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Christian Board of Publication - V Nelson Gary

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177 pages

English

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Borderland Churches is a call to embrace the pluralistic, post Christian and postmodern culture with a sense of opportunity and hope. The author uses the image of the church crossing over into an "in -between time", a place where faith is lived outside the walls of the church engaging the community in incarnational ways. To live in that "precarious but exhilarating place where faith and other faiths and no faith meet." Only individuals and congregations that accept this new reality will be able to carry on Christian ministry in this new cultural situation. A TCP Leadership Series title.

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Christianity

Informations

Publié par	Christian Board of Publication
Date de parution	01 janvier 2009
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780827202580
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0950€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Borderland Churches

A Congregation’s

Introduction to

Missional Living

Gary V. Nelson

Borderland Churches

The Columbia Partnership Leadership Series from Chalice Press Christ-Centered Coaching: 7 Beneﬁts for Ministry Leaders Jane Creswell Coaching for Christian Leaders: A Practical Guide Linda J. Miller and Chad W. Hall Courageous Church Leadership: Conversations with Effective Practitioners John P. Chandler Cultivating Perennial Churches Robert D. Dale Enduring Connections: Creating a Preschool and Children’s Ministry Janice Haywood Evangelism Where You Live: Engaging Your Community Stephen Pate and Gene Wilkes Every Congregation Needs a Little Conﬂict George W. Bullard Jr. From the Outside In: Connecting to the Community Around You Ronald W. Johnson The Heart of the Matter: Changing the World God’s Way Charles Halley Operation Inasmuch: Mobilizing Believers beyond the Walls of the Church David W. Crocker Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation George W. Bullard Jr. Reaching People under 40 while Keeping People over 60: Being Church to All Generations Edward H. Hammett with James R. Pierce Recreating the Church: Leadership for the Postmodern Age Richard L. Hamm Renew Your Congregation: Healing the Sick, Raising the Dead Willliam T. McConnell The Samaritan Way David W. Crocker Seeds for the Future: Growing Organic Leaders for Living Churches Robert D. Dale Spiritual Leadership in a Secular Age: Building Bridges Instead of Barriers Edward H. Hammett www.chalicepress.com  www.thecolumbiapartnership.org

Borderland Churches

A Congregation’s Introduction to Missional Living

Gary V. Nelson

Copyright © 2008 by Gary V. Nelson All rights reserved. For permission to reuse content, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 7508400, www.copyright.com. Unless otherwise specied scripture is taken from theNew Revised Standard Version of the Bible,copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Quotations marked Message are fromThe Messageby Eugene H. Peterson, copyright (c) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Cover image: GettyImages Cover and interior design: Elizabeth Wright

Visit Chalice Press on the World Wide Web at www.chalicepress.com

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Nelson, Gary E. Borderland churches : a congregations introduction to missional living / Gary Nelson. p. cm. ISBN 9780827202382 1. Mission of the church. 2. Church renewal. 3. Postmodernism Religious aspectsChristianity. 4. Christian life. I. Title. BV601.8.N36 2009 262'.001'7dc22 2008044131 Printed in the United States of America

Acknowledgments

Editor’s Foreword

Contents

Foreword by Mark Buchanan

Introduction

1. Learning to Sing the Song

2. Crossing Over

3. Recovering Our Roots

4. Landscapes and Tool Kits

5. Herding Cats

6. Missioning the Church

7. Mapping the Journey

Appendix A: Song in the Borderland

Appendix B: Getting to Know Your Neighborhood

Appendix C: Neighborhoods Are Different

Appendix D: The Three “Ls” of Learning about Your Community

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111

131

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155

Appendix E: Questions to Be Asked in the Community in 157 Which You Live and/or in Which Your Church Is Situated

Appendix F: Sampling of Helpful Web Sites for Your Borderland Discussion

Appendix G: Further Reading Possibilities

Notes

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159

163

Acknowledgments

I was grateful for many reasons when George Bullard asked me to consider writing this book. It was an opportunity to gather the stories and concepts that have emerged out of my journey as a pastor and a periodic layperson in the church. For as long as I can remember, I have had a love for the church. It has not always been without disappointment, but, somehow, for me, church made sense. I have walked away from it, walked toward it, and wondered why my faith in Jesus required such commitment. It has never been easy, but it has always been important. I have participated in congregations that have both challenged and inspired me to understand what church really could be. These places have helped me to see why God placed the church in the hands of a fragile and broken people. When we live as the church with stumbling courage, the power of God is displayed, as Paul said, in our weakness. That it needs to change to meet the challenge of its times is without question, but I have never been one to trash what has been, but rather desire to always discuss what must be. Each successive generation faces the challenge of building a new chapter from the chapter of the generation that preceded it. To ignore that we are standing on the shoulders of saints from the past is to be persons with little, if any, grasp of reality. I have practiced ministry within a network of churches known as Canadian Baptists and I now serve them as their national and international ministries leader. It is probably a statement of the kind of people we are that they called me to be their General Secretary, as strange as that might seem. This proud group of churches is distinct in Canada for their diversity and their creativity. We have not always lived up to these possibilities, but when we do, we soar and are a remarkable people. I am proud to be part of this strange and wonderful tribe. I offer my sincere thanks to Mark, a good friend who is part of the tribe, for writing the foreword. His faithfulness to the pastoral task and his profound writings continue to challenge me. The ﬂavor of these strange and wonderful people is found at the CBM ofﬁce. My colleagues—Terry, Blair, Sharlene, Carmin, Frank, and Jennifer—have supported me in this project. Gord and Harry read different incarnations of the manuscript and gave encouragement

