Communities of Performance or Grace?

Posted on November 3, 2008

Tim Chester offers a great diagnostic list to determine whether our communities are communities of performance or grace:

Communities of Performance Communities of Grace
the leaders appear sorted the leaders are vulnerable
the community appears respectable the community is messy
meetings must be a polished performance meetings are just one part of community life
identity is found in ministry identity is found in Christ
failure is devastating failure is disappointing, but not devastating
actions are driven by duty actions are driven by joy
conflict is suppressed or ignored conflict is addressed in the open
the focus is on orthodoxy and behaviour (allowing people to think they’re sorted) the focus is on the affections of the heart (with a strong view of sin and grace)

Deacon Training – II (Practice of Deacons)

Posted on November 3, 2008

As we continue the process of developing deacons, our most recent meeting focused on The Practice of Deacons. A previous post lists resources for A Theology of Deacons, the focus of our first meeting. In attempting to work out the practice of deacons, we found it helpful to make a distinction between two areas of service—community and mission-focused deacons.

There are two main areas of service community-focused and mission-focused service. Mission-focused deacons serve in ways that change over time. For example, the Early Church probably didn’t have Media or Arts Deacons but they did have deacons that served widows and orphans. As the church expands and contracts throughout history, moving from continent to continent, culture to culture, the expression of the church varies. As a result, there are some areas of service that remain the same and others that change. Consequently, the cultural and historical expression of the church requires deacons that serve the mission of the church and deacons that serve a church of mission.

There are deacon ministries that are pretty standard, transcultural and transhistorical such as: mission/social justice, community/benevolence, financial. These ministries have historical and biblical precedent, focusing not so much on outward mission but more on inward ministry to the community of faith. In summary, there are community-focused and mission-focused areas of ministry for deacons, ministries that serve the mission of the church and ministries that serve the church of mission.

Cobblestone Community Network

Posted on November 1, 2008

Drew Goodmanson is always doing something good. His latest contribution to missional church comes via his work with Monk Development. MD has produced a unique social networking site customized for cultivating missional community called Cobblestone Community Network. Here are a few of the benefits listed at Cobblestone:

Connect People into Real Community

Connect people to local home groups, special needs groups and small groups based on numerous criteria.

Create a community of Generosity and Giving

Share the churches needs and vision and allow people to donate to causes.

Get people on Mission

Push activities and events to third-party sites and invite your non-believing friends.

Know your community

Access valuable reporting to have a pulse of what is going on in your church.

Missional Halloween & Austin's Wiccan Preistess

Posted on October 31, 2008

Stacy M. Weidmann, a Wiccan High-Priestess of Phoenix Moon in Austin. In an interview, she commented that Austin has a culture of open-mindedness and this is why the city claims a high number of Pagans and Wiccans, not to mention Satanists live and practice thier religion in Austin.

  • Read the Probe Center’s article on the nature and presence of occult activity in Austin.
  • Pray for the gospel to advance as you trick or treat tonight with neighbors tonight.
  • Take advantage of this opportunity to love and serve and hang with non-Christians, praying for the light of the gospel to invade the darkness of their hearts.