Engaging the Future Through Missional
Collaboration
by Jim Hill, Churchnet Executive Director
Last year we approved our Vision 2020
strategic plan—Engaging the Future with
Hope. It included four major initiatives
which grew out of our process as we
explore the future with congregations
across our state. These initiatives were
facilitate missional collaboration,
develop hope-filled strategies, engage
new generations and cultures, and
expand community involvement. Our
theme for this year’s Annual Gathering
was Engaging the Future through
Mission Collaboration.
The terms missional and missional church are less than twenty years old, and yet the meaning of these terms is sometimes lost in their misuse and misapplication to both old and new congregational models and strategies. What do they mean for us? The original meaning of missional church referred to God’s mission in the world. The church is not primarily about us, but about God’s mission. They emphasized that everything the church ought to be and do is mission. Missions should not be one church program among many, but the church’s primary purpose and reason to exist.
Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians and challenged them to move beyond their petty jealousy and quarreling. He said it was time for them to grow up. He said it is not about Apollos or Paul—it is about God. God makes life-changing growth possible. He said, “For we are co-workers in God’s service.” The KJV translated it, “For we are laborers together with God.” The NRSV translated it, “For we are God’s servants, working together.” The main theme of the entire passage is to show that it is all about God—it was not about the apostles any more than it is about us. Maybe the best way to translate and understand Paul’s statement is, “We are fellow laborers with God or we labor together in the work of God.”
American Christianity has sometimes been held captive to our culture. Our passion for rugged individualism and personal independence has caused us to
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