Northwest Area Disciples

At What Cost Focus?

2008-08-20T07:45:00.006-06:00

Preparing to host the Quickening Preview on August 31st brings back to mind some of the lessons I have learned from Brian Klemmer and his team.

When intention is clear, the mechanism will appear
It may not be my fault, but I always share responsibility
No matter how eloquent or true, excuses are no substitute for excellent results in God's reign
Those who lead must serve

Every one of these has corollaries in Scripture - particularly in the teaching of Jesus.

Who among us would not want to lead or to be part of congregations that, in a Church-wide Congregational Olympics, would win a gold medal?

Who among us would turn down an opportunity to help mentor the apostolic equivalent of a Michael Phelps or the Williams sisters - Venus and Serena"

And, despite God's track record for bringing life out of unlikely places, what reasons do we frequently hear when the results of hard work and faithfulness don't produce exceptional fruit?

If we just had better attendance and more youth . . .
If only our members were more invested . . .
If only this community was not so parochial . . .
If only we included more . . . (name your oppressed group) in leadership . . .

Mea culpa! (I thought I'd admit it before you correctly pointed it out.) Been there. Still go back to that up-chuck more often than I care to think about. Just can't stay there, however, and move forward. (Or as Henry Blackaby likes to say, "You cannot go with God and stay where you are.")

If we would allow God to better clarify our focus, would we not only see more clearly God's intended future, but, looking around at the same context, suddenly notice more of the provisions given to us by a God who is passionate about loving people. And what about all those gifts given to us by those who went before us in hot pursuit of God's highest intention?

Tom Russell rightly reminds me at every turn that we need not beat up on pastors for not delivering on God's promise. Church, after all, is unlike professional sports. It's mission is carried out by volunteers - many running only on what the Spirit provides today. It is never the fault of any pastor for congregational failure, however, don't we all share responsibility? Does not the life of the congregation - its strengths and weaknesses, victories and struggles reflect to some degree our own stuff?

My own continuing education has become less focused upon technique and more on developing my character. I can have the best tools, programs, and congregational context available, yet, if my own life is unfocused and short on positive results I will probably also notice that also in the communities that I serve.

From recent reflections by Tom Bandy, a few questions may help to guide our introspection:

For whom does my heart burst? Whose suffering or failure to fully become who they are in God keeps me awake at night?
What am I driven to accomplish for/with them? What else am I willing to give (or to give up) to do more of that or to do it with greater excellence?
Am I part of a "pilgrim band" from which I receive and give helathy accountability and appropriate support? If not, is my reason for not creating one really more compelling than my reasons to be in one?
Do I really believe that the purpose of my life is God's purpose? If not, what am I doing in ministry?

Lately, I answer the same questions in this way:

My heart bursts for leaders who struggle to what they love with more excellence among those they love and serve
What I want with and for them are more and better networks of support so that they succeed more often and with greater effect in leading communities that make the Kingdom an earthly reality in their zip code
I'm willing to give more time and energy to becoming a better human being so that when I am invited to bring my "tools," I don't distract from what God will do with those tools in that moment. One way I'm working at that is to say "Thank you," and mean it, more often.
I am part of a pilgrim band. The area staff of nine paid and volunteer staff (and growing) has done more to sharpen and support than I could ever have imagined
I do believe that God's purpose trumps every personal dream. I cannot out-create, out-redeem, out-inspire God. Left to its own devices, the planet and everything in it will run out of energy and dis-integrate. The will to live and love - as modeled by Jesus Christ - keep that from happening sooner than later. I cannot think of anything better to offer with my life than that.

How about you? How do you gain clearer focus? What are striving to achieve in Jesus' name? How may I better support you this week?

Bill

Wisdom For Pastors From Tom Bandy

2008-08-14T06:28:00.003-06:00

One of my disciplines is to keep up with the conversations between local church pastors and the staff at Easum, Bandy & Associates.

Occasionally I see something too good not to share - especially when the timing is serendipitous.

In congregations everywhere pastors are gearing up for the resumption of church activities and attending a flurry of meetings to prepare for new and on-going programs - most of which have their real center not in advancing the reign of God but in satisfying existing parishioners and attracting new church members.

Admittedly, I am not immune to that dynamic in middle judicatory work. Perhaps this is the real reason why Tom Bandy's words in a recent post jumped out at me:

"I mention emotional burnout primarily because family church pastors become overwhelmed and exhausted bearing the problems of others, listening to complaints, and a steady barrage of selfishness.

But you are identifying another facet of this burnout. In order to escape chronic guilt, many pastors retreat into a false "professional personae". Although they talk about self care and protecting time off and private space, it is really often keeping life at arms length. So they become consummate preachers but they can no longer worship God personally.

Yes, perhaps it can help going to worship occasionally at another church of your spouse's choosing ... but more often than not we are still so obsessed with competitiveness and comparison that we find it difficult to be refreshed by God. So I think it is even more important to build a devotional partnership with a pilgrim band, and let yourself be refreshed by a smaller, more intimate circle of worship." (Taken from a post by Tom Bandy on the Advanced Leadership forum of Easum, Bandy and Associates.)

