church as abbey
ad·jec·tive /ˈædʒɪktɪv/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[aj-ik-tiv] good, wise, perfectHave you noticed we are now in the age of the "adjective" church? Modifiers like missional or purpose-driven or seeker-sensitive or externally-focused or a dozen others precede the word "church" to define a
Congregation
In the Celtic Christian abbey, the compound was open to all who needed food, lodging, or care. As the monks’ pagan neighbors entered the abbey, they were greeted with many familiar sights — monks or nuns preparing meals in the kitchen, stacking wood for the fire, copying manuscripts, or working in
bless the world
Last year, several of us in the Fuller DMin Missional Leadership program had dinner with Alan Roxburgh one evening. Alan is one of the DMin adjunct professors, and author of The Sky Is Falling, co-author of The Missional Leader, and contributor to Missional Church, edited by Darrell Guder, the book
bless the world
Seth Godin has an excellent post on marketing in a recession. His point is this: When the mass psychology changes and times are seen as not so good, the story we tell ourselves changes as well. Now, we buy out of defense, to avoid trouble. Or we buy because something
bless the world
L to R: Me in the future great hall; Debbie in front of the art room off the great hall; exterior from across the street; exterior with Debbie standing beside the entrance to give some idea of the size of the building. Our community center construction moves forward daily. The
Congregation
A "church model." Not the kind I'm talking about. Mea culpa. That's Latin for "I pulled the trigger on my mouth before it cleared my holster, and I shot myself in the foot." Or something like that. Now that I have calmed
church as abbey
My post, Is Feb 3 Really Super Bowl Sunday?, has been viewed 1,263 times since I posted it on January 22. We're obviously interested in the Super Bowl and how our churches can be effective on that day. My point was that for followers of Christ, Sunday
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Yesterday I posted Ten Marks of the Church-as-Abbey. One of the characteristics, economics, plays an important role because the ancient celtic Christian abbeys were self-supporting while providing economic transformation to the community. Today, tall skinny kiwi posts about the fourth sector -- groups that want to change the world while
Community
Models for how we should do church are not in short supply. Seeker-sensitive, purpose-driven, emerging, missional, traditional, liturgical, ancient-future, and the like all have their merits. I am really interested in the church-as-abbey concept myself. I have read extensively about the early Celtic Christian church and find it intriguing and
church as abbey
Last year, after talking about how our church partnered with various groups in our community, someone remarked, "That's fine for your church, but nobody in our community would work together." In the interest of challenging that statement, here are 21 groups that I think your church
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This or this? In the Christian Year, Sunday February 3 is Transfiguration Sunday. In popular culture, February 3 is Super Bowl Sunday. On that Sunday, churches have two choices for the heading in their worship bulletins or on their video screens: 1. Super Bowl Sunday -or- 2. Transfiguration Sunday In
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Today history was made in Chatham, Virginia. At 3 PM, African-Americans and white Americans gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. together. Not many people will notice this historic event because only about 75 of us were present. But it happened, and as I