2000 and 2001. But there was more to
preceding couple of years, I was sure I knew what he
be done. While worship and facility changes were a good
meant. Looking back now in the fall of 2004, I realize that
place to start, they merely seemed to be first steps towards
I had little understanding how much process, difficult
recreating the church as missional in a way that would
process, was before us.
impact our entire congregation. When the session wanted
to know what else we could do, our response for specific
Roxburgh generated a great deal of interest and energy.
concrete steps was limited. As a pastoral staff we admitted
This event was the first time the word
missional had been
that this was all new ground for us as well and we really
introduced to members of the congregation at large. His
weren't sure what was next. But we were confident that it
grasp of cultural shifts, biblical concepts, and
would emerge. Our task was to keep moving in the
organizational dynamics connected with those who came.
direction that we believed God was leading us.
After the weekend was over, both the Think Tank and the
pastoral staff felt that we had made another step forward.
Yet we knew that we still had a long way to go. The
The Missional "Think Tank"
session continued to ask,
What difference will missional
In addition to asking what the next steps were for ministry,
make? and
How will it affect our ministries? The answer
session members were asking how to create an awareness
that emerged from the weekend was, "It will make all the
and understanding of the missional church within the
difference in the world in the way that we are a church, but
congregation. In the late summer of 2001, I invited a few
we can't yet say what it will look like."
people to meet with me on a weekly basis "just to talk"
about developing a strategy for cultivating leadership in
order to move the church forward.
Missional Readiness Leadership Team
(MRLT)
Those who were invited were motivated and capable
In addition to writing and speaking, Roxburgh was
strategic thinkers. As we focused on leadership, the
beginning to do consultation with churches and
missional concepts that session was working with began to
presbyteries on the missional process. Our conversations
work their way into our discussion. They had not yet been
with him were especially satisfying as it felt good to be in
exposed to the missional conversations of the session.
touch with others who were engaged in the same
Page 8
Theology Matters · Sep/Oct 2004
challenges that we were facing. Both the Think Tank and
development of Missional Action Teams and meetings
the pastoral staff began to consider entering into a
with the session.
consultation contract with Roxburgh.
Roxburgh and his colleague Romanuk developed a survey
When we approached the session with that idea, there was
instrument that discerned four general behavior states of a
a cautious restraint. Session members wanted to know
congregation relative to "missional readiness:" stage one,
why we needed a consultant when the pastoral staff team
reactive; stage two,
developmental; stage three,
had been so active in leading the process to this point.
transitional; stage four,
transformational. The survey
While we hadn't answered all their questions, the pastoral
turned up a number of interesting insights. While College
staff seemed to be moving the church forward. Our answer
Hill was not at the reactive stage one, neither were we at
was that this shift from traditional to missional was
the transformational level four. Clearly we were on the
something that none of us had ever actually led a church
way but there was more work to be done.
through before. While we didn't want to abdicate
leadership, we felt it wise to be connected with someone
In addition, the survey picked up a number of concerns.
who was completely focused on missional transformation
There was a growing disaffection with pastoral leadership
and who was engaged with others in the same process.
in the congregation. People wanted a clear and compelling
direction, and they weren't getting it. There was also a
A next step was to invite Roxburgh back for another
growing sense of disconnect between various ministries
weekend in the late winter. Again the Think Tank stepped
within the church. The word "silo" kept popping up in the
in and made the event happen, masterfully covering all the
essay comments of the survey. Rather than a smooth
details. However, the Think Tank was covering more than
functioning organization, the congregation was sensing
just program details. True to form as strategic thinkers,
underlying tensions related to "turf" in our various
members of the Think Tank were now interacting on a
ministry departments. In addition, the survey discovered
regular basis with Roxburgh. They were exploring with
that there was a disconnect between people and ministries.
him what missional meant and what was required for
People who wanted to become involved couldn't seem to
organizational change. As we moved toward a consultation
find a way to use their gifts.
relationship, they were becoming primary "change
agents."