I want to close this post on a more hopeful note. This past week NW Area pastoral and support staff and Area Board officers met by conference call with Dick Hamm - our coach - and then we met face-to-face at the area office. Perhaps the most important thing we did was to agree to be for each other more of the kind of "pilgrim band" that Tom talks about. Over the course of last month we worked out a covenant with each other to:

be in prayer at least two and more times each day
take part in a telephone conference call at 7:45 am each Thursday morning to identify our missions, to ask for and to offer support, and to pray
to seek help if our prayer discipline seems dry, lifeless, or fruitless
remember each other in prayer daily
worship together as a team on fifth Sundays with our families - sometimes at a church not among those we serve
spend part of one day every month in personal prayer retreat
be in spiritual retreat with each other, directed by someone else, at least once a year

Perhaps the best thing about this for me is that we agreed to do this - not because any of us wanted to be trendy or religious but because the mission entrusted to us was too important not to do this. There is simply no way for us to advance as servants to congregational leaders without significant spiritual and personal transformation of this team and of each individual member.

Most of those making this covenant are volunteers and are choosing to be more accountable to one another, so, you may understand why my spirit soared after we agreed to this.

I cannot tell you how much it has meant to me to be part of a group of highly committed Christ-followers where planning about mission is usually focused on serving and not preserving. I look around the table and see folk who have sacrificed a great deal and endured lack of support, apathy and criticism from those they serve - primarily because they are passionate about serving congregational leaders.

And, no, ours is not a perfect situation, nor is any of us without serious flaws and gaping holes in our characters. All of us still depend deeply upon the forgiveness Christ offers. We are, however discovering fresh expressions of the Spirit in more missional community and for that I give thanks and encourage you to seek or perhaps to help call together such a community.

Ephesians 4:11 Revisited

2008-08-06T14:38:00.002-06:00

A lot of modern literature describing the role of the pastor assumes that she or he is an extraordinarily high capacity leader in whom are embodied the five gifts: apostle, shepherd, prophet, evangelist, and teacher.

That description works well within a highly personalized, consumerist paradigm of ministry which happens to predominate the current church culture in North America.

Sanctioned by the denominational bureaucracy, trained by professional academics, and entered into a complex, competitive system of search and call, the pastor functions much like one's cardiologist or orthodontist. Congregants consume what pastors are trained and strained to deliver until they become enamored of another or if ever disappointed with the customer service or competence in all five areas.

Put into the context of the servant-leader congregation, however, and the pastor-as-embodiment-of-the-five-fold-gifts breaks down.

In the servant-leader congregation, lay people live and work in their communities with authority and power, equipped for sacrificial and sustainable mission by a leadership team that contains at least one or more for whom one of the five gifts is a significant and tested strength.

The role of the pastor becomes more that of overseer, coach, and accountability partner to the team of leaders. Mission - which is central to the life of the Christ-follower - becomes apostolic, evangelical, prophetic, educational, and pastoral because leaders serve the various members of the congregational team - which sees itself not as a voluntary association but as a community of people called into purposeful work together with expectation of significant outcomes.

If that is true, then why are so many pastors still attempting to fill too many of the equipping and serving roles?

I suspect that so long as congregants can afford to pay us to serve vicariously through us, and, so long as we allow their co-dependence to be our defining paradigm, nothing will change until the downward spiral goes deeper and faster enough to require positive change.

Of course, through prayer, the Spirit may transform us and those we serve to move more into the model the Ephesians seem to employ. This may be what we are seeing in some congregations that are rediscovering their love for serving and leading in their communities.

Lifelong Learning Center: an immodest proposal

2008-07-24T16:32:00.004-06:00

Okay. So you are standing on the set of God's "Let's Make a Deal" and the Apostle Paul is the highly caffeinated show host. As the main contestant for the NW Area Christian Churches you've just been given the option of door number 1, door number 2, or door number 3. You know that part of your "prize" is 160 acres of land in Lathrop, Missouri. What lies behind each door is what God will do with that land. The only clue given to you is a reference to the passage where Jesus tells the parable of the talents. Which door would you choose?

Door number 1 is the one-talent option. God blesses the 160 acres with lots of hay. Occasionally, folk from area congregations go to visit but unless the hay is cut there really is little to see or to do. It is pretty, though and the sound of the wind in the tall grass is almost hypnotic.

Door number 2 is the two-talent option. Behind this door is a view of the NW Area Church Camp about 5 years from now. It looks a lot like Camp Crowder at Trenton (where we hold church camp now). There is a 15 acre area with a house, barn, kitchen and mess hall, several cabins and a craft hall. There are about 80 campers, counselors and staff members this day and everyone looks like they are having a great time.

Door number 3 is the five-talent option. Open this door and what you see 10 years from now takes your breath away. Over by the wind turbines and solar panels a tour group of engineers from Japan is hearing Ken Jameson explain how we developed an international award winning green camp and conference center. On their way back to the state-of-the art conference center (filled with employees of Cerner for their annual corporate retreat), they pass a cluster of ranch-style buildings arranged in a cul-de-sac that hosts a unique End-of-Life Camp for children diagnosed with end-stage cancer and their families. On the 20 acre lake, senior citizens from Osborne are taking kyack lessons from one of the staff while a preschool class learns to fish on the opposite side. Almost hidden are several one-room studio cabins where, on this day, a pastor is outlining a sermon series, a single mom is struggling to find balance in the midst of chaos, and an artist is working on what will become a piece that will one day hang on a wall in the White House. The music of midday prayer wafts from open windows in the glass walled chapel as several staff members and guests praise God and intercede for everyone being served on the campus. The chef on duty is preparing 5 different lunches with interns provided by a local technical school to be served in a simple but beautiful set of dining rooms - each with their own theme. When our international guests leave to board their plane at KCI, they will take the campus shuttle which will drive on roads paved clear to the Interstate.

