Archive for the ‘Missional’ Category

Posted on May 27, 2010 - by Stephen Murray

VOX Intensive

This is something exciting that I’ll be involved in next week…

VOX Intensive:

One of our key identities at VOX City Church is that of ‘learner’. We aim to be a community that is constantly coming before God and his word and attempting to learn how we might better serve him in our city. In view of this value we’re holding a 3 day intensive where we will, in community, enter into a deliberate time of learning, discussion and experience centered on values that are core to us at VOX: Gospel, Community, Mission and City.

We want to encourage people to join us if they are able to as we cover these key areas in this learning environment. You can join us for either all or part of the intensive. However spaces for the intensive are limited so please RSVP asap.

Programme for the Intensive:

Wed 2nd June:
10am-1pm Urban Force Event at Common Ground Church (need to register separately for this).

2:30pm – 3:30pm Gospel in Three Perspectives (VOX Offices)
3:30pm – 4:30pm The Gospel Grid (VOX Offices)

6:30pm – 9pm Attend one of the VOX Missional Communities (Green Point, Rondebosch, Claremont, Woodstock).

Thurs 3rd June:
9am – 10am Debrief of Day One (VOX Offices)
10am – 11am Context: Overview of Cape Town (VOX Offices)
11:30am – 1pm Engaging with Story (VOX Offices)
2pm – 4pm Context: Getting a Feel for the City (Leave from VOX Offices)

5pm-8:30pm Township Experience (Gugulethu)
9pm-11pm Long Street Night Experience (Long Street)

Friday 4th June:
10:30am-12pm Debrief Day Two (VOX Offices)
1pm – 3pm What is a Missional Community (VOX Offices)
3pm – 4:30pm VOX City Church DNA (VOX Offices)

7:30pm-9:30 VOX City Church Vision Night (Baran’s 36 Burg Street)

Please let us know if you plan to attend any of the sessions by emailing us at info@voxcc.com

Posted on August 24, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Rethink Mission

Jonathan McIntosh is a really cool guy that I met in St Louis last year when I visited the Journey Church. He’s an amazing thinker about cultural engagement and the developer of some really creative cultural engagement ministries at the Journey, some of which I got to see last year and which I’ll hopefully be getting to see more of in October when I’m there again.

Now he has a new web project called ‘Rethink Mission‘ which is all about inspiring gospel-centered, missional churches. It’s a site dedicated to helping churches think clearly about the gospel and about mission in their context. One of the great features on the site that helps with that aim is the Missional Q & A with other key missional leaders. All in all it looks like a great site and resource – so head over there and give it a look.

Posted on April 24, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Eschatology Matters to Mission

I think my friend John has hit the nail on the head with this post. I made similar rumblings about this a while back. I know some of my colleagues disagree with me on this issue and most of the disagreement centers on the amount of continuity/discontinuity there is between this life and the life after death – particularly within the church.

I would tend to argue for slightly more continuity than a lot of my colleagues would, yet to date none of them have really provided me with any solid biblical exegesis to suggest that I’m allowing more continuity than the New Testament does. So some see my efforts towards a more communal and holistic church community as over-realised eschatology (yes I’ve had that big word sent my way) and I’m just not convinced that it is. I’m still convinced that any Christian theology must be proclamation centered, and must see the reconciling of individuals to God as central but it must also allows for the world to come to break in at certain stages and certain ways.

Some argue that this is contradictory to the suffering and hardship which is the experience of the New Testament saints. I would argue that the experience of the New Testament saints is a mixture of suffering, hardship and yet great heavenly, yet tangible blessing and behaviour. I think the two should be held in tension as the experience of the believer.

Under-realized eschatology says everything is going to pot so we save souls and get out as soon as we can. Over-realized eschatology says the kingdom is now, and we make it come (that’s why I think some forms of the emergent church are doing exactly the same thing as those in the prosperity gospel movement – demanding kingdom blessing now). I reject both those views. God will bring in and consummate his kingdom but he calls on us to be a visible foretaste here on earth in the interim.

