Churches being transformed into a missional posture are learning to:

Pay attention to their missional context:
They are developing skills for discovering, interpreting, and purposefully engaging their missionary context. They are moving beyond demographics to discern powerful cultural patterns, beliefs, and values that shape them and those with whom they live, work, and worship. They are responding to social and local realities (such as increased ethnic diversity, consumerism, nationalism, and variety of spiritualities) with the resources of the Gospel.

Pay attention to the Spirit:
They are cultivating the church as a community of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit - who calls, equips, and sends the church - empowers the faith community through biblical study to perceive, think, and behave as the People of God. As they learn about the world and about the Gospel, people are becoming knowledgeable and articulate. Evangelism grows naturally out of their commitment and excitement.

Pay attention to one another:
They are shaping anew the church's common life in ways that are a sign and foretaste of God's reign. They are developing and sustaining rich practices of "one-anothering" - joining and sharing, eating and drinking, listening and caring, testing and deciding, welcoming and befriending. They are drawing a critical mass of the congregation into study, prayer, conversation, discernment, and transformation as a disciple community.

Pay attention to change:
They are equipping leaders (lay and clergy together) to think, organize and lead frame-bending change toward a missional identity and vocation. They are creating readiness for significant spiritual renewal, building commitment to the major changes that are required. They are building and equipping leadership teams, thinking systemically, discerning God's vision for their church, inventing new ways to demonstrate their faith, and embedding innovation.

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Missional transformation is not simply a new way to keep doing what is presently going on. It does not offer merely a "tune-up," or adaptations to existing programs and priorities. Rather, in a very constructive and faith-filled manner, it enables the congregation to evaluate and define anew the nature, purpose, and practices of its life together in light of God's mission. It offers the opportunity to make the changes discerned to be necessary in order to become more faithful to God's calling and purpose in their situation.

• Where are we?
  
• What is God doing here?
  
• Whose are we and how is God calling us?
  
• How is God sending us?
  
• How will we live as a called and sent people of God?
  

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1. Renewed spiritual life by discovering and experiencing anew what it means to be the church - God's people of salt and light.


2. A community of Christ followers, learning to live as committed disciples.


3. People no longer content simply to be consumers of a church's Sunday morning programs.
4. Increased excitement about and greater sharing of the Christian faith.


5. Increased clarity of purpose as a congregation.


6. A greater sense of trust and unity, pulling together toward common goals.


7. More responsive to new missional opportunities.


8. Developing leaders who are wise in both world and Word, offering sound and balanced guidance for the church's ministry.


9. Broader participation in decision-making and ministries of the church.


10. Not just talk about God's mission, but also organized to move concretely toward realizing that vision.


11. Savings in time and money by focusing congregation energies, asking the important questions, putting the spotlight on key results.


12. New measuring of congregational Fruitfulness: not by budgetary or membership goals, but by the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

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A regional approach to congregational transformation stewards the gifts, time, and energy of judicatory, congregation, and leaders alike in creative and fruitful partnerships.

A regional approach will include any or all of the following supports:

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A regional approach leverages the gifts, time, and energy of judicatory, congregations, and leaders alike in creative and fruitful partnerships. What follows is a "scenario" to stimulate conversation and imagination about the support to congregations for the challenging yet rewarding journey of missional transformation.

Leadership Development for Clergy and Laity

• Training to create awareness, readiness and commitment for transforming congregations toward a missional posture.
  
• Training for theological grounding in a missional orientation, skills for raising contextual attentiveness, practices of communal disciple formation.
  
• Conceptual and practical skills for leading change.
  

Clusters of Congregations

• Enlist, train and guide a group of churches through a process of missional transformation.
  
• Provide theologically-grounded curriculum resources to help congregations 1) get ready for the journey, 2) develop a common view of current realities, 3) discern God's vision for their church, 4) design their ministry future and 5) embody their vision in practical strategies.
  
• Bible study processes that stimulate theological reflection, forming hearts and minds of disciples to discern and live God's vision for their church.
  
• Evaluate and learn from experience in this transformation process to ensure assimilation of new skills and knowledge with additional groups or clusters of congregations.
  

Consultants Trained and Supported

• Training and support for consultants identified and enlisted from across the regional body.
  
• Extensive consultant training resources that provide a range of practical and conceptual tools.
  
• Coaching for consultants to assist local churches on the journey of missional transformation.
  

Consultants receive coaching and resources to design and facilitate cluster workshops with congregations and leadership development workshops.

The consultant component provides the means to support successive groups or clusters of congregations across the judicatory over time in a journey of renewal.

Development of a Regional Strategy and Infrastructure for Supporting Missional Transformation in Congregations

Consultation, training, and printed resources support with judicatory leaders and coordinating team to:

• Cultivate readiness, commitment and support for the development of a regional strategy of missional transformation.
  
• Encourage and sustain corporate critical thinking throughout the judicatory for determining how to live and witness in a missionary setting.
  
• Link churches with one another, helping them build relationships of mutual support and sharing of gifts.
  
• Support the Coordinating team to provide on-going leadership, coordination and support of a transformation "pilot" process.
  

Costs

Costs will vary according to the scope of a project and the length of the ministry partnership agreed to. It is recommended that the congregations and the regional body share the costs since financial ownership by the congregation helps committed participation. We would be glad to explore a more detailed scenario and how it might be structured for your situation.

Example

The initiating body is a middle judicatory church development, evangelism, or mission committee. That body together with its regional council contracts with the Center for first steps: to organize and equip a regional coordinating team, design the regional approach that fits their situation, cultivate broad awareness and support, and begin enlistment. The process begins with training, and unfolds as a powerful system of support to an initial cluster of churches, their clergy and lay leaders, supported by a cadre of consultants-in-training. The Center staff supports the regional coordinating team, trains the consultants and equips them to support the cluster of churches through their journey of missional transformation. Curriculum resources are provided to support all leadership and congregational participants in the process. As a result, powerful new learning and renewal takes place. Consultant training pays dividends for years to come, while training and resources become available to more and more congregations as successive "waves" of churches participate.

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