If you could ask God for one of these three scenarios, which would you choose?

We are in the process of recruiting candidates for a long-range development team that we will ask to form a 501.c.3 not-for-profit corporation dedicated to serving a wider public described in option 3. A short-term development team is already hard at work preparing the campus for your arrival on September 6 (or sooner if you happen to be a volunteer). Their commitment is primarily to serve congregations and to prepare a place that will be used often by members.

We have made (and plan to keep) a solemn pledge to keep the neighbors in the loop and to be responsive to any concerns they may have about noise and traffic and other difficulties.

Unless we hear differently from you, we'll keep working hard and praying that God grants us what is behind the door that will require the most from all of us and from partners within beyond the Church.

Blessings,
Bill R-H

Don't Just Stand There, Do Something!

2008-07-17T15:27:00.002-06:00

We must engage in conversations around mission at least 20 times a week. Much of the talk is about how tough it is to motivate "them" to greater faithfulness, missions with greater impact, and more consistent compassion.

Some complain that there is not enough (fill in the blanks) coming from (the area office, the regional office, the general office, etc.) to help us move from where we are to where we think God want's us to be.

Most certainly, I am the worst offender. It is acceptable, even fashionable, to indulge in scapegoating as a way to cover up my own inadequacies or under-performance.

At some point, however, I have to take responsibility for the outcomes I live with.

Note that I did not say that a disappointing outcome is my fault. It is, however, my responsibility. It will change for better or for worse to some degree based upon my own engagement with it.

If I don't like the way things are shaping up in the church or if I yearn for something more, I have a responsibility to engage proactively.

If I find that there are too few companions with whom to make those changes, I have a responsibility to find and to invite more committed colleagues.

If there are not enough resources, I am responsible enough to change that rther than to let lack determine outcome.

This week your area staff and executive officers took a hard look with Dick Hamm at what we are doing to support pastors and other congregational leaders.

We cannot take much credit, nor can we completely accept blame for the way things are, but we can choose to be responsible, and we have.

Staff and officers have taken on new homework assignments and we have agreed to take some risks to improve the quality of our service to you.

No one told us we had to do that. It is simply a part of what it means to be responsible.

If you'd like to help your staff or team to deepen its sense of responsibility, join us for the Quickening Preview on Sunday evening, August 31. Click here
to learn more and to register on-line.

What Is Our Place in the Body of Christ?

2008-07-01T17:01:00.000-06:00

Imagine for a moment that Disciples of Christ have discovered a new sense of purpose rooted in serving and supporting other Christians.

We wake up one morning and realize that we don’t really enjoy competing for the dwindling number of existing church members in our local communities . . . even if some of them are members of that weird church across town.

We are weary of being the denomination of last resort. “Hey, Disciples of Christ don’t require you to believe or to do anything beyond Baptism. We can get our weekly dose of whatever we need and leave the rest behind.”

Lately our own people admit to feeling spiritually restless. They want something more from their religious life than keeping the congregation running on fumes.

Our hope in a vision coming from a small group of people who make their living going to meetings has cooled a bit and we are becoming more adept at looking for what Christ is doing locally.

We have observed that when Jesus does something big in our home town, the effort requires the investment of more Christians than attend our worship services . . . or the Methodists or the Baptists (combined).

A review of our denominational history suggests that we were originally all about reclaiming the oneness of the Body of Christ and with 33,000 known Christian denominations, sects, and cults; we have our work cut out for us.

But oneness in what? A coalition of denominations that welcomes all comers? Wasn’t CUIC supposed to accomplish that? (It hasn’t.)

Churches in our community decide to raise money so that Cindy can have that liver transplant that her family cannot afford. They work with civic clubs to organize after school programs for kids whose parents have to work minimum wage jobs. Whenever those missions get going, or need to begin, the one ingredient that is essential is someone (or a group of leaders) to help get very different people working well together.

Why is it that so often those community project organizers are Disciples of Christ? It is not as if we have a lock on that kind of work but it does fit so well our DNA.

So, what if we got far more intentional about calling and equipping new saints – not only for the more common, congregational missions, but also for the missions that local communities of Christians will do together?

What if our worship services made room for celebrating what Christ is actually doing locally (as well as globally)?

If our Sunday Schools and Bible studies included a weekly focus on how we could better support the folk who actually do the work of these community missions, might they be more vital and dynamic?

How about those beloved symbols of summer – the Vacation Bible School and the annual youth mission trip? Imagine if instead of offering competing programs we committed to help local Christians to organize and carry out one program with excellence for all the local youth (or at least most of them)?

And if you have a better idea about how Disciples can become clear about God’s preferred role for our denomination within the larger Body of Christ, what’s keeping you from sharing that with the rest of us?

Bill Rose-Heim

Three Trends?

