I just got an email from Kristin Ruther, who invited us to meet Alan Hirsch last month. Her email was a final recap of the lunch event that her company “Aspen Group” hosted. Not only was the timing uncanny since I had just begun to recap the event, but her summary was also excellent! With her permission, I have included her synopsis below:
Aspen Group hosts a couple of lunches a year to inspire and inform leaders in our area. Our last pastors lunch in February featured author, Alan Hirsch. I have the unenviable task of recapping his discussion. There is so much to share, so I will get to the main impressions. Ready?! Missional…. Recovering a sense of incarnation…Taking ourselves out of the way…
Missional doesn’t mean urban plunges on weekends. We should behave as missionaries in our own backyard. We need to learn to be a movement again. This was Jesus’ plan; we are at our best when we are a movement, activating everyone. Apostolic movements involve each person, not just the level of ecclesiastical leadership. Every person is a minister of Jesus Christ. Get over the notion of a professional minister. God has called you, saved you. The Church Jesus designed with founders like Peter, James and John was of ordinary people. Mission is a challenge and calls you out of your comfort zone. The church of Jesus is designed for impact. Faith is the biblical form of heroism. The church is meant to be on an adventure and we are obsessed with safety and security in our nice suburbs. Where is the life we’ve lost? Life requires disequilibrium.
Go forth! If you fall, big deal. Get back up again. –Alan Hirsch
Alan pointed out we need our own places to maintain a proximity to people. We need to “move in,” and Aspen is examining/designing community spaces in the context of the church building. I asked Aspen’s CEO, Ed Bahler, to share what he detected: In our efforts to drive church growth we’ve focused on one question….who are we trying to reach. As a result we’ve developed remarkably effective weekend worship services that have trained people to come and consume. For many of the younger “Digital” crowd it feels contrived. They desire to be engaged and part of the dialogue. As a result there are roughly 180 million Americans that will never be attracted to our current model. My hope and prayer is the “missional” efforts will challenge us to rethink how we are engaging. I pray we will be able to reach beyond the church walls and beyond our present practice to develop new expressions of the church that engage the next generation in powerfully ways. Ways that not only connect them to Christ, but engage them in ways that transform their choices and their life.
Alan Hirsch and Lance Ford have written a practical book subtitled, Everyday Mission for Everyday People. Here is the link to their book, Right Here Right Now http://www.righthererightnowbook.com/
Their writings show you how to “move out” and behave as people who are sent. What question do you have?
There are some very smart people thinking about this subject. I can connect you to their training team.
Kristin Ruther is Customer Relations Coordinator for Aspen Group. You can reach her through her company’s web site, or if you prefer you can contact me for her info.
NOTE: Alan and Lance’s latest book is now available on Amazon: Right Here, Right Now
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