The Relational Mission

Over this last weekend, I worked with Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Portland, OR. During the consultation, we were discussing the nature of the Saturday training—which was to include all kinds of people from the church. One staff members asked me if I was going to use the word "missional." Understand that the staff and leadership of this church has read widely on "missional," and they have already made great strides to move in that direction. Even still they have concerns about the use of the word, especially with the broader church body. "Missional" is a great term when understood in its theological framework. God is a missional God, but even the meaning of this statement is not immediately obvious. Missional is inherently a theological term that has its roots in the nature of the Triune God. God the Father, out of love, sent the Son and now sends the Spirit to redeem all of creation. God is self-giving love and therefore goes forth (is sent on ...

What role does preaching play in the missional church? Those from a traditional perspective argue that preaching is central and in some cases the ultimate means through which discipleship occurs. On the other extreme are those who claim that preaching is passé—even unnecessary—and should be replaced by circular conversations. It is easy for the two ends of the spectrum to take pot shots at one another, while most fall somewhere between. I grew up in a traditional church where the pulpit was the highlight of the church life. Hearing the Word of God preached was viewed as the hallmark of Christian faithfulness. I entered into vocational ministry in order to become a preacher like the great W. A. Criswall or Joel Gregory. In my 43 years, I've probably heard somewhere between 3000-4000 sermons. I've also participated in the denegrating of preaching, questioning the value of the sermon by asking common questions like Why do we need to hear a sermon on a weekly basis when there...

In the early 1990s I was a part of an experimental missional church. Of course, we did not call it "missional" as the word was not yet part of church vernacular. However we were experiencing missional community, just as the current books on the topic describe. During that time some other people from our church and I were visiting with some friends from college. We shared about our church. We told them about how we met in homes, how we shared in life together on a day-by-day basis, and how we ministered in our neighborhoods through relational connections. Then our conversations steered toward a deconstruction of the traditional church. We attacked the use of church buildings, the practice of sitting in rows and listening to sermons, and the clergy/laity divide. After they patiently listened to our attack on the church that they knew and loved, they simply said, "God still works in church buildings." At that time, I dismissed the comment by saying that they just...