2008-06-05T16:17:00.000-06:00

Congregational visits can inspire songs of great joy and deep laments – even in the same visit. This month has been no exception.

It might be helpful to share with you some of what we have seen and heard recently in your congregations:

A team of volunteers stripped the bark from a huge fallen tree (casualty of the ice storms last winter) and recreated the “tree” for VBS in the middle of the fellowship hall along with a working waterfall – just to make the experience more profound for participants.
“Thanks for volunteering to help. You don’t need to prepare. The kids don’t want to be there anyway. Just go be with them for 20 minutes and send them on to the next activity.”
Her graduation picture is propped on a table in front of the sanctuary. The members of this small, graying, rural congregation are filling in for absent parents to support another fledgling about to fly.
“Our fellowship hall and sanctuary are available for an emergency relief shelter.”
A congregation cashes in a long-held certificate of deposit (proceeds from memorials and bequests) to pay the utilities. Giving per household is about what it was 20 years ago. The number of households is down 50%.
“We had fifty adults helping and teaching eighty eight kids for VBS. The Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor taught one of the classes and led the whole inter-denominational group of kids in one of the best prayers those kids ever prayed!”

There are more stories to tell and we will tell more of them in time.

Some themes are beginning to emerge. We’ll just identify three here.

First, there is a core group in every congregation who still believe that the message and mission of Jesus is as important to happiness as breathing. That is hopeful news.

It is also true that many congregations are getting very comfortable just coasting on the momentum of prior generations of Christ-followers. The culture has so infected their faith that it is almost impossible to distinguish between the gospel they believe in and the American Dream.

There is a noticeable upsurge of local, ecumenical activity – much of it generated by lay folk. We cannot help but wonder if we are in the early phases of a very pragmatic course correction in North American Christianity – to unify the Body of Christ around local mission.

What do you see?

Grace and peace,

Bill R-H

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing!

2008-05-28T15:42:00.000-06:00

When farmers are faced with rising fuel prices, fickle markets, higher rental fees and costs for everything that needs to be planted, driven or applied, it is easy to forget that your original intention was to feed your neighbors

When budget challenges and lower worship attendance seem to set the tone for congregational life in NW Missouri, it is easy to forget that the primary reason we are part of the Church is to make new disciples of Jesus.

These days, making disciples may be the last thing we want to do. Why? Even many Christians are no longer be as sure about who Jesus is and what the Gospel means to a thousand generations not yet born.

Thus we pose a question and invite your response.

What is it about your experience of Jesus that your community cannot do without?

Without a clear and compelling answer to that question, it may be that our religious life is little more than a quaint carryover from a time when more disciples could give such a compelling answer that it made you want to become a disciple of Jesus, too.

How Well Do We Support the Saints?

2008-05-21T10:40:00.000-06:00

When the 30,000 member Willow Creek Community Church admits publicly that it is not meeting the needs of some of its long-term faithful, it merits the attention of those who enjoy their annual leadership and training conferences.

Frankly, I find their candor refreshing in a wider church culture that likes to pretend everything is just great in the Body of Christ.

After a rigorous survey of its members, WCCC staff identified some indications that challenged an assumption that new Christians were effective, enthusiastic evangelists. In fact, they found, the opposite was more likely; those who identified themselves as “Close to Christ” or “Christ-centered” were doing the heavy lifting for evangelism. Among those more developed members, enough rated themselves as “stalled” or “dissatisfied” with their spiritual growth to make staff return to prayer closets and staff conversations with greater urgency.

Judging from conversations with folk in NW Area congregations, I suspect that we do a better job of protecting and feeding the flock than we do building up those recognized as true shepherds, evangelists, prophets, teachers, and apostles among our people. (Eph. 4:11-12)

We count too much on current structures and systems to sustain congregational life, and, sometimes we overlook what really gets results.

We Christians have nothing unique to offer if not Jesus. Our people can get excellent training from a variety of secular agencies to become more compassionate, brutally truthful, educated, enthusiastic, change agents. What universities, government agencies, and private firms are not specially called and formed to give is an awareness of God’s intention to reconcile the whole world as revealed through Jesus Christ. Has popular church culture produced more loyal consumers and producers of popular culture than disciples of Jesus? And if it has, what are we doing to make sure that those among us who strive to be “close to Christ” or even “Christ-centered” are being sufficiently supported to serve?

Leadership Model of Ephesians 4:11-12

2008-05-17T14:28:00.001-06:00

Have you noticed the switch from traditional spoke or solid wheel rims to five-spoke models made with super alloys? They provide needed strength while reducing the amount of material. They are engineered so that the minimum number of spokes provides the maximum strength needed to fulfill the function of the wheel – to facilitate motion.

Grind or torch off one or more of the new alloy spokes and the integrity of both the wheel and its usefulness is compromised (if not altogether destroyed). Only an idiot would do such a thing, right?

One can successfully argue that there are many models for congregational leadership in the Christian Testament. Most models call for teams of peer colleagues and one in particular was apparently a model Paul respected. Ephesians 4:11-12 refers to a five-spoke missional leadership wheel that included an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a shepherd, and a teacher.

Apostles are all about expanding the reach of the gospel.

Prophets advocate for God’s will to be known and carried out.

Evangelists look for potential disciples of Jesus and invite commitment.

