As promised, here are the reflection questions for our last large group gathering.  Please take time to answer these questions and send me (Sam) your responses.  Also save a copy to bring with you as we will use the questions and your answers for the basis of our discussion for the gathering.

Remember our next gathering is April 26 and 27.  We will begin at 7:15 pm and end by 4 pm on Saturday.  Please get me your team list as soon as possible so I can make sure we have enough surf and turf for lunch.

Reflection Questions:

1. Describe the mission project that your team has developed from the Missional Learning Journey.  a. How has your reading of the gospels influenced your project?  b. What impact did you see in the wider community as a result of your project? c. What imipact did you see in the “mothership” community (your congregation)? d. Did you use anyone from the community to help you with your mission project?  If so describe who they were and how you got them engaged.  e. If you did not develop a mission project please tell us why you were unable to develop one.  What roadblocks/frustrations did you run into?

2. Did your team do a “Found Money” exercise?  Yes/No  If yes:  a. Describe your project? How did you “find” money? b. How did the reading of the gospels influence your project?

3. What did you learn by being part of the Missional Learning Journey: a. About yourself? b. About your community? c. About your “mothership”? d. About how scripture and your daily walk in your community go together?

4. What was helpful for you in the Missional Learning Journey?  What was least helpful?

5. Where would you like for the Missional Learning Journey to go from here?

6. The intensive seminary class (also for life-long learners) will be held June 28/29 and August 9/10 with online (maybe cluster gatherings) in between.  Course Description: MP509 Missional Church Dynamics is a three credit elective introducing church leaders (lay and clergy) to the paradigm of the 21st Century church known as the missional church.  The seminar is designed to provide a conceptual framework for the application of the missional model to a faith-community’s life of mission and outward focused ministry.  Missional Church Dynamics will employ insights from the fields of missional church engagement and church effectiveness to guide students in developing their understanding of the church in relation both to the triune God and to all creation.  Theological resources from ecclesiology, soteriology, and missiology are utilized to help students formulate a working theology of the missional church within their congregation and ministry context.  Practical resources from the field of missional church practice will help participants engage their faith communities in various facets of contextualized mission.

Would you be interested in taking the class with the help of a scholarship?  Yes/No

Ron and I look forward to your reflections and discussion.  See you at camp April 26/27

On my way to work today I was listening to NPR and a story on the Race Card Project -http://www.wbur.org/npr/173816975/six-words-ask-who-i-am-not-what

The Race Card Project is where people can submit their thoughts on race and cultural identity in six words.  Very enlightening, check it out.  But it got me thinking what you would  come up with if I asked you to describe what being missional means in six words.  Will you give it a try?

Here is what I came up with:  “God, Christ, us in the community.”

I will try to print out your responses and we will make a “six word” story board at our last gathering on April 26,27.

At long last here are the promised study questions for your reading of the Gospel of John.  As you will note, we have focused on a few texts for this session.  Here are the questions:

As you read John, ask:

1. What can we learn about the character and acts of God? (Read John 1:1-18 and note the themes throughout the book of John)

2. What can we learn about the parameters and purpose of God’s mission? (Read John 3:11-21)

3. What can we learn about the nature and purpose of the church and its mission? (Read  John 17:6-26, John 20:19-23)

Just a reminder our next large group gathering is at Camp Tamarack, Feb. 15/16  We will begin on Friday night at 7 pm and will end on Saturday 4 pm.  See you at camp.

The date for the next Missional Learning Journey has been moved from January 11,12 to February 15,16 at Camp Tamarack.  Please inform your team members of this change.  To prepare for the next gathering read through the Gospel of John as if this is the first time you have read it.  In January, Ron and I will post “thought questions” for you to have in mind as you re-read the gospel.

Thank you everyone for a great year.  May you have a very blessed Christmas and New Year!

For the November 9, 10 gathering, we invite you to re-read Luke/Acts with the following questions in mind:

1. What is the Kingdom of God and what are its activities? – Who is included? What’s its relationship to the Hebrew Scriptures?  How does the kingdom expand?
2. How do we see the Kingdom in action through the ministry and teachings of Jesus?
3. How do we see the Kingdom in action through the mission of the early church?
4. Where does the mission go from here….?
5. What mission theme(s) do you find in Luke that you did not find in Matthew and Mark?
6. One commentator wrote: “Jesus had not been physically present on earth for perhaps fifty years by the time Luke wrote.  Very few still alive had ever seen Jesus.  The connection of personal memory would soon be gone…”  What do you think Luke is suggesting as the connection that would replace this personal memory?
7. Look at the two “Great Commission” stories – Luke 24:4-9 and Matthew 28:16-20.  How do they compare?  How do they differ?  What does this say to you about mission in your context?

FYI – we will begin the session on Friday night at 7:00 pm.  Sorry, no cook out this month.  Remember, if you have regular team member(s) which cannot make the gathering, feel free to bring someone new along with you.

By now I hope you have “found some money” and had a chance to put together a little mission experience with it.  If not, then it is never too late to do this little exercise in mission exploration.  Just call your team together and using the money you have in your pockets, pool it together and then discern how God wants you to use it.

Here are some follow up questions for your team to answer and report back:

1. How much money did your find?
2. Name some of the ideas that came to your team for use of the money.
3. What did you decide to do?
4. How did you come to your decision – was it someone’s passion or an immediate need that you were aware of or did you spend time in prayer and felt lead in that way?  How did you decide?
5. Tell us how the mission outreach went.  What was challenging?  What surprised you?  What did you learn?  What scripture stories came to mind as you were involved?

When you have answered these questions share it with the learning group on the Facebook “OnamissionfromGod” page.  And then enjoy the feedback as you help others learn more about how God is moving in and through you and your team.

At the last gathering of the Missional Learning Journey, Ron and I sent you home with the homework assignment of what we are calling “found money.”  Based on an experience I had this summer of our family finding a $20 bill on the ground and deciding what we could do with it missionally, Ron and I thought this simple exercise would help your team experience in a simple yet profound way what goes into being missional.  Here is our suggestion:

1. Call your team together and see what money you have in your pockets (or where ever you keep your money).  It may be $20 dollars or it may be $3.18 cents…hard to tell what you will find.
2. Once you have your “found money” decide as a team how you will use it missionally.
3. Carry out your mission.
4. Once you have carried out your mission – check back to this page for questions to be answered and contact Sam to set up an appointment when he can meet with your team to discuss your findings. (Questions will be posted on September 14.)