Nathan Visker
I'm a pastor of a wonderful church in Ferrysburg, MI. I'm married with 3 kids. We've felt called to home-educate our children and that's been a real adventure. But it's also helped us to think outside the box about lots of other things including church.
Posted in: Huddles and Triads
Absolutely, Michael. It seems like adding intentionality and small community to the spiritual journey accelerates it. Of course, it's not the formula that makes it happen. But it seems like God has created us in such a way that these things create opening in our lives for the Spirit to work powerfully.
What I like most about this is that one doesn't have to be spiritually gifted to grow. A person just needs to be committed and have a few committed friends alongside him or her. I think about the first Beatitude - the kingdom is available to even the poor in spirit. No spiritual pedigree required. Good news indeed!
Posted in: Huddles and Triads
Charles, I suppose this charge could be levied against anything we do in the church - sermons, sacraments, other spiritual disciplines. Without biblical content and the Holy Spirit, all forms or methods (including huddles and triads) will only strengthen a person's commitment to a religion or philosophy. The goal of huddles and triads is to strengthen one's commitment to Jesus through Scripture and mutual support and accountability, not to a system or philosophy. I fail to see how pointing willing participants toward Jesus could be considered manipulative or unethical.
What alternatives would you suggest?
Posted in: The Speed of Discipleship
"Another fruit/joy is seeing the changes in the lives of those we are discipling."
Thanks for mentioning this. One of the biggest sources of encouragement in my own journey is seeing the Spirit at work in others. Discipling people gives us a front row seat to God's work in others' lives. Very satisfying!
Posted in: The Speed of Discipleship
Thanks for your comments, Gilbert. I agree that discipleship is not about a tool or method. I refer to it as a culture, and I'm thinking specifically about how to help people in the community of faith grow to be more like Jesus. I realize that discipleship extends to people at all spiritual places. So I'm admittedly using that term more narrowly.
I also must confess that I have been impacted by the instant gratification culture we live in. I hoped this article would show that the slow speed of discipleship makes it a counter-cultural practice. It's a call to embrace the speed of discipleship and reject a worldly definition of success. Thanks for the opportunity to clarify.
Posted in: Implementing "Missional Communities" in an Established CRC Setting
Hi Andrew,
I'm at a 60-year old congregation in western Michigan. Like yours, an even spread of ages. We started our first missional community in May and hopeto launch 2 more by next summer. It's been quite a journey, but so cool to see God at work. 3DM is a great resource. Soma Communities in Tacoma is another one. Let me know how I can help. I'd love to know more about your church and what's working for you.
Nate Visker
Posted in: Missional Communities After a Year
Good thoughts, Brian. Now that I understand your initial question better, I would also add that our MCs are coached by the pastor (me) and are accountable to the elders. I sometimes think we worry too much about heresy springing up in things we don't tightly control. The goal of our MCs is to announce God's kingdom and make disciples. As long as there is strong accountablilty to that goal, I believe orthodoxy will take care of itself. MCs described by the names you mentioned are indeed more like house churches. Soma Communities are a good example of MCs that have a strong tie to an organization. I wonder, however, if this makes them slower to multiply?
Posted in: Missional Communities After a Year
We've drawn on a lot of stuff from 3DM. Our iteration of MCs is probably a little more oriented around a network or neighborhood than 3DM. We've decided to start with a missional context, while their MCs start with the community of people in the MC. So many different ways to skin this cat.
Allen, if you ever want to talk more, feel free to contact me.
Posted in: Missional Communities After a Year
Hi Brian,
We've been able to maintain a pretty strong connection to the group we sent into the apartment community. Many of them still attend our Sunday worship service regularly. We've released them from the ways they were volunteering within the congregation so they could focus on the neighborhood. But we still see them regularly on Sunday morning. We make a point of praying for this group in our congregational prayers. We also try to get a brief update from one of them about once a month during our worship service.
Some of the people from the apartment complex have started coming to our worship service, but most who meet with this group do not. We were clear that our goal was not to get people to come to our worship services, but simply to help them find a spiritual community on their own turf. I hope this helps.
Posted in: Missional Communities After a Year
We discovered that about 5% of our congregation had the pre-existing qualifications to lead an MC. I'll get 2, maybe 3 MCs out of that. So I've started a process of developing missional leaders that can lead an MC down the road. It's hard to have patience, but I believe that God will use what we're doing now in wonderful ways in 5 years. All that to say I really believe you have to start with the leaders and build from there.
Sam, I think I understand what you mean by the term "missional community strategy." But I want to be clear that I don't see MCs as just another strategy (like direct mail or seeker sensitive worship). For us, it is the future of our congregation. It's more than a way to reach unchurched people. I believe it's what God is leading us to become - a congregation of MCs.