Shepherds are all about the care and protection of local disciples.

Teachers make divine mystery more accessible and encourage wisdom.

Together, they make a formidable, balanced team. The current North American Protestant congregation in the rural Midwest, however, tends to favor a model which asks of its hireling clergy a balance of all five gifts. Larger churches are expected to have a staff with all five gifts. Many congregations have sawn off evangelism and prophecy and most apostolic work in favor of more self-serving teaching and shepherding.

In the Spring, 2008 edition of the Leadership Journal, Alan Hirsch suggests that the five-fold leadership team might be best understood as a team of leaders of five teams; apostolic, prophetic, evangelism, shepherding, and teaching.

Do read the article. It offers insight and hope at a time when current congregational leadership models are limping along.

None of us are so naïve as to believe that an ideal leadership model will descend from “on high.” What will work in the years to come will have to be prayerfully discerned locally, vigorously tried, ruthlessly evaluated and modified and attempted again and often. Additionally, new or re-visited models will have to have integrity with the biblical witness.

What models of leadership are proving helpful where you serve?

Who Are You, Disciples of Christ?

2008-05-09T09:18:00.006-06:00

Have you looked recently at the new identity statement for the Disciples of Christ: http://www.disciples.org/21cvt/docidentity.html? I encourage you to check it out because at some point we will be asked to commit ourselves to it. (After all, of what purpose is a statement of identity if we are not willing to be fully identified with it?)

Maybe it's just me, but I was hoping for more . . . momentum. I wanted a statement shouted back from a speeding bus loaded with workers chugging water and Mountain Dew headed for the mission field. When I read the current statement I have visions of polite conversations in church parlors and board rooms or the tap-tap-tapping of a keyboard and mugs of Chai Latte and Organic Sumatra-Peru Blend.

It is probably a good thing that I have not been charged with writing the Disciples Statement of Identity because it would look something more like this:

We are going into the neighborhood to serve those who serve with Christ until the mission is completed.

I probably would resist the temptation to add more words to an identity statement. Any shouting from a speeding bus is done in phrases - not paragraphs.

If pressed, Id' have to explain that those who serve also help to unite those they serve and that, to me, has always been the polar star of this expression of Christianity.

No one denomination is going to be strong enough to be effectively counter-cultural. The Great Commission, the Great Commandment, and the Good Confession were all given to the whole Body and not to its franchises (which, sadly, is what too many in this culture bring to mind when you mention the word, denomination). The missions of Burger King, McDonalds, Hardees and Wendy's are certainly about satisfying hunger here and now but they are not about ending world hunger forever (a God-sized mission). There is little doubt, however, that if all the brain power and resources and networks of every major food chain and supplier could be marshaled to a much bigger, single goal, the end result would be far more miraculous than most missional efforts to date. Is it stretching the truth to make a similar case for the whole Church about the Great Commission and the Great Commandment?

The current Disciples Mission Statement appears to have been roundly affirmed - almost unanimously - by those who have left their comments. Interesting, considering that Reformation is in our DNA.

And, as you can imagine, my intent is not so much to debate the merits of the Statement of Identiy but to encourage all of us to answer a question that Jesus may be asking the disciples of today; "Who do people say that you are?"

Let's hear from you!

Bill Rose-Heim

It's Still Broke

2008-04-30T14:03:00.003-06:00

Once again, we cannot pay the bills. Giving is down. It does not seem to be going up any time soon.

Recent budget crunches in congregations and in mid-level judicatories are not merely a reflection of a sputtering economy. They are reflections of a truth that none of us wants to face. Of course, irresponsibility is not an option for disciples of Jesus - and especially not for those of us in leadership.

Could it be that the era of the Americanized hybrid of corporate church is closing? Generations that once looked to scholarly theologians, excellent liturgy, and congregation-centered ministry are aging and dying. Subsequent generations are not scrambling to shore up what they built. In fact, they are silently, almost passively allowing some congregations and denominations to die while investing in local missions that are clear and which invite participation and require far less structure or financial support than conventional models.

Jesus still requires a Body-in-Motion. That suggests that while muscle tone and skin may be "in," skeletal structures have not suddenly become unimportant. How will the Church continue 2000 years of witness to the work of Christ among us in a context that has never existed before?

Here are some emerging trends to watch:

Congregational campuses will either serve more and more often or they will be sold and smaller groups will meet in homes and larger groups will rent facilities or build multi-use community centers.
Pastors will be trained (along with other types of Ephesians 4 leaders) locally with input from on-line theological seminaries and their training will center more around the practice of spiritual disciplines and leading the formation and work of disciples (rather than "members").
In those communities with strong ties among all Christians, denominational distinctions may become only as important as surnames like Smith or Jones - standing for something but not for as much that separates as for what unites the Body - a major paradigm shift led by lay people living in democratic republics. Ministerial alliances and non-denominational associations (like Willow Creek and Vineyard) may become the next mid-level judicatories among those who know or care little for episcopal or presbyterian forms of church organization.

The biblical record suggests that there will always be a need for apostolic oversight. Heresies come and go and should never become confused with eternal truth. Local prejudices still need challenging as does "white privilege." Idiots can still sway the gullible (or the intellectually lazy) and someone has to notice the devil-in-drag among the sheep and in the systems that perpetuate the power of a few. What new forms that oversight may take are not yet clear.