As we met with Roxburgh in our pastoral consultation
times, we struggled over these discoveries from the
Although I had received the session's approval before
survey. It became clear that there were organizational
beginning the Think Tank, the session was becoming
structure conflicts that needed to be addressed, as well as,
uncomfortable with the increasingly visible and significant
relational tensions among us as a pastoral team.
role the Think Tank was playing in shaping the life of
Clearly we had things to learn about being a team that
College Hill. Clearly it now was much more than an
worked well together. Roxburgh explained that there were
informal group to help me think. The solution was for the
different types of team models available to us. For
session to charter the group, naming it the Missional
instance, a football team functions one way, a baseball
Readiness Leadership Team (MRLT). In order to make
team another and a basketball team in yet another. The
sure that leadership for church-wide change was coming
data from his survey suggested that we were functioning
through the session, two session members were placed on
as a baseball team, playing on the same field, but in a
the team.
highly individualistic way. A more effective type of team
for the missional church was the basketball team that
moved the ball down the court by constantly passing it
The Roxburgh Consultation
back and forth in a spontaneous but highly coordinated
The session agreed to a consultation relationship initially
way.
for nine months, but the consultation ultimately extended
to almost sixteen months. The Roxburgh consultation
One could guess that we were in trouble as a team when
process was built around a sociological change model that
Roxburgh assigned the book,
The Five Dysfunctions of a
involved five phases, moving from awareness and
Team! After a year or so, the results of the consultation
understanding at stage one to commitment, phase five.
within the pastoral staff resulted in a loss of three of the
What was especially helpful about this change model was
five staff members.
the insight that asking for commitment too soon was
counter-productive. Gone were the days when a leader
While the staff component of the consultation process was
could proclaim a vision and then expect commitment.
important, there was another component taking place at the
Participation in a process that facilitated deepening levels
same time that was perhaps more important, the Missional
of involvement was essential to organizational change.
Action Teams (MATs). These teams engaged in a creative
listening process that asked the "next-steps" questions in
Each phase of the change process was connected with a
ways that were not simplistic or reactionary but
series of tools and tasks such as a survey of the
nevertheless provided clear and concrete actions. Since it
congregation, weekend seminars for members at large,
was so central to the process, there is a separate article
periodic day-long consultations with the pastoral staff, the
following this one on the MAT's, written by Valerie
Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry
Page 9
Hershberger, a member of the Missional Readiness
have an interim senior head of staff who is working on a
Leadership Team.
D.Min. in missional studies.)
As the MAT's completed their work, the direction we
We had no clue of how difficult or long this missional
hoped for the church began to emerge. One MAT had
journey would take. But almost all who have been
written a clear and compelling vision statement that called
engaged in this journey would say that it is the right one;
our congregation into the future. A second MAT
and we would say that it is not only right for College Hill
articulated a fresh approach to engaging the different
Presbyterian Church but for all churches in our historical
generations of the church. A third MAT called for
and cultural context. Christendom is gone and the church
leadership development processes that educated all church
no longer occupies a privileged place in our society. The
officers with a missional perspective and skills. A fourth
church had configured itself to minister to a reality that no
MAT called for a new way to think about our whole
longer exists. Far reaching change is a necessity. For
Sunday morning experience that will nurture those who
College Hill, the missional process has required us to
hunger for a "traditional" Christian worship while yet
rethink our worship, our staffing, our facilities, our
reaching out to those who don't "speak" traditional
organization, our education and our outreach programs.
Christian. These proposals and reports were written up and
published in a full color magazine entitled the Jubilee
Not long ago I was in a worship strategy meeting and
Journey in the winter of 2003. (A copy can be found on
someone asked, "Tell me again what missional means." I
our web-site, CHPC.org.)
responded, "The missional process is the shift from the
church as an institution in a Christian culture, to a
community in mission in a non-Christian culture."
A Summarizing Reflection
Someone else said, "Say that again." I repeated "The
We are now over five years into our missional journey.
missional process is the shift from the church as an
Due to a congregational crisis back in 1996, the new
institution in a Christian culture, to a community in
pastoral staff team set out to seek a future from God for
mission in a non-Christian culture." There was a quiet
College Hill Presbyterian Church that could build on its
deep sense of resonance around the room.
rich past. That has happened. People again are engaging
in mission and ministries with emerging enthusiasm and
understanding.
