We (Eun Strawser and I) are excited to host this church planting pre-conference at Awakenings 2023 in Chicago, IL in April. Together we will look at the following shifts to help us imagine a new way to plant in our current cultural moment. Rethinking Leadership: From solo leadership to leading as a community Leadership in the church was never meant …
I don’t like to grieve, I prefer to smile, but I find myself grieving. I don’t like to lament, I prefer to find ways to anesthetize the pain, but I find myself lamenting. Watching the cruel murder of George Floyd by a police officer who is called to protect and to serve the community, demonstrated once again how racism, which …
Tell us a little about yourself and your experience in leading a church for creatives? I’m an actor/director by training who found myself in seminary about 15 years ago searching for the next steps on my journey and a way to integrate my faith and calling as an artist. While I never envisioned pastoring (let alone planting) a church, God …
If you have followed this blog series from the beginning, you know we’ve been discussing how our experience of film can augment our relationship with God through a process I call cinematographeum divina. To read more about that, please read Theology at the Theater, Part 2, here. Let’s see how this 6-step process can be applied to another Sundance film, …
Birthing a church planting movement is not a solo venture. It requires the ability to form partnerships with people and organizations that reflect your values and passions. Since the conception of our learning cohorts four years ago, we have been grateful for the amazing partners that God has given us. Let me introduce you to some of them to you and …
In the previous blog of this series, I discussed using the lectio divina as a way to approach the theology of film through a process I call cinematographeum divina. While this idea wasn’t fully developed until after my trip to Sundance, I had the opportunity to work through most of the steps, because I approach much of my life in …
Philosopher and theologian, James K.A. Smith, in his book Desiring the Kingdom, helps us understand that at a gut level, we are creatures who love and desire. Thus we need liturgies, rituals and routines that reshape our desires. While Smith focuses on how worship gatherings could be better designed to shape our desires toward the kingdom, Craig Detweiler, in Into …
I remember sitting down with a Christian friend of mine recently. He had just finished his MDiv at Fuller. He was working as a teacher, active in church and engaging in meaningful fellowship. Yet he found himself in a funk in which it was hard for him to escape. As we sat at the coffee shop he told me about …
In this post, we continue what we started in my last post on Jesus and Movement (see bottom of this post). My two posts can be read separately or together (in any order). The Key to Movement In his book The Great Omission, Dallas Willard identifies the key reason why we don’t see movement take place in the West today. We have …
As we continue to deepen our understanding of the Missional church, the next big idea that is flowing from this conversation is Movement. Have you been in a conversation with someone about movement recently? If not, you will likely find yourself in conversation about this idea, as this word will be used more and more in public and private settings. From coffee …