Posted on April 8, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Being Missional Down on Earth

Discussing all things missional can bring with it a certain amount of guilt as we face up to the fact that often its just so much easier to talk about being missional than it is to actually go out and just do it. We get excited about getting together with some missional thinkers (as I’m hoping to do next week) at the local pub discussing missional theory and drinking beer, we read books, blogs and attend conferences and then we turn around and realise that for all the theory there really isn’t all that much missional activity going on in our own lives. The guilt sets in.

My wife and I experienced this a lot last year as we planned and talked about  the church plant - we got so caught up in the experience of dreaming missional that when we woke up from the dreaming we realised that there wasn’t anything particularly missional going on in our lives. The guilt set in.

We’ve since taken steps to rectify that and make being missional part of who we are as a family and as we live out our life in the city of Cape Town. We haven’t really stopped dreaming, and I hope we never do, but we’ve started to earth a lot of what we’ve been dreaming about in the past. The guilt has subsided.

Jonathan Dodson seems to be a guy who knows what down to earth missional activity is and looks like. He also seems to know how to engage in it without bringing along a sack of guilt that just ruins the experience. Go read his ‘8 Ways to Easily be Missional‘ and be liberated and missional at the same time.

Posted on April 6, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Missional Thinker Interviews

One of my friends, John Scheepers, has become a little tired of constantly reading on various blogs about what people are doing on the missional front in the States and the UK and reading preciously little about our local scene. So he’s trying to compile a series of interviews with people pursuing missional approaches to ministry here in Cape Town, South Africa. Kicking off the series he decided to interview yours truly. Hopefully this might be something of a window into missional conversations here in South Africa and particularly Cape Town.

Posted on March 19, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Left of Center

My friend and fellow partner in crime (as we secretly try and subvert the universe), Kyle Johnston has started a blog. Kyle does great gospel ministry in some of the more alternative schools in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town. Him and his wife Kirsty have been part of our new little gospel community and together with them we’ve been having some great discussions about what it means to be a community on mission. His most recent post, entitled ‘Being Left of Center’ mentions one of those discussions. Go check him out.

Posted on March 12, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

The Unholy Trinity of Suburbia

I love this post. Andrew Hamilton puts his finger on the pulse of suburbia and where the real idols are. Hammo lists the trinity of suburbia as ‘career’, ‘family’ and ‘home ownership’. Western Suburbia really is a phenomenon that requires a thoughtful approach in terms of mission. It’s amazing how so much of what he says, speaking within the context of suburban Western Australia, would fit right into so much of suburbia in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban here in South Africa. I’d love to see some more thought given to how we can gently and humbly dethrone the unholy trinity of suburbia and replace it with the real one.

Posted on December 26, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Where Simple Church can Lead?

I think Michael Foster has some important thoughts to share about the potential dangers inherent in the simple church movement. In our quest for authentic Christian community let’s make sure that we don’t end up with a church that is in fact no church at all.

Posted on December 24, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Top 8 for 2008: Everything

Who was I kidding? There’s no way I’m going to find the time to write a series of ‘top 8 for 2008′ posts between now and the end of the year so instead I’ll simply cram them all into one post. So here you have it, my top 8 for 2008 of everything!

Top 8 things I did or experienced in 2008:

1. Got married! (October)
2. Got engaged! (March)
3. Started planning and implementing a church plant (All year – but especially last three months)
4. Heard Piper, Driscoll, Chandler and Mahaney at the Resurgence Conference at Mars Hill in Seattle, spent time at the Journey Church in St Louis and met a whole lot of great peeps from Acts 29, and others, in the States (February)
5. Was taught Deuteronomy by Gary Millar – the best Old Testament teacher I’ve been taught by to date (September)
6. Road up Sani Pass – my first real 4×4 experience behind the wheel (October)
7. Decided to stay in Cape Town long term – gotta love this city (March)
8. Had my thinking about the gospel deepened and enriched ten times over by Tim Keller through numerous mp3s, articles and the odd blog comment (throughout the year)

Top 8 Blogs I followed in 2008 (See my 2007 list here):