As we moved along in our missional challenge, what the
future actually looked like has been vague throughout
Sermons no Marriage Wanted!
most of our journey. Often there was a sense of walking
forward into a gray fog. With good reason, the session
Theology Matters will publish several
kept asking for clear and concrete steps. For much of this
sermons on marriage in the spring issue. If
time we had a sense of direction, but we did not have
you have a sermon that you would like
"answers." Only recently have the contours of the vision
begun to emerge through the gray.
considered for publication,
send it by January 15 to
At times, the Church experienced anger, mistrust,
suspicion and accusations both within the staff team and
Theology Matters
with members of the congregation. More people have left
P.O. Box 10249
the church than have become new members. The staff
team we now have is not the one we started with. (We now
Blacksburg, VA 24062
Page 10
Theology Matters · Sep/Oct 2004
The Initial Steps of Transformation
By Valerie Hershberger
By the year 2000, the members and leadership of College
kingdom of God on earth, it was certainly Christianized,
Hill Presbyterian Church knew something was wrong, but
that is, highly influenced in laws, common values, and
no one could clearly identify just what it was. The
moral structures by the basic tenets of the Christian faith.
church had once been known as "a great church" with
Theologians call this "Christendom," and reference the
steadily increasing membership, a nationally known
reign of Constantine as the time Christianity became
ministry. It was a magnet for motivated people of faith
central to Western culture. In addition to all the cultural
from all over the city. There had been in the 90's a
changes listed already, Christians and their churches are
change of pastoral leadership, a change of vision and call,
no longer at the center of the new pluralistic American
and a split as a large number of members decided to leave
culture and are having a difficult time finding their way in
the denomination and set up a new evangelical church. It
the new landscape.
was still a large church, with nearly 900 attendees on
Sunday morning, but there were signs of stress and
College Hill Presbyterian Church found itself in this
distress throughout the church. Leaders of various
landscape in the late 90's. It had become a refuge from
ministries who had picked up responsibility after the split
the world, a place of stability and familiarity in a strange
felt tired and alone, without adequate support or interest
land. But as it has become irrelevant to the culture, it
from others in the congregation. The amount of money
was also a place starting to show the first signs of decay.
being given to the church was in steady decline from year
Into this situation, came the word "missional," as
to year. Efforts at new programs and ministries seemed
described by Dr. Roxburgh in another article.
nearly always to fail, and there was starting to be a
pervading sense of cynicism. The age of church
attendees was rising as young adults in their 20's and 30's
left the church after happy years in the youth programs to
The Initial Steps of Transformation
go to newer, non-denominational churches which seemed
This article focuses on just one part of the transformation
to be more focused on them and their needs. There was a
process that College Hill Presbyterian Church is
growing rift between people in the pews and the total lay
undergoing. It is not the only important part of the
and pastoral leadership of the church; members saw
process, but it is proving to be one of the very critical
leaders as increasingly out of touch with the thoughts and
elements.
feelings of the congregation, and leaders felt increasingly
frustrated at issues that seemed unsolvable no matter what
As described in a separate article, Rev. Stephen Eyre
they did.
called together some strategic thinkers within the church
to help him think about how to grow and improve the
The natural inclination was for everyone, leadership and
leadership of the church. With time, and especially
congregation, to look inward to identify root causes for
interaction with Dr. Alan Roxburgh, that team evolved
these issues and find ways to solve them. And certainly,
into a chartered team of the session with the elaborate
there were and are internal issues. However, it was not
name of Missional Readiness Leadership Team or MRLT.
until the church looked outward that it found the primary
This team worked with the session (including the
root cause: the culture around us is changing at a fast
ordained pastors) and on behalf of the session to get the
pace, and increasingly sees us and our customs as
church started on the missional path.
irrelevant. And many of us, shocked and overwhelmed at
It would be nice to be able to describe a clear step-by-step
the rate of cultural change, were unwittingly striving to
process of how to do this. We on the MRLT or on the
make the church a place with minimal change, a place
session certainly would have liked to have had such a
where we could catch our breath and relax, even recharge,
process handed to us. But that is not the nature of the
to enable us to survive the rest of the week in
major cultural shifts which are now starting to happen
the maelstrom our lives have become. This maelstrom is
within established North American Christianity. The
the result of rapid technological change, the erosion of
dilemma we faced was how to get started so that the
traditional morals and families, the increasing
effort didn't die either from missteps or the active
sexualization of entertainment and advertising, the 24/7
resistance of people who are frightened of change.
pace of global businesses, and the scramble to just stay
employed in a very competitive job market.
The session engaged Dr. Alan Roxburgh as a consultant
to provide us with some of these practical processes to
It took additional help to see what else was also
help us get started. Even here, the MRLT worked
happening--the loss of Christianity as the bedrock of the
closely with him to adapt these approaches to the
American culture. While the USA was never the
situation at CHPC, and sometimes we were just feeling
our way as we took each step. Thus, we started with Dr.
