1. Methodology for a…
Mission Shaped Church
Some of the working group

2. Skilled workers needed
Carpenter from Nazareth seekers joiners !
Quality job
Made to measure
Made to last
Cheap – and nasty
Only fits square holes
Doesn’t last

3. Methodology lesson ONE
Learning from Seed sowing
The principle : Seeds must be allowed to die

4. Sowing Jesus patterns Death to life
Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds.
John 12 24

5. Dying to live …
Something unforeseen can grow

6. How’s that ? The seed is the sent out incoming team
They “die” to their previous identity
No longer part of St Silas Somewhere
No longer holding onto “how we did things there”
Remember Paul the apostle
“To the Greeks I became as a Greek” [1 Cor 9]

7. Seeds are different to plants
Mixing with the soil of the mission context…
The planted seed community becomes a new body of believers as well us a body of new believers

8. Methodology lesson - TWO
TWO “Double listening”
To the essence/core of the Christian Inheritance
To the Mission Context
Mission in stereo, hears God better
MSC p and Michael Nazir-Ali : Shapes of the Church to Come Chs 1-2

9. Get the connections right
Create
Church
Only one…
Listening
Planting …
Evangelism
1st ear
Listen To
Context ?
Syncretism
2nd ear
Listen To
Tradition
Irrelevance

10. Methodology lesson - THREE
Ask the right questions
Ask them in the right order
start with the church and the mission will probably get lost.
start with the mission and it is likely that the Church will be found.
MSC p 116

11. A three dimensional process
Who is the Fresh Expression FOR ? – Mission GOAL
Network or Neighbourhood
De churched or Non churched
Who is the planting done BY ? – Mission RESOURCE
Pioneer or Progression
Cell or Congregation
Who is it done WITH ? – Mission PARTNERS
Runner Graft Seed or Transplant
WHO FOR ?
WHO WITH ?
WHO BY ?

12. “What kind of community is needed to sustain the mission?”
3 key questions ...
“What is the mission
to this area ?”
“What kind of community is needed
to sustain the mission?”
“What set of spiritual disciplines
is required to sustain
the community in that mission?”
MSC p 116
Based on questions asked by Church of Saviour Washington DC

13. Methodology lesson - FOUR
Beware Christendom imported distortions
Including the dominance of public worship
Leading to “come” shaped mission

14. Worship Community Spirituality Mission What is Church Ideally
Robert Warren: Building Missionary Congregations
What is
Church
Ideally
made of ? ....
Worship
Community
Spirituality
Mission

15. The Christendom distortion
Worship
Community
Mission

16. Different Mission Fields
Regular attenders – at least monthly (10%)
Fringe - less than monthly (10%)
Non Churched (40%)
Open de-churched (20%)
Closed de-churched (20%)
MSC p 37-40

17. Where do you START in which context ?
Target
Group
The
Fringe
Open De-
churched
The Non -
Closed
De-Churched Or
Mission
Context
Christen-dom
Pre -
Christian
Post
Anti
Starting
Place
WORSHIP
EVANGEL-
ISM
COMMUNITY
theirs & ours
Apology
Climate
Warm
Cool
Cold to....
Arctic
“Style”
Control
Dialogue
Partnership
Listen ?

18. The Missionary re- discovery
Community
Mission
Worship