What is clear is that current forms are no longer capable of living comfortably into perpetuity and a serious conversation needs to begin with greater urgency among us.

Jesus engaged his Jewish peers in similar conversations resulting in changes that brought about our own reconciliation with God even 2000 years after his death and resurrection. Monastics brought needed change as did reformers. It is our turn and the importance of our task cannot be exaggerated.

What are your thoughts?

Open Doors!

2007-12-04T17:19:00.000-06:00

The clergy retreat with Dick Hamm and the area staff and Executive Team is now a pleasant memory and we look ahead to new opportunities to go more deeply into service and leadership.

The Allelon missional leader formation initiative has asked this area leadership team to host one of five regional training centers in North America. Click here for more information. I have seen the proposed curriculum (as have some of you) and it appears to offer something local congregational leaders seek, so we are inclined to move forward once the details are worked out.

At the same time, area staff and executive team along with about 10 -15 invited congregational pastors and leaders will begin a 100-day period in January in prayer and share triplets (teams of three) to see what that might look like, go to the Spiritual Strategic Journey website.

Missional Church conversations continue in Cameron, Maryville, and Higginsville. We encourage participants to invite their non-Disciples clergy colleagues.

We have also been invited to host in 2009 a Heartland Regional Cluster learning event for congregations engaged in transformation. This would bring together leaders from congregations in seven states to articulate best practices, share wins and losses, and become together a life-long learning community for congregational transformation and leader support.

Finally, we are pulling together resources in the area of character development for leaders - including some secular options for clergy who may do better personal character work in a non-church setting.

We appreciate your prayers and your responses to our sincere desire to support you, your families, and the missions to which God has called us in local communities.

What new learning opportunities are working well for you?

I Left My Heart in SanFrancisco

2007-11-08T14:34:00.001-06:00

You know the song and most of us can probably remember Tony Bennett singing it.

Last week I spent 5 days at an Advanced Leadership workshop put on by the Klemmer and Associates staff. Heeding their admonition to take what is useful and leave the rest, I began the week with 32 other leaders and a staff of 7, two were volunteers and one came on his own dime from Tulsa!

This was one of those workshops for which I had no prior leadership responsibility. That and the fact that I knew absolutely no one put me into a very humble place that I never got to leave throughout the event.

I know how much I dislike it when others tell me this, but, I won't describe in any detail what we did or said. It would not matter anyway because each one gets what and as much from the experience as they choose.

By the third day, I was ready to go home with more than my money's worth. On that day, the foggy lenses through which I have viewed my entire life and ministry were allowed to slip off and I saw myself and my relationships, as well as my commitments to Christ in sharper relief.

Fortunately, I stayed with the process because there was so much more to come.

Colleagues, it is no accident that God put this opportunity in my path at this juncture. We are about to engage in missional life together with new and familiar partners and at a level of investment unparalleled in the history of this area. Between all of us, we now have more access to tools and more reasons to commit to excellence than ever before. There is also a catch.

We can do no credible mission work, preach no credible message of saving grace, emerge as a trusted leader - worthy to be followed if we will not confront the inner demons that continually sabotage us and keep us at arm's length from success. Self-doubt, laziness, ineffectiveness, judgement, blame, shame, and pride have a life of their own when they are tolerated and neglected. The shadow side of us demands parity with the side bathed in Christ's light. Sadly, we have helped to grow a church culture with so much emotional distance between us that we often affirm or excuse the very character traits and behaviors that undermine mission.

I discovered that I was actually holding us back every bit as much as I thought that I was being supportive. That's a long story and one I don't need to air on a blog. I do want to thank you, though, for your implied or explicit support for me. I could not do this level of personal mastery work without your help.

I am in the process of trying to raise the nearly $5000 I will need to take the next level workshop in February. I have no idea how that will happen - only that I need to understand it well enough to know how to make this opportunity available to more clergy. The kind of progress our workshop participants made in just 5 short days was on a par with a couple of years of seminary. It was that useful.

Klemmer has designed an event - exclusively for Christians - called the Quikening. I am working to arrange for a Quickening Preview event in the area. To see a preview of what a Quickening might offer, go to: http://www.klemmer.com/quickening. The event in which I participated was at the next level up and is called the Advanced Leadership workshop. I'd be happy to explore both opportunities with you.

I would welcome an opportunity to share with congregations and their leaders.

With respect and a desire to support you more effectively than ever,
Bill R-H

What about . . .? Conversations among Clergy

2007-09-27T17:00:00.000-06:00

Colleagues,

Clergy gatherings among are some of my favorite times of the month. Conversations can get rich quickly as devoted servant-leaders tell stories of struggles and breakthroughs in personal, family, congregation and community. Today, several of us in the central part of the area grazed on grapes and donut holes and bandied about the question, "How do we relate to Mormons - especially in communities where they are becoming a significant influence?" "Do we embrace them as full partners in a Christian ministerial alliance?" "Do we challenge their claims to be Christ-followers in union with the historic Church?"

Questions like these are not rhetorical or merely theological whimsy. They now draw considerable pastoral time and energy (in some places more than in others.) What do you say to a member of your church who, having been treated kindly by a local Mormon, now doubts their salvation or that of the dearly departed?