Roxburgh by asking him to do a series of weekend
Valerie Hershberger is an elder at College Hill
training seminars/workshops for our leadership and
Presbyterian Church. She has served in a variety of
congregation. We quickly realized that before making
ministries. She has a degree in Chemical Engineering.
any changes we needed to have as many people as
Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry
Page 11
possible understanding and wrestling with this new idea
systems, although they were directly accountable to the
of "missional church" and what that could mean for
session. The MAT process would turn out to be one of
College Hill Presbyterian. It turned out that this fit
the most powerful mechanisms to both jump start change
naturally with a change model that Dr. Roxburgh shared
and to work through old issues and resistance in the
with us, as illustrated below:
congregation.
Transition Model
To begin, the session had a weekend retreat with Dr.
Roxburgh in which the session identified the top several
Commitment
challenges facing the church. The top four were selected
!
for the establishment of intense and fast moving
!
Missional Action Teams (or MAT's). Dr. Roxburgh's
Involvement
guidance
was that these were to be significant issues, and
!
challenging enough that we might reasonably question
!
whether the teams would be able to tackle them
Support
successfully. The session selected and then detailed their
!
questions and advice concerning these areas: Vision,
!
Leadership, Sunday Morning, and Generations. The
Understanding
final act at the retreat was to choose several session
!
members to serve on a nominating/recruitment committee
!
to staff these teams.
Awareness
!
Charters for each team were adopted at the next session
!
meeting, and the recruiting began for the MAT's.
Unfortunately, as the recruiting began in earnest in
Awareness I know what it is
October, the team found that people were reluctant to
Understanding I know what it means
make a commitment to an activity that was potentially
Support I think it should be done
going to require a lot of time as the holiday season
Involvement I want to do it personally
approached. The kickoff was moved to the end of
Commitment I will do it even if nobody else does
January, and recruiting was successfully completed by
December.
Dr. Roxburgh explained that people must go through all
Dr. Roxburgh strongly advised not having any ordained
the steps without skipping any, and that it takes a typical
pastors on the teams. He pointed out that the laity of the
organization about 3 to 5 years for most of the people to
church had become personally disempowered, and were
go through all the steps for a major change. He also
overly dependent on the pastors. Certainly, talking to the
explained that it only takes 10-15% of the organization's
pastors would be an important activity of each team, but
population to be committed to make the change self-
having pastors on the teams would circumvent the
sustaining.
process. This was uncomfortable for many leaders, but
we all eventually agreed to try it. The session
As a result of these models, and studying recommended
recruiting/nominating team developed additional MAT
books on becoming missional, the MRLT decided to
member guidelines. Because a perception had developed
recommend to the session that we work with Dr.
broadly in the congregation that the church was being run
Roxburgh in two phases. The first phase would focus on
by a limited "in-crowd," the team decided to avoid
building awareness and understanding by inviting the
putting anyone on the team from the session or staff, or
leadership and congregation to attend the teaching
even the relatives of session members or staff. While
seminars by Dr. Roxburgh. Five of these were scheduled
this did eliminate some very capable people from
through the Summer and Fall of 2002.
consideration, we were fortunate in having many talented
and excellent people in the congregation. The recruiting
After the session assessed the impact of these seminars,
team came up with a list of 30-50 people for each team,
which many on the session found were positively
which with discussion and prayer, they prioritized and
received and created excitement about the possible future
contacted. Each team finally ended up with 7 to 9
of CHPC, the second phase was initiated.
members.
In this phase, 4-6 fast moving teams would be established
Dr. Roxburgh developed and guided the overall process.
to tackle the biggest, most important issues and
All teams were given notebooks, which guided their
challenges facing the church. Dr. Roxburgh would guide
work. The overall effort was to take six months,
these teams through a specific process to keep them from
proceeding in three increments. First, a listening phase,
falling into old behaviors and traps that would block
in which the teams were to listen to the congregation
breakthrough thinking. These teams were called
regarding their specific challenge areas. Second, an
Missional Action Teams, or MAT's, and they would
options development phase where the information from
largely function outside of the established structures and
the listening would be used to create various options for
Page 12
Theology Matters · Sep/Oct 2004
addressing the challenge area. And finally, a planning
believed that the process was clear, that most of the
phase which would focus on one option and develop it
people on the teams had been to one of Dr. Roxburgh's
sufficiently to enable implementation.
