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One of the courses of study I get to guide missional leaders through at MHGS is “Mission in a Global Context.”  Each year one of the learning engagements we do together is teaming up in small groups to participate with God in what God is doing in our city of Seattle.  Here is a video that one of the groups put together.

peace, dwight

I ‘m getting ready to head down to Austin, TX to hang out with my friend Sam Lee (MHGS graduate) and his faith community, Vox Veniae for their annual retreat.  We’ll be exploring “The Global Parish;” as Vox has entered into a couple of interncational partnerships and are exploring ways of missionally extending their service.  I’m so looking forward to seeing Sam and meeting the community he’s doing life with.

peace, dwight

Off The Map is back again with its always provocative/entertaining/ challenging line-up - “Born Again Church.” Jim Henderson gets an interesting and very diverse group of people together and lets them interact with one another and the audience.

I find myself looking for conversation partners.  I’m looking for new paradigm churches (emerging, neo-monastic, simple, avant-churches, etc.), who are intentionally partnering with more established congregations in mission and mutual transformation.  And the reverse as well, for established congregations who have pursued partnership with new paradigm churches. 

I find myself wondering about how both groups are formed and transformed through their ongoing engagement.  I wonder about those things that both have been invited into from the other: new expressions of life, greater sense of rooted-ness into larger ecclesial narrative, and of course the invitation to surrender in the context of relationship. 

Churches are more missiologically informed today than almost anytime in the last 1,500 years of church history, and I’m wondering what impact the growing quest for contextual resonance may be having on the kinds of partnerships that establishes churches missionally form. 

So if you, or someone you know of, is intentionally pursuing a relationship that invites an established and new paradigm church to dance together, please email me or simply reply to this post; I’d sure appreciate it. 

Peace, dwight

Neighborhood Mission Learning Day:

Reimagining Congregational Mission in Today’s Culture with Brian McLaren, Karen Ward, Eugene Cho, and Randy Rowland.

For more info or to register follow this link.

peace, dwight