Mark Moore's Blog

Total Church Conference

I'll have much more to say about this later, but in the meantime I wanted to get the information out.

The Total Church North America Conference 2008

Be the Church
Total church is a way of thinking about church and mission in the 21st century which sees the local Christian community as integral to Christian living and Christian mission. The Christian life is 'total church' - our identity is communal.

Why Attend?
Create a community centered on the gospel, equipped to do the work of the ministry.
Make your community a community of church planters.
See what it means to be the church on mission through ordinary life with gospel intentionality.
Dialog with missional church leaders from across the world.
Learn from seasoned practitioners how to form missional communities and transition traditional churches toward mission.

Dates: August 12-14, 2008

Location: San Diego

The first Total Church was held in Sheffield, UK, in 2007 at the end of October, hosted by the Crowded House. The conference is named for the book, Total Church -A Radical Reshaping Around Gospel and Community which will be released in the Fall in the US.

For more information and to register, please visit www.churchbootcamp.com.

Technorati Tags: church planting, missional church, Total Church Conference

The Crowded House Values

In my last post, I mentioned that our church is now part of a formal partnership with The Crowded House. The Crowded House is a group of church planting networks with a commitment to missional communities and household church. This partnership is defined by our shared values. These values are a statement of what makes us distinct as a network, but are not intended to be a judgment on those with a gospel commitment who do things differently.

1. The priority of the gospel
 ('community in mission')

We are committed to taking the gospel both to our neighbors and to the ends of the earth. We will challenge one another to be sacrificial, risk-taking and flexible because the gospel has priority over our comfort, security and traditions. We want to have a global gospel vision and to this end be generous with our resources. We will not let Christian activity be just one part of our lives.

2. Mission through community

We are committed to communicating the gospel message in the context of a gospel community. We want people to experience church as a network of relationships rather than a meeting you attend or a place you enter. We will not put on evangelistic missions outside the context of a Christian community.

3. Home as the location and ethos of church

We are committed to homes as a context for all or most of church life. We want home to define the ethos of church and believe it facilitates effective evangelism, especially among the unchurched. When congregations use other buildings, those buildings will not be viewed as sacred or the main focus of mission.

4. Living as an extended family

We are committed to caring for one another, discipling one another, investing in relationships and resolving conflict. We will expect one another to make decisions with regard to the implications for the church and to make significant decisions in consultation with the church. We will not view church as a meeting you attend. We will not let conflict continue unresolved.

5. Being an inclusive community

We are committed to making church accessible to unbelievers and welcoming to the socially marginalized. We want all who come to have a sense of belonging. We will not let our welcome be dependent on adherence to any cultural norms when these are not demanded by the gospel. We will not do that which might make unbelievers feel left out.

6. Growing churches by planting churches

We are committed to starting new congregations - both in areas where no church exists and through subdividing growing congregations. We will not develop into a single, large congregation.

7. Church without the trappings

We are committed to freedom and simplicity in church life. We are committed to Bible teaching; loving community; the breaking of bread and prayer (Acts 2:42). Apart from these things we want to be flexible and relevant for the sake of the gospel. We will not regard as necessary for church life such things as accomplished music, constitutions, monologues, officers or anything that might hinder the core activities of the church and its mission.

8. Everyone exercising gospel ministry

We are committed to everyone in the church exercising gospel ministry. For some this will be expressed in their employment. We believe leadership is important and see leaders as facilitators of gospel ministry rather than those who exercise control. We will not make distinctions between fulltime and non-fulltime ministers.

9. Shaping our activities around people

We want the activities of a church to reflect its context. We will shape activities around the opportunities we have with unbelievers, and the gifts and passions of church members. We expect one another to see ourselves as servants of Jesus even when that means operating outside our comfort zones. We will not give people roles simply to maintain programs.

10. Good Bible teaching and learning

We want to shape our lives and our life together in obedience to the Bible, which we believe to be the reliable, authoritative and sufficient word of God. To this end we are committed to good Bible teaching and learning. We will not act on the basis of tradition, habit or pragmatism without reflection on the Bible. We will not see Bible teaching as an end in itself, but as that which must shape our thinking and action.