seminars, and that the teams would hit the ground
running. But the teams had a lot of questions and doubts
The MRLT liked the proposal, but was concerned that it
and concerns that had to be processed before they could
would be difficult to go through such an intense process
begin.
and then be able to communicate fully and convincingly
to the session at the end of the six months. So the MRLT
First, they needed frequent reassurance that their work
established bi-monthly review dates with the session,
would not be in vain. So many things had begun and
roughly corresponding to the end of each phase, for the
faded away at the church in recent years that there was an
teams to review their work to that point and receive
understandable concern that "missional" was just the
questions. In-between these dates, the MRLT
flavor of the day which would fade away as well. MAT
scheduled intra-MAT reviews for the teams to discuss
members were hearing conflicting messages from
how things were going with each other and with Dr.
individual members of the session, some of whom were
Roxburgh. Finally, since Dr. Roxburgh was only going
very enthusiastic and some of whom clearly had a wait
to be with us once a month, the MRLT worked with him
and see attitude. The MRLT committed to the MAT's
to design a coaching configuration. Two members of the
and to itself to make sure that leadership commitments
MRLT became coaches to each of the teams to assist with
and healthy processes would be in place and functioning
the process and to act as a conduit back to Dr. Roxburgh
by the end of the MAT process to ensure none of the
with questions. The MRLT also met weekly to discuss
work would be discounted or lost.
among ourselves how the teams were proceeding and to
advise each other as coaches.
Second, the MAT's all struggled with the listening phase.
As Dr. Roxburgh predicted, everyone would have
To help everyone in the congregation understand what
preferred to jump right into creating new ideas and
was going on, the MRLT also took on the task of ongoing
problem solving and were uncomfortable with the
communication. A letter outlining the MAT process was
perceived delay. The teams were not sure that they
sent to everyone in the congregation. Periodic updates
would acquire very much more information or
were published in the church newsletter,
In The Shadow
perspective by listening to the congregation, since they
of The Belltower. And all members of the MRLT took
saw themselves as typical members of the congregation.
the time to answer questions from anyone in the
Eventually, some people decided to move ahead just
congregation.
because this was the outlined process and to trust Dr.
Roxburgh. Some people decided that they could be
At the kickoff meeting, Dr. Roxburgh outlined the six
comfortable with this as long as the team listened outside,
month process and especially the listening process. He
as well as, inside the church, to the community and to the
explained that the natural tendency would be to jump
culture and even to those new non-denominational
immediately into action planning, but if this approach
churches which had so successfully attracted our younger
could work, these issues would have been solved already.
generations. One team decided that it would focus on
Many capable and motivated people had tackled these
"listening" to the Holy Spirit through prayer and the study
before. He suggested that as followers of Christ, we all
of Scripture.
have the Holy Spirit and that by listening and dialogue we
would hear the voice of the Spirit speaking to us. The
Third, the teams were all concerned with how to
task was not just to solve a problem, but to advance the
interweave their work with the other MAT's. There was
church in each area toward becoming missional. In fact,
a perception in the church that ministry areas had become
the many issues inside each challenge would probably not
isolated and divided silos, and there was a strong desire
all be solved because many would likely be contradictory.
for the MAT process to avoid perpetuating this situation.
Each team's challenge was to find a new way, which
Dr. Roxburgh strongly encouraged the teams to set this
would solve some of the issues but also would move the
aside until later in the process, and the MRLT's plan to
church forward toward the missional goal. The MRLT
have periodic intra-MAT meetings seemed to help, but
gave every team member a copy of Erwin McManus'
An
the teams quickly decided to have some ongoing
Unstoppable Force as a way of enabling them quickly to
conversations between teams as well.
align their understanding of what it meant to be a
missional church.
Each team decided to meet once per week. As they
began, they were both excited and overwhelmed.
