So, I have now read the first 2 chapters of leading missional communities! The first took an hour on a tube en route to Uxbridge (Hope for Justice meeting), the second 45 minutes sitting in the Church office whilst my kids ran riot nerf gunning. Feel free to post where you read yours!
Here's what I learnt and how it got me thinking..........
1. A missional community (cluster) is simply a vehicle to help us learn to live as Oikos. Who knew eh? There was me thinking that getting a missional community up and running effectively was the goal. Apparently not. According to Chapter one Oikos is our goal. An Oikos (in case you were wondering) is an extended family who functions together around a common purpose. Now it's taken me a long time to get this Oikos thing but I think I'm getting closer. As I see it (and believe me it wouldn't be the first time I've got the wrong end of the stick), the difference between a MC and an extended family is the depth of the relationships. If I need a babysitter I have absolutely no problem asking my Mum bless her. However I hate asking other people. Why is that? It's got nothing to do with not wanting to leave my children with anyone else (trust me!) but speaks volumes about the relationship I have with my Mum and how easy I find it to ask her. She's family. When I begin to feel the same ease when I ask others I think I'm on the way to Oikos. Interestingly writing this I realise it is beginning to happen for me in our cluster. My friend recently had to go to hospital for something unpleasant and asked me to take her. On the form for next of kin she put me and under the 'what is your relationship' wrote framily. She said friend didn't cover it. On the way to Oikos. The book states that it is this relational dynamic that has enabled the early church to thrive in the midst of hardships and persecution. Worth the effort me thinks then. So we are working on building Oikos, how are we doing with our common purpose? What would you say yours is............book says it's discipleship and mission. Achieving Oikos and a shared common purpose I now realise requires a paradigm shift in my thinking. This is no longer a Sunday activity or option. It is a way of doing life. It takes the word commitment to a whole new level.
2. Size matters to a missional community. Our cluster is 9 people. Book says it is too small for a MC. It is 'too intimate' for people to join and may feel exposed. Our whole church family is about 130. It is too big for a MC. This lends itself to being front lead and does not require active participation. 20-40 is the ideal apparently....what do you think?
3. intention is everything. Our cluster should have the expressed intention of seeing those we are in relationship with become followers of Jesus. The fabulous Ellen Wild has a cluster in Chichester who make cards. Ellen noted..."we are not a card making cluster, we are Christians committed to forming relationships and making disciples of Jesus while making cards." Or something like that, I'd had a lot of curry by then! I would say this needs to have a massive prayer base or we will only make friends and not disciples.
4. A missional community is low maintenance. What do you think! Is this your experience? I guess it's all relative. Compared to an entire church service it is low maintenance but with missional communities many more people are doing the work. Book suggests we recycle activities we are already involved in. Also talks about getting 'family rhythms" to connect us with God, each other and community. Personally I have one main stress point when leading which is when I don't have a plan! We have good rhythms now for connecting with God and each other that we have worked at developing but we still don't have definite ways to connect to our community. Our cluster members all have really good relationships already in our area but it hasn't quite come together in a structured way. This is when we are required to 'trust and wait' (quote pinched from footsteps). I put this stress on myself probably because of the feeling I need to 'make a success' of clustering. Lent has got me serious about prayer again so let's see what the result is.....
I also loved the description of missional communities "orbiting a central church which becomes a place of training, equipping, prayer, resourcing and encouragement." If we can get this right it should transform our experience of leading?
5 Sooooo important to build a discipling culture. Cluster leaders need to be disciple makers not events organisers. Let's coach, challenge, encourage, send. Discipleship will always be happening, this is the environment we need to be seeking.
Okay, now need to carve out a bit more time to read the next couple of chapters. Hope this helps but remember I'm on this journey too and on a mightily steep learning curve so please share your thoughts too so we can pull each other along! x
