The Relational Mission

In Missional Small Groups , I introduced the four stories of small group life, which provide a way of talking about the vision for how we live in community and on mission that gets us beyond church structures and strategies. Instead I identified four common stories that describe typical patterns of life in the church. They are: The Story of Personal Improvment The Story of Lifestyle Adjustment The Story of Relational Revision  The Story of Missional Re-creation In most of the churches with whom I work, the desire is to experience the latter two, but the reality of most people in the church reflects the first two. There are many strategies that can move us into relational wholeness and missional engagement. However before we jump into the middle of answers related to the question of "What do we do?" it is important to talk about the imagination that we have when we talk about things like community and mission. I've found that it is quite easy to use the same word...

One of the best things about my work is the fact that I serve churches across a variety of traditions. I find it a great honor to enter into the life, tradition, and culture of different streams of faith to see what God is already doing amongst a local church and help them develop small groups that fit them. Last week, I had the honor or worshiping with, leading training sessions for, and interacting amongst the leaders of Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, TX. I participated in their high church service, their contemporary Uptown service, and their very Anglo-Catholic evensong service. Then I attended the morning service on Monday at 7:30 am. Because I wanted to understand them so as to help them shape small groups that fit them, I needed to pray and worship with them.  Their buildings which are under construction are pictured above. This is a far cry from the low-church experience of most of my life. The picture below is of the church where I worshipped. I must admit, I...

Over the last six years, full time as a pastor in Minnesota. Now it's back to Houston. So what does Houston hold? I cannot believe that in 9 days we take off. First, we will be near family, and with four kids eight and under this will be a great thing. I will be serving as a part-time Equipping Pastor on the staff of a growing church in West Houston called Hosanna. For them I will be writing curriculum and serving on the teaching team. This will be a fun challenge. This will give me time to serve as a consultant, trainer and writer for other churches. I am excited about this opportunity. Consulting with churches and denominational systems and leading seminars has always been something I did on the side of my full-time job. Now I get to do more of it. If you have thought about getting someone to do some training or serve as a consultant in the areas of small groups or the missional vision, then please read through some of the options on my website http://mscottboren.com . Clic...