Beyond pastoral concerns, such questions raise other issues that linger always in the background. "Who is a Christian?" "Who gets to decide that for everyone?" "How do we relate to people whom we judge to threaten the orthodoxy of the Church?" "What in me gets 'hooked' whenever I am engaged in these controversial conversations?" What is the proper balance between justice and compassion?"

You can imagine that we did not find mutually agreeable, easy solutions. What I did find, however, was an integrity among us that I could trust. There is value in conversations that are open, honest, vulnerable to the Spirit's influence and passionate. What makes them even more valuable is that they take place within the assurance of a covenant. We commit to being here for each other. We allow for the fact that most transformation (even that which is fully directed by Christ) may take years for most of us . We challenge each other's conclusions but not those deep convictions forged over decades by prayer, Bible study, worship, and mission. We clamber up the mountain together to a teachable height, knowing that we cannot live here long but we will each return soon to the more congested and separated valleys of service and leadership.

I like to think that we go back to work together, that we have each other's back, that we care a bit more about each other each time we gather and return. The Great Commission and Great Commandment were, thank you Jesus, entrusted not to a few but to all the early Christ-followers and to us.

May we continue to invest in each other and into the missions we share in common - particularly the mission to make disciples of all nations.

Any Interest in Coaching, Clergy?

2007-08-09T16:35:00.000-06:00

I invite you to visit www.thecolumbiapartnership.org and learn a bit about what is offered there.

I just enjoyed a long conversation with Dick Hamm (whose latest book, Recreating the Church, is a real ray of sunshine in uncertain times). He is interested in working with us and I'm interested in the area's helping to subsidize at least part of the expense for up to 5 pastors to enjoy monthly telephone coaching sessions with Dick - former General Minister and President of the DOC from 1993-2003 and now consultant for TCP and executive administrator for Christian Churches Together.

What I need from you is some indications of interest. Care to comment? (see below)
Bill R-H

General Assembly 07

2007-07-26T21:15:00.001-06:00

The 2007 General Assembly in Fort Worth is now history. For those who were tracking resolutions, all were passed.

Strong messages from Jill Wallis (Soujourners), Alan Roxburgh (Allelon) and Bill Lee (DOC moderator) got the attention of many who attended.

The missional theme is being picked up by more Disciples. The learning track for Congregational Transformation was attended by about 200 people.

I brought back several keynotes from the National Evangelism Workshop that are on DVD. We'll be posting titles when I return to the office on Tuesday.

The work before us all is clearer: we need to create contexts in which a passion for mission in the community can flourish and spiritual preparation is likely to happen. Many congregations may be further along than they realize and perhaps we can help with that.

Evangelism and Missional Church

2007-07-21T11:29:00.000-06:00

I'm writing from Fort Worth where we concluded the National Evangelism Workshop and are about to begin the General Assembly of the Christian Church (DOC).

What struck me most about the keynotes and workshops is how clearly leaders call for Christ-followers to:

Become people with our own powerful (and credible) stories of being saved by Christ)
Get invested into the communities where the gospel story is foreign
Grow relationships with the "Samaritans" of our age
Reclaim the high priority that Jesus gave to multiplying disciples

I will bring back several DVD and book resources that you can borrow - not to tell you how to do evangelism - but to help kick-start fruitful reflection and action with your leaders.

In the coming weeks I will begin to address each of the points above and invite us to engage in conversation as colleagues. We've just got to become more faithful and effective evangelists - every one of us. Many are depending on us, including the One who entrusted us with the mission.

Bill

A Plan For the Future

2007-05-25T15:43:00.000-06:00

With conversations about missional church well underway, what can we expect to do together over the next several months?

Difficult as it may seem for action-oriented, results-driven leaders, we will spend a good deal of the next few months praying and working on our spiritual disciplines and conditioning.

We will also submit several grant requests to major foundations in hopes of funding education and research events for many congregational leaders in the area. We believe that by expanding the circle of people meeting cutting-edge leaders around the country, we are more likely to get the desired results.

Other focus areas will include more encounters with our communities in the form of large-scale, short-term projects and learning the art of Christ-centered conversation among us.

What would YOU recommend we be about as we strive to serve those of you who are equipping and inspiring new disciples?

Lessons in Missing the Boat

2007-04-19T09:20:00.000-06:00

With the slow and subtle collapse of local community and thinning volunteerism, you'd think the local church would be throwing everything it has into this window of unprecedented opportunity. If disciples of Jesus know how to do anything, it is to call community into being and to equip, organize and lead volunteer teams.

We're letting this opportunity slip, too. We're still focused inwardly except when we occasionally dip our collective toes into real mission.

For the first time in recent memory, local and regional emergency service planners and providers are ready to welcome leadership from local religious communities. Safety and security are front-burner in the national psyche.

Send me an email and I'll attach a PDF proposal we are working on in Cameron to take advantage of this. The plan is easily adaptable to any community.

On Roles and Relationships

2007-04-13T16:34:00.000-06:00

How did it happen that over time we stopped being a tighly knit band of adventurous disciples and drifted into membership of religious corporations led by paid professionals?

Recent and decent histories of the Church in North America abound these days. I won't attempt to address the "How?" question here.

