Missional Renaissance:

I just read an article by Reggie McNeal about his new book entitled Missional Renaissance.  This article was in Grace and Peace, a new magazine for pastors in the holiness tradition.  McNeal puts forward three things that a church needs to have in order to be truly missional in focus.  First they need to have an external focus, second they need to focus on people not programs and ministry, and finally they need to have leadership that is engaged fully in the community.    I really loved the way that he came at this.  It is in the same vein as Bickers book called Healthy Small Church.  The one thought that really hit me from the article, and the one that has made me put it on my must read list, is that we have to think of becoming missional in the same way as catching a cold.  It is viral, it is something that is caught not taught.  "Mission is a virus and you are trying to cultivate a pandemic that will reach critical mass."  As leaders we  need to be engaged in the community, outside the four walls of our church, we need to be pushing and pulling our people into that sphere and giving them opportunities to minister to the community.  After a little while, they will "catch" on and our churches will begin to transform.  I want to be a part of something like this!