JR Rozko is the co-director of Missio Alliance and a presenter at The Praxis Gathering. He lists three Reasons he’s excited to participate in this new gathering.
An embodied commitment to theologically reflective church planting practice
If I hear one more church planter or pastor say, “Now I’m not theologian, but…” I think I am going to scream.
This is a phrase that must by stricken from our vocabulary. It doesn’t mean everyone has to be and academic, but the reality is that church planting and church leadership are some of the most theologically rigorous tasks in the world. From top to bottom, everything church planters say and does carry enormous amounts of theological freight and invariably shapes the theological imagination and convictions of those involved at every level.
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The Praxis Gathering takes this for granted and seeks to bring rich theological reflection into the closest of relationships with the practice, tools, and skill sets of church planters. This is such a breath of fresh air!
An embodied commitment to diverse voices & perspectives
I’m excited to have the opportunity to be presenting at the Praxis gathering, but I am even more excited to be partnering with my friend Lisa Rodriguez-Watson in that session and that this gathering will feature the perspective and voice of many other women and racial minorities.
For far too long missional church planting conversations have been dominated by white males.
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This is understandable insofar as it’s primarily within the spaces of dominant culture that traditional understandings of and approaches to church planting are failing. At the same time, we’ve missed out on the important insights to be gained by paying attention to those more accustomed to living on the margins. I’m excited to see a recognition and move to correct this within the Praxis Gathering.
An embodied commitment to Post-Christendom thinking
There are still plenty of church planting groups out there trying to squeeze every last bit of life out of the waning Christendom realties of North American that they can. While perhaps using some updated language – and in some instances even co-opting missional language – at the end of the day what we see here is still largely a “build it and they will come” orientation to church planting and ministry. Maybe these groups have their place in the broad ecology of church planting efforts.
What is far more needed in my opinion are groups that are prepared to move past this approach – not only because it will be increasingly ineffective, but because of our need for a stronger, more theologically rich ecclesiology.
Bonus: One final reason I’m excited to be a part of this first Praxis Gathering is because of some intentional relationships to the global church. This is something that is sadly lacking across the “missional landscape,” but through ties with groups like the Baptist General Association of Virginia, Reliant (Great Commission Ministries), and International Teams, the door of opportunity for connection, co-learning, and collaboration between North American church leaders our counterparts around the world is more available than in many other spaces that I am familiar with.
For all these reasons and more I am really looking forward to being part of the first Praxis Gathering. More than that, it’s for all these same reasons that we are so glad to have V3, the church planting movement that stands behind the Praxis Gathering, as one of the Cornerstone Partners of Missio Alliance. Together, we get to advance a vision of “a church reimagined for a world recreated!”
If you’re still on the fence about joining us, I strongly encourage you to come. This is sure to be an incredibly rewarding time of learning, relationship building, and encouragement.
There’s still (a little) time! Register for The Praxis Gathering here.
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