Finally, the MRLT outlined just two "rules" for the
teams: (a) they could not decide to leave the Presbyterian
The teams coordinated listening by setting up a location
Church, and (b) they could not hire or fire anyone, which
on the church campus on Sunday morning after each
is the responsibility of the Personnel Committee of the
service and advertising to the congregation. A couple of
session.
teams outlined specific questions to prompt input. All
the teams initially had to recruit people to come talk to
Thus we started with hope and enthusiasm, but
them, since this was new for the congregation and there
immediately ran into difficulties. We on the MRLT
was a lack of understanding and trust. One team had
Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry
Page 13
their team members visit all the small groups in the
presentation, each table had a short discussion and
church and interviewed them. However, after a few
developed questions for the presenters.
weeks, the teams were fully engaged in listening and
astonished at what they were hearing. Many people in
The final phase involved the teams developing their
the congregation felt that they were being ignored by the
preferred option more fully and developing
church leadership, their opinions uninvited and unwanted
implementation ideas. The teams were committed only
by lay and pastoral leaders alike. Others wanted to serve,
to the development of the ideas and recommendations,
but couldn't figure out how to plug in and use their God-
not to the implementation which the session would own.
given gifts. And the contradictory desires arose early,
They wrestled with how detailed to get with the
such as the styles of music desired in Sunday morning
implementation recommendations and they were starting
worship. Even those MAT members who were
to become weary. The final presentations to the session
questioning the wisdom of listening as a way to begin,
were completed in September of 2003 with such quality
came to believe that this process was therapeutic for the
and depth of spirituality that the session moved
church.
spontaneously to a standing ovation. The new vision
touched hearts and brought tears to many eyes, the
Just as important was the information that was gathered
leadership ideas stirred up passion and commitment, and
by "listening" to Scripture, to the Holy Spirit, to the
the new Sunday morning and generation proposals and
culture, and to other churches. The Sunday Morning
thoughtfulness brought hope.
MAT spent considerable time understanding what was
happening among young people on college campuses, and
The new Vision statement was, College Hill Presbyterian
in newer non-denominational churches. The Vision MAT
Church: A Jubilee Community; Connecting, Serving and
studied Scripture, looked at the vision statements of other
Celebrating.
churches, considered the church history and patterns of
successful ministries and prayed. The Generations MAT
· Connecting people to God and each other. Freeing us
delved into generational differences via discussions,
to understand, live and tell God's story.
reading, and interviews. The Leadership MAT read
· Growing generations serving side by side, empowered
extensively about leadership in both church and secular
by servant leaders.
books.
· Celebrating continually the finished work of Jesus
Christ.
As the time came for the report to the session, the teams
requested additional time to finish their listening and
The Leadership recommendations were:
summarize their findings. An additional month was
allocated. They all had a lot of negative input that was
Leaders will consciously cultivate, shape and nurture a
either tangential to their challenge or just isolated
culture that lives the vision at CHPC. This will be
comments. The teams coalesced the information into key
accomplished via the following "building blocks."
themes and shared examples of those themes. Isolated or
tangential comments were not shared in the presentation
· Defining the culture via: 1) Adopting core principles;
to the session, only major themes and examples.
2) Implementing pastorate expectations, 3) Becoming a
learning community.
The next phase focused strongly on figuring out what to
· Training and equipping people to be leaders in this
do. The teams spent many of their meetings wrestling
culture via: creating a Missional Academy.
with what they heard and learned, and how to do more
than problem solve, but move toward becoming
missional. It was not a simple task, since they had to
· Reinforcing and supporting the culture via:
keep reminding themselves that they were not charged
organizational design.
with making everybody happy in the end. They explored
a lot of different directions during this phase and went
The key Generations ideas were:
down a number of blind alleys. Interestingly, as they
came to the next scheduled meeting with the session, they
To become "
transgenerational" in our way of living.
were already starting to converge on the direction and key
Transgenerational goes beyond the mere presence of
option they wanted to develop more fully in the next
several generations and speaks to the interactions and
phase. The teams again did not feel ready for the review,
relationships between the generations.
but instead of delaying the review with the session, the
MRLT set up a working meeting where the teams
Transgenerational strategy includes: Healthy relationships
reported in a more informal way, sharing their progress
across the generations; mentoring to build up the body for
but also their issues and challenges. In anticipation of
mission; mission side-by-side with members of other
this different process, the MRLT set up a different
generations, shared leadership across the generations.
meeting configuration and process. Four tables were set
up which corresponded to each of the teams, and session
Sunday morning changes proposed were:
members spread among the teams. Then after each
To make a deliberate choice to reach the lost we will
create 3 Transgenerational "events" on Sunday morning.
Page 14
Theology Matters · Sep/Oct 2004
1. A family service for parents and their children entitled
we encourage people to begin to understand the call of
Kaleidoscope
God on our lives individually and together as a body in
2. A seeker event (not a worship service) entitled Epic
reaching out to the culture around us with the good news.
