andi's perspective

NEW FORMS OF COMMUNITY IV

Taking up my short series on new forms of community i love to share what by now i would call a very promising micro-experiment.

The setting is the local Jesus cluster we are associating with in the moment. The quest is to mobilize the disciples into their callings. With a group of around 15 people we experimented with something we called "Recognition Groups":

• On the back of a general mobilization for action and thorough times for listening prayer, we asked those that feel ready to go for a certain task the Lord has put on their hearts, to stand up and shortly share the idea with the group. This could be kingdom activities inside or outside of the organized Jesus cluster. We had either two or three task champions sharing.
• We then gave a time for prayerful reflection for everybody to 1. check with the Lord whether there is a doubt or a veto for going ahead with these volunteers and 2. to check in which of those themes they would like to engage personally in a support role. We then split up in two or three parallel groups centered around the volunteers and possibly their teams.
• In each of these groups  a moderator  guided the group process along 4 phases while taking exhaustive flip-chart notes:

1. Phase: CONCRETE: The task champion(s) describe the concrete idea, its ultimate dream, the background and the persons that are / should be involved.
2. Phase: PRAYER + FEEDBACK: The recognition group listens silently to the stirring of their hearts and then report a yay or nay about whether they can recognize this idea to spring from the heart of God. They give any feedback that comes to mind at this stage.
3. Phase: NEEDS: The task champion(s) enlist what they need to succeed in their project incl. any kind of support structures, finances, team mates or relational support.
4. Phase: ACTION + PRAYER: Together the team and the group plan the next steps, also reporting what they personally will or will not contribute to the initiative. The recognition group blesses and prophesies over the task champion(s),  with the moderator taking notes on the flip-chart.

• After about 45-60 minutes the parallel groups rejoin and the moderators summarize their group experience. Again, the full group is given opportunity to utter doubts or any misgivings that might hinder full affirmation of the initiative.
• Finally a group foto is made and a public one page project description developed on the basis of the flip-chart notes.   

The result is spiritually recognized and relationally affirmed private initiatives turned into collective projects. It is all about encouraging grass-roots what the One Head is putting on the heart of each of the smallest members of the Body.

And the point of the whole exercise is exactly this: to recognize Christ in each other and affirm this. To me, this has a whole lot to do with spiritual authority and of living the kingdom together.

BACK TO CHURCH? II

I am glad for those who show to be friends by caring enough to ask the hard questions. Seems i should add some words of clarification about my "being back to church" post.

1. No, i am not returning to the fold of "mother church" as a penitent sinner. Neither have i turned my back on any of my critical positions re. the current forms and our inherited theology of "church".

2. No, i am not submitting again (guess, i never did that in the first place) to any assumed "pastoral" authority. I would burn my conscience if i did. It is exactly the absence of a "pastor" that opens a door for the prophets?

3. No, i am not strengthening relations with this church-bound Jesus cluster (that happens to take the form of a - really not traditional - Baptist church) for the sake of getting anything other than an opportunity to change the world ;) It is not disillusionment really, nor the desire to have our little one undergo religious programmes, and least the need for "spiritual nourishment". I think this should be clear.

But Yes:

1. I do feel a need and personal calling at precisely this stage on our journey to (re-)associate with the body of Christ  that happens to have not yet outgrown the old forms of church. It is clearly a calling to "reform from the inside rather than from the outside".  This would not have been right yesterday and might not be tomorrow, but for this specific window of opportunity we feel it is.

2. The decision is based on my close friendship with the leading elders of this particular Jesus cluster and the unity in our desire to move ahead to new forms and realities of kingdom life. Plus the opportunity they give me to co-work in kind of a consultant and designer role without the need to enroll as church member which i feel i am not allowed to by the Lord at this point.

3. Besides the kairos-leading, it is my growing appreciation for the purely social dimension of the one Body. Meaning: humans are humans and need to organise their communication, interaction and relationships if they want to achieve something. Existing churches do provide a "third place" (some call it a "commons") for religious seekers and thus a natural space for sowing the seeds of the kingdom to the masses. The point is that Jesus did not build in secret! He proclaimed in the open and then selected 12 from the masses. How can i expect to build along relational lines only - without stepping out into the public?

BACK TO CHURCH?

I would not have believed it, but i can no longer deny it: In a certain way we are "back to church".

While my theology keeps struggling against it, with many questions unanswered, since a few months we are feeling clearly led to re-engage ourselves again in what could be called a traditional Baptist church (whether this might change?).