1. Church Planting Novice – Jonathan Dodson. A newcomer to the list, this blog has been perfect for where I’m at in my thinking at the moment. So much wisdom and insight from a guy on the ground.
2. Between Two Worlds – Justin Taylor. Last year’s number 1 drops down one place – but still a great blog.
3. Tim Chester. Up from last year’s number 7 spot. Tim’s writing never stops enlightening, challenging and encouraging all at the same time.
4. John Scheepers. Give it up for the Saffa bloggers! John is a friend of mine who writes a great blog and brings a welcome voice to the South African Christian blogsphere.
5. Drew Goodmanson. Down from #2 – sorry Drew. Drew doesn’t post very often, but when he does its almost always worthwhile.
6. Justin Moffat. Another newcomer to the list. Justin writes an informative and challenging blog with an Anglican slant – I’ve enjoyed it a lot this year.
7. Michael Jensen. Michael drops down from last years 3rd but still turns out great post after great post. Plus he sent me a copy of his new book which I’ll be reviewing here shortly.
8. Jason Allen. Jason was one of the first people I became ‘blog friends’ with when I started blogging. I’ve always enjoyed his blog and the sanity he brings to some current trends that rage through the church blogging world.

Top 8 Books for 2008 (books I read this year – most of them are older than 2008 – please note that the books are a little one-sided topically because most of my reading this year revolved around my dissertation):

1. Total Church – Steve Timmis and Tim Chester. Ok so I first read it in 2007 but I’ve read it several times this year because of my dissertation and I still think its the most important book I’ve ever read on ecclesiology.
2. The Reason for God – Tim Keller. The first apologetics book that I feel comfortable giving to my friends.
3. Planting Missional Churches – Ed Stetzer. Great book with practical insight. Really helpful for where I’m at.
4. The Forgotten Ways – Alan Hirsch. Really good yet at times frustrating. I’m on the same page as Hirsch with a number of things – I guess I’m just a bit more conservative on one or two others.
5. Breaking the Missional Code – Ed Stetzer and David Putman. Another great help on all things missional.
6. On the Incarnation – Athanasius. I delved into a bit of church history this year and thoroughly enjoyed this one.
7. The King of God’s Kingdom – David Seccombe. Dr Seccombe (Doc) was my New Testament lecturer this year and so I got a chance to have a crack at his book. It’s a great overview of Christ in the gospels.
8. Jesus and the Victory of God – NT Wright. Vintage Wright – I don’t agree with him at every point but this is an important book.

Top 8 places I visited in 2008

1. Seattle, Washington, USA
2. St Louis, Missouri, USA
3. Castleburn, Drakensburg, KZN
4. Sani Pass, Lesotho
5. Lost City, Sun City, North West Province
6. Franschoek, Western Cape
7. Betty’s Bay, Western Cape
8. Durban, KZN (my old stomping ground)

That’s my year in a nutshell. It’s been the year with the biggest changes in my life to date. Not only did I get married but we decided to stay in Cape Town and plant churches here rather than in Durban. Things have come a long way in the last 12 months – here’s to an equally exciting 2009.

Merry Christmas all – have a great one!

Posted on December 11, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Communities Led by Teachers

“If we want to create communities with a missional mindset, we cannot allow our churches to be held back because of a lack of professional pastoral leadership. Every believer is called to missions, regardless of a more specific vocational calling. Equipping more laypeople to lead ministries and churches is exactly what Ephesians 4:11-13 describes.

The Bible goes into too much detail about pastor/elders not to assume they were a normal part of the local church. But the qualifications are those of a godly person with one exception. The godly person must be ‘able to teach’. Beyond the standards of godliness, that is the biblical qualification for a layperson functioning as a pastoral leader in a church plant.” Ed Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches, p.78

If we’re developing missional communities that, for all intensive purposes, function as small churches in a network with each other, maybe united by a central Sunday gathering, then surely all missional community leaders must be able to teach. If the leader is not able to teach then is the missional community really a self-contained church formed and led by the Word of God?

I know that some guys (even in the more theologically conservative wing) in the missional community movement don’t think that the leaders of individual missional communities need to be elders but I think that’s something of a contradiction in terms. They want their missional communities to function as micro-churches but they don’t want them led by elders. I can’t see how you can get away from it: not elder-led=not biblical church. I know there are other ways to ‘lead’ and numerous different ways in which non-bible teachers in a church ‘lead’ others but at the core of biblical ecclesiology is elder leadership which is, as Stetzer points out, a teaching leadership. Or am I missing something here?