3. A traditional style service, but even deeper and richer
This seems to slow us down but is actually helping to lay
than what we have had entitled Heritage
a new foundation for the new ministries that we believe
God will call into being for His purposes among us. The
At the next session meetings in September and October,
transformation will require a few more years and the
the session moved to adopt the key directional recom-
movement forward continues even when it seems not to.
menddations, but not the implementation recommend-
dations. Many of the implementation ideas were contro-
versial, and threatened to mire down progress through
debate on these items. Instead, the session delegated
sorting out those details to new Implementation Teams
which the session set up and then allocated session
members to.
Suggested Additional Reading
The MAT's were thanked by the session, and
decommissioned. MAT members were invited to
Bosch, David, 1991.
Transforming Mission:
Paradigm
continue on with the Implementation Teams, and while
Shifts in Theology of Mission. Orbis Books, Maryknoll,
some did accept this invitation, most declined in
NY.
weariness and a desire to return to those ministries and
Gibbs, Eddie, 2000.
Church Next: Quantum Changes in
family activities that has been put on hold for seven
How We Do Ministry. InterVarsity Press, Downers
months.
Grove, IL.
Guder, Darrell, ed, 1998.
Missional Church:
A Vision for
The session's next challenge was to communicate the
the Sending of the Church in North America. W. B.
recommendations and decisions to the congregation. A
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI.
small communications committee was formed that used a
Guder, Darrell, 2000.
The Continuing Conversion of the
variety of means and media to reach the congregation. A
Church: W. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI.
full color report was written, published and handed out
Hauerwas, Stanley and Willimon, William.
Resident
free to the congregation through the generosity of an
Aliens: 1989. Abington Press, Nashville, TN.
anonymous donor.The MAT people and
Hunsberger, George and Van Gelder, Craig, ed, 1996
.
recommendations were highlighted at a congregational
The Church between Gospel and Culture; W. B.
meeting. The new Vision was presented from the pulpit
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI.
on a Sunday morning. Brief seminars were held to share
Newbigin, Lesslie, 1986.
Foolishness to the Greeks. W.
the results of each team in more detail and to answer
B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI.
questions on Sundays after each service, and again on a
Newbigin, Lesslie, 1989. The
Gospel in a Pluralist
weekday evening. This continued until Thanksgiving of
Society. W. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI.
2003, at which time both the communications committee
McManus, Erwin, R, 2000.
The Unstoppable Force,
and the MRLT disbanded. The MRLT felt strongly that
Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN.
although they had worked together very well, it was
Roxburgh, Alan, 2000.
Crossing the Bridge: Church
important for them to disband to avoid becoming a
Leadership in a Time of Change. Percept Group.
"power" group in the church, and to ensure that
Van Gelder, Craig, 2000.
The Essence of the Church:
A
leadership of the implementation would rest completely
Community Created by the Spirit. Baker Books, Grand
with the session.
Rapids, MI.
Van Gelder, Craig, ed, 1999.
Confident Witness
Where Are We Now?
Changing Worlds: Rediscovering the Gospel in North
The MAT's gave the session their recommendations in
America. W. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI.
September, 2003, and the session adopted them in
Christian Mission and Modern Culture Series by Trinity
October, 2003. The recommendations had been
International Press.
communicated to the congregation in written reports and
Bosch, David, 1995.
Believing in the Future; Toward a
in presentations by December 2003. However, progress
Missiology of Western Culture.
since then has been slower than we had hoped for a
Kirk, Andre, 1997.
The Mission of Theology and
number of reasons. The Implementation Teams formed
Theology of Mission
by session have found it challenging to figure out how to
Kreider, Alan, 1992.
The Change of Conversation and
make the needed changes and appropriately enroll the
the Origin of Christendom
staff and congregation. There have been some senior
Roxburgh, Alan, 1998 .
Missionary Congregations,
staff changes.
Leadership and Liminality
Schenk, Wilbert, 1995.
Write the Vision; The Church
But, probably most importantly, we have begun to
Renewed.
understand the amount of work we must do on our
Wilson, Jonathan, 1999
. Living Faithfully in a
outdated and poorly functioning internal systems, even as
Fragmented World.
Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry
Page 15
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Theology Matters · Sep/Oct 2004
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