Admittedly, we are "back" with a careful and rather (self-)suspicious attitude and solely on the agreement that as coworkers we would not need to become enlisted members (which would still feel to me like outright sin).

Anyway. First preaching scheduled for me since years at next week's "sunday service" (oh, how i hate this term!).

Guess we're just getting older, wiser and milder. Or simply disillusioned?

Make sure to read the sequel to avoid misunderstandings!

DREAMING PROPERTY

Still the old dream of sharing an English cottage style house with good friends and ample space for guests and pilgrims is not dead within us.

The two years of Prussian castle experience could not quench the dream, either. Without a heavenly door this will however only remain a dream, but still, it is God who gives us many a dream in the first place. So, why not keep on dreaming?

Maybe there are similar dreamers around?

NEW FORMS OF COMMUNITY III

Following up on my short series on new forms of community, here is the third kind of intentionally structured kingdom interaction that i am currently enjoying:

• Weekly tele-prayers in pairs: On several weekdays' mornings i meet with a fellow disciple for a 15-30 minutes prayer over phone, VOIP or skype. The time has a double purpose: listen to HIM (through the exchange of hearts) and together expressing our desire to see His kingdom come. Thus building love and faith at the same time. The point is to have several of these bilateral interactions over the week together starting the day "hearing as disciples hear". 

Combine this with the "prophetic pairs" logic and you might see why this is all more profound than it seems on first sight. For me it currently means praying with England on Mondays, with Czechia on Tuesdays, and with Portugal on Wednesdays. Not always easy, but very fruitful for practically journeying together while being "widely separated in an extensive work".

Try it!

SYMBALLING UR WEBHOME

There are many tools out there offering you a personalized web home. Following Marc's suggestion I tried Symbaloo and have to say I love it!
It sets standards in ease, speed and clarity of handling. Nicely brings together all those bookmarks, feeds, tweets, logins and widgets that you keep using several times a day.

My symbaloo (under construction):

I combine it with the Flock browser (= Firefox with social network functions) and feel pretty well equipped web-wise.

FROST DEFROSTING GERMANY

And yes, there IS hope for the evangelical world in Germany.

Just back from a small conference where Michael Frost was invited to speak to the leaders of basically all(!) evangelical denominations in Germany. These 2 days of intense "missional church" paradigm I am sure was the most profound challenge that many of these leaders had heard ever! And I was really amazed and encouraged by the high receptivity that his thoughts received :)

I think that I myself for the first time really understood what the missional paradigm means in practice. A REAL CHALLENGE and yet so unbelievably obvious KINGDOM!!!

HERE is "ahead" !!

SKI SURVIVOR

Whew! Back after an intense week in the Swiss alps.

In a troup of 10 international business friends I enjoyed a great mixture of hard work and huge fun.

Surviving the skiing challenge is everything but easy for a near-to-total ski-noob, but.. hey, in the end i could make it down the slope all on my own. Happy and exhausted!

Some pics here.

SOME SPIRITUALITY RESOURCES

Just thought it would be worthwhile pointing to some good resources for dynamic and fearless spiritual thinking:

• Martin Scott's 3generations wiki with partly cutting edge, partly well-put thinking on eschatology, spiritual mapping, emerging church and spiritual biographies. Martin is a well-established kingdom resource.
• The Mediathek of German speaking "Destiny Design" and their think tank for critical spiritual reflection. Early stage, but very promising quality!

NEW FORMS OF COMMUNITY II

I acknowledge the kairos dimension of relationships as foundational to kingdom community. This means I expect God to lead us into starting significant relationships in the first place and I also expect God to lead us towards significance within such relationships. So, what kind of relationships do we talk about here?

Now, here is the second community form I am experimenting with:

• Two by twos: The rabbis of old sent off their students for real life practice and they sent them off in pairs of two! Little wonder, since "it is not good for man to be alone" and everything should be "established by the witness of two". I honestly think it stands out as a mark of arrogance when we believe, that we are discerning enough of His voice just on our own.  And even if we were we would still need a team partner for pro-actively bringing the kingdom into those pockets of our world where it clearly is not yet. And that is what life is all about, joining in the restoration of this broken world, isn't it?

Remarkable enough, after praying for a good year for a local ministry partner here in Magdeburg, for us that time had come when last October Dominique and I realised it had ;) More on our story here.