Tag: missional communities
Timmis on Gospel Communities
Steve Timmis is an innovative leader in The Crowded House and Porterbrook Traning Centre and now European Director for Acts 29 in the UK. I’ve had the joy of working with Steve on a few things and my respect for him grows each time. Here are some outstanding resources on cultivating gospel-centered missional communities.
Resurgence has provided three sessions on Total Church traning on Gospel Communities.
- Session 1: Gospel-centered Principles – an outstanding explanation of the Gospel summarized as: “Jesus, God’s promised Rescuer and Ruler, lived our life, died our death and rose again in triumphant vindication as the first fruits of the new creation to bring forgiven sinners together under his gracious reign”.
- Session 2: Gospel-centered Practices – focuses on the “how tos” of GCs, addressing language, structure, mission.
- Session 3: Gospel-centered Practices – focuses on more best practices on leader development, etc.
Putting the Missionary into Missional Communities
The Austin Stone Missional Community blog is putting out some good posts. This post helpfully raises missionary questions that will promote MCs that think and act more wisely, communicating the gospel with greater missional savvy. Here are some questions your MC can ask in the process of understanding your culture and mission:
- What are the emotional needs of the elderly, families, teens, singles, men, women, children?
- What are the social, economic or educational needs of the same?
- What are the flaws and difficulties with the systems of the community?
- What is their worldview?
- What redemptive analogies best fit this culture?
- What does this culture understand about the basic components of the gospel story?
- What questions are being asked in the culture that point to their need for the gospel?
When is a Missional Community a Church?
This is an important question: “When is a missional community a church?” It gets at the root of our essential ecclesiology—what makes church, church. Some would emphasize the presence of elders, others would emphasize the presence of people, others the gospel and sacraments, still others a people on mission. Where do you fall? When are missional communities considered churches? When are missional core teams considered “a church”?
Check out the answers to this question here.