I'd rather focus on how to recover that sense of adventure and purpose, the collegiality and high mutual regard we all once enjoyed at some time on our pilgrim journey with Christ.

If you are reading this, you already have more than a passing interest in the quality and efficacy of your discipleship. Do you also have more than an occasional twinge of longing for connection with disciples who really believe that living the good news was the intent all along of our hearing it?

I'd like to propose a Fifth Sunday reunion of disciples of Jesus to meet, pray, study and be studied by a few of the more challenging texts from the Word, to share table fellowship and renew our sense of individual and corporate focus.

Who's interested?

Bill

Easter Monday

2007-04-09T15:37:00.000-06:00

Today is Easter Monday and I am wondering if anyone else is experiencing difficulty keeping up the level of focus and energy we did during Holy Week?

The resurrection was an accomplished fact before our celebrations of rememberance. The stunning reality of the resurrection of Jesus should have the power to lift and focus life every day, no?

If I learned anything this Lent it is that my spiritual disciplines are lacking the substance and frequency of a champion. To put this in athletic terms, it is as if my prayer life is just strenuous enough to prepare me to be a cheerleader and little more in the vineyard.

What I would not give for a group of nearby disciples of Jesus who who desired to work out in earnest for the race Christ called each of us to win.

Why Do You Follow Jesus?

2007-04-01T14:26:00.000-06:00

Tom Bandy, writing in the Fellowship of Prayer Lenten series devotional, includes a prayer following his reflection on the story of Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It goes something like this: "Jesus, I've followed you for all the wrong reasons. Thank you for chasing me for all the right reasons."

That prayer sparked a long time of reflection in prayer today. I guess I'd never really given much thought to how self-centered the practice of Christianity has been for most of my life.

Perhaps it is impossible in this life to be one hundred percent about the mission of Christ but surely the percentage can be a lot higher than it is now.

How much of my spiritual discipline is, ultimately, about me - about my comfort levels with God and the human community? How much more different am I in my practices of faith than a benign, neighborly atheist?

Is being Christian like being Roman or Greek or Hebrew or Chinese? Differences galore but one no more human than the next? If being Christian is being about the focus and work of Jesus, then I guess that a lot of my life does not qualify as Christian. Christendom, perhaps, but not really Christian.

Fortunately, that can change. The same one who began this work in me will complete it in his time (or so I seem to recall avery reformed rabbi Paul once write).

What about you? Why do YOU follow Jesus?

Indigenous versus Imitation

2007-03-27T09:49:00.000-06:00

Do you ever wonder why we overuse the art and music of cultures and times far removed from our own to give expression to our current encounters with the Gospel?

As I visit congregations around the country, I see lots of uniformity - a kind of "generic" order and style of worship that fewer and fewer people seem to invest in.

In my home town of Cameron, MO, nearly half of the population is comprised of medium and maximum security prisoners or staff members who serve them. Our community has a regional hospital, large school system, Missouri Veterans Home and several skilled and semi-skilled facilities as well as quite a bit of retail and agri-business. One newer, local congregation worships in a country-western style that feels more indigenous than the more common blends of traditional, classical, and contemporary styles.

Whatever indigenous worship, spiritual disciplines, and mission may be, discerning who we are will be as continuous as the changes in even "stable" Midwestern culture.

How important is is to be who we are, rather than to merely imitate the forms used by other communities?

What Does God Say To You?

2007-03-11T15:37:00.000-06:00

The following is the key question for the retreat March 15 & 16 with Alan Roxburgh and 22 NW Area leaders at Conception Abbey:

"How would God have us reconfigure, retool, and transform at our core to become more than a denominational middle judicatory; a truly helpful team of servants who broker equipping relationships with congregation leadership teams of any or no denomination who want to become mission-driven, disciple-making, transforming communities, serving with Jesus in their zip codes?"

Please reflect prayerfully and let us know what God says to you.
B R-H

Create On-line Surveys!

2007-03-07T20:50:00.000-06:00

Need to poll your community, your congregation, your leadership team? Check out Survey Monkey: "Using just your web browser, create your survey with our intuitive survey editor. Select from over a dozen types of questions (single choice, multiple choice, rating scales, drop-down menus, and more...). Powerful options allow you to require answers to any question, control the flow with custom skip logic, and even randomize answer choices to eliminate bias. In addition, you have complete control over the colors and layout of your survey."

Wikiletics

2007-03-05T14:09:00.000-06:00

Check out a different kind of sermon resource. Anyone might benefit from reviewing some of the shared wisdom about scripture passages on this site. www.wikiletics.com/display/WH/Home

What's Going On?

2007-02-28T17:55:00.000-06:00

What is "missional" church about anyway?

Let's start with what it's NOT:

Not another program
Not a denominational initiative
Not an option

What missional church IS:

Centered in the local community
Congregationally led
Focused on serving with Jesus (as opposed to for Him)
Mostly carried out by well equipped lay people outside the church campus

This is how we intend to focus our best energy and resources.

This is a good place to share your reflections, your successes, your trials, your testimonies of transformation.

Let the journey begin!
BR-H

Area Website

2007-02-24T12:57:00.000-06:00

Phase 1 of the new area website will be launched on March 1, 2007.

At the time the new website is launched, we will maintain a link to previous site.

Brian Bullock