There is a seismic shift in American culture, the church now finds itself in increasing irrelevance in its “come to us” posture. The Church is invited to break down the sacred/secular divide by creating sustainable missional faith-communities while providing services and relational connection to local neighborhoods. This is where Mission and the Market can converge in context. As early Trappists …
The V3 Movement is overjoyed to offer new innovative learning cohorts this fall. MarketPlace Planting Early Trappists Monks created enterprises to that funded their missional work, so today’s marketplace planters and pioneers will artistically find ways to start businesses that contribute social good and while engaging civic structures of a particular place. Join us this fall as Hugh Halter trains …
A pastor friend of mine, Jonathan Cleveland, recently reminded me of a metaphor that is not necessarily new but is good to revisit, especially when talking about missional church planting and ecclesiology. The imaging of this metaphor revolves around the differences between an oak tree and aspen tree. I live in Colorado, at a higher elevation, where Aspens are an …
Most of us as church planters are probably eager to get the ball rolling, set some concrete rhythms of gathering our community together, and implement worship services from the get-go. But, as our community was in its launching phase, I took note of two vital thoughts that pivoted my own church plant’s focus. Pathways One, I participated in a Praxis …
What does pastoral leadership look like in a post-Christian world? What changes should be made? Should development be revamped? Or perhaps things should stay the same? One thing is for certain. We live in an age where “pastor” means little to non-churchgoers. The vocation is often deemed archaic and perhaps even nefarious. For good reason too. The shift in cultural …
In my previous post I suggested that after years of teaching students to preach the way I was taught to preach (assign a text, which fit me well as a “teacher” on five-fold), I started to wonder, “Am I trying to force apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds, to preach like teachers?” To put it more positively, I began to imagine, …
This year has been an amazing awe and wonder springtime on America’s west coast. In California the spectacular blooming of the desert brought thousands of people out to relish the brilliant oranges, yellows and purples of the flowers whose seeds lie dormant, sometimes for years waiting for rain. In Oregon brilliant purple lupines waved their heads across the mountainsides and …
The concept of the “Trinity” is often so complex that sometimes we don’t really know how to engage with God as “three in one”. But, if we as church planters want to engage with the culture around us through a missional community, understanding the Trinity can help us answer key questions in regards to what community is meant to look …
Well, the news is out again. Gallup’s latest faith poll showed church membership is “down sharply”[1] over the past two decades. Relevant Magazine recently reported that young people are leaving the church due to perceived judgment and hypocrisy [2]. These types of reports are all the more common today, and it is getting harder for church leaders to navigate the …
I was trained by one of the 20th Century’s “Princes of Preaching.” And, “no” that isn’t an exaggeration. In 1996, Haddon Robinson was named in a Baylor University poll as one of the “12 Most Effective Preachers in the English Speaking World.” In 2006, he was recognized by Christianity Today in the top 10 of its “25 Most Influential Preachers of …