Technorati Tags: church planting, the crowded house

Believing and Living the Gospel

This week I will be teaching from Acts 2:42-47. This is such a powerful text as it focuses on the earliest Christian community and their commitment to one another and the resulting impact of the gospel mission. While thinking about this subject and doing some reading, I couldn't help but think about how right Lesslie Newbigin was when he said:

I have come to feel that the primary reality of which we have to take account in seeking for a Christian impact on public life is the Christian congregation. How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it. I am, of course, not denying the importance of the many activities by which we seek to challenge public life with the gospel - evangelistic campaigns, distribution of Bibles and Christian literature, conferences, and even books such as this one. But I am saying that these are all secondary, and that they have power to accomplish their purpose only as they are rooted in and lead back to a believing community.

Notice this phrase, "a congregation of men and women who believe [the gospel] and live by it." The earliest Christian community of the book of Acts not only believed the gospel (Acts 2:41), but they lived by it (Acts 2:42-47). I wonder how many of our churches are truly gospel centered communities who both believe the gospel and live by the gospel? What would it look like if our churches truly began to live like the earliest Christian communities of Acts 2? It would certainly look like a radical commitment to Jesus as both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). It would certainly look like a radical commitment to the people of the Lord (Acts 2:44-45). I'm also certain that it would be so foreign to what we know as church today that we probably would not know what to call it.

Maybe what this means is that we should examine what we know as church today and think of something else to call it.

Technorati Tags: church, mission, missional church

A Missional Community

If all had gone as planned, I should have been returning from a two week mission trip in India today.  However, due to unforeseen circumstances our trip was postponed.  While our church may not be be welcoming people home from a mission trip in India, we are still on mission.

Providence Community is a missional community devoted to Jesus and one another.  That statement summarizes who we are and what we are about.  We are a missional community.  We are about Jesus.  For that reason, a postponed mission trip does not mean that “mission” didn’t happen or does not happen.  To think that way is to think of mission solely in terms of an event or something that you do.  In Providence Community, mission is our way of life.  It is who we are.  We are a missional community.

You may ask why this is such a big deal.  Some may think that mission (or if you prefer, evangelism) is for some, but not everyone.  Some may think that mission is not the area that God has called you to and that you are better suited for some other form of ministry within the kingdom.  Such thinking is due to misunderstanding the nature of God.

"We have come to see that mission is not merely an activity of the church.  Rather, mission is the result of God’s initiative, rooted in God’s purpose to restore and heal creation.  “Mission” means “sending,” and it is the central biblical theme describing the purpose of God’s action in human history.  God’s mission began with the call of Israel to receive God’s blessing in order to be a blessing to the nations.  God’s mission unfolded in the history of God’s people across the centuries recorded in Scripture, and it reached its revelatory climax in the incarnation of God’s work of salvation in Jesus ministering, crucified, and resurrected.  God’s mission continued then in the sending of the Spirit to call forth and empower the church as the witness to God’s good news in Jesus Christ.  It continues today in the worldwide witness of churches in every culture to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it moves toward the promised consummation of God’s salvation in the eschaton (“last” or “final day”)."-–Darrell Guder

Understanding the missio Dei, or mission of God, becomes critical not only in how we think about the church, but also in how we think about our own individual lives as Christians.  To be a follower of Christ is to be on mission.  Please do not misunderstand.  One’s salvation is not secured by being on mission.  Salvation was accomplished by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  However, the salvation that was accomplished for you, by Jesus, is a salvation that calls you to be a part of the mission of God.

As a church that is deeply committed to the gospel we are therefore a church that is deeply committed to mission as a way of life.  All of creation exists for the sole purpose of glorifying God.  Humanity has turned away from God and worships and glorifies the creature rather than the creator.  The only hope for them is the gospel.  Therefore, their hope is tied to the obedience of the church to live out its missional calling.  Our city suffers every day.  Let us point our city to Jesus, the one sent to suffer.

But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have not heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!”—Romans 10:14-15