Acknowledgments viiand suggestions over the journey of writing this book. Through a year of cancer treatment, Malcolm read my ﬁrst musings and each successive edition while the chemo drip at the hospital did its thing. He has been an inspiration as he lived courageously in this time. He leaves to return to Kenya soon to continue this chapter in his life and ministry. Audrey cleaned up all my messy formatting and carelessness as she does so often while working alongside me. I wrote this book with some people in mind. It was written for my father and mother, who nurtured my love for the church and who are challenged about what it means to be the church today. They do not always like what is going on in the present but they represent the faithful who over the years have served and ministered in churches as laypeople. I have used Mom as a sounding board by asking her to read sections of this book and respond. Thanks Mom! Another person I had in mind as I wrote is my daughter Stacy. She lives with great dreams and plans, and has a faith that consistently inspires me. At ﬁrst, I wanted to protect her when she told me that she was not going back to her teaching career after our grandson Garrett was born, and was instead taking a position with her church in outreach ministry. I have since learned instead that she is quite capable of taking care of herself and that her instincts for ministry are marvelous. To her husband Phil who loves her dearly—thank you. Mostly this book has been written because Carla, my best friend and lover, has always encouraged me to write. She believes in me more than I believe in myself and I have been blessed by our life together. The way she thinks and her deep concern for people are the fuel of our borderland living. Sometimes I stand back and watch her in places such as Kenya, where she is known as Muthongoi Ndanu (leader who brings joy wherever she goes), and I marvel at the gift she has been. Her call is now to teach teachers to be true to their vocation. To those who are encouraging Christians to leave the public schools, I would challenge them to an hour of discussion with her, for she has served faithfully, redemptively, and richly for many years as a follower of Christ in that setting. She has always been a borderland dweller. Her ability to know my mind has made this book better. Her life with me has made ministry exciting and a shared experience. She knows me and I am grateful and alive in that knowing. Thank you Carla.

Gary V. Nelson Toronto, Canada

Editor’s Foreword

Inspiration and Wisdom for TwentyFirst–Century Christian Leaders You have chosen wisely in deciding to study and learn from a book published inThe Columbia Partnership Leadership Serieswith Chalice Press. We publish for  Congregational leaders who desire to serve with greater faithfulness, effectiveness, and innovation.  Christian ministers who seek to pursue and sustain excellence in ministry service.  Members of congregations who desire to reach their full kingdom potential.  Christian leaders who desire to use a coach approach in their ministry.  Denominational and parachurch leaders who want to come along side afﬁliated congregations in a servant leadership role.  Consultants and coaches who desire to increase their learning con cerning the congregations and Christian leaders they serve. The Columbia Partnership Leadership Seriesis an inspiration and wisdomsharing vehicle of The Columbia Partnership, a community of Christian leaders who are seeking to transform the capacity of the North American church to pursue and sustain vital Christcentered ministry. You can connect with us at www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org. Primarily serving congregations, denominations, educational institu tions, leadership development programs, and parachurch organizations, the Partnership also seeks to connect with individuals, businesses, and other organizations seeking a Christcentered spiritual focus. We welcome your comments on these books, and we welcome your suggestions for new subject areas and authors we ought to consider. George W. Bullard Jr., Senior Editor GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org

The Columbia Partnership, 332 Valley Springs Road, Columbia, SC 292236934 Voice: 803.622.0923, www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org

viii

Foreword

Few things are sadder than an aging rock star in the throes of a comeback. Molting, paunchy, jowly, pulling muscles and cracking notes, it’s an act of selfcaricature. It was in that spirit that the historian Felipe FernandezArmesto described the death of Elvis, just as he was becoming a parody of himself, as a “great career move.” Which has nothing to do with this foreword, except this: the church sometimes behaves like an aging rock star in the throes of a comeback. We remember what we once were, and dream we can be it once more. With a facelift, a tummytuck, a hairpiece, and a new sound, we might just draw a crowd again. We’ve been trying that for a while now. Some of the results border on selfparody. Gary Nelson has a better idea. He writesBorderland Churches: A Congregation’s Introduction to Missional Livingat once to awaken us, to inspire us, and to help us navigate the real changes needed if we’re to be on a mission with God. He calls us to face the new reality—our abar moment, he calls it, a crossing over, when we leave behind our nostalgic reveries of a world long gone and enter into the world we actually inhabit: pluralistic, postChristian and, above all, brimming with opportunity. But Gary also equips us for that crossing over. He does this by recapturing the biblical substance of the church—a community called out, called together, called for, and called to—which must live faithfully at the borderlands of culture, that precarious but exhilarating place where faith and other faiths and no faith meet. A few years ago I spent time with Gary in Kenya. We traveled together, visited churches, and talked sometimes late into the night. I had the privilege of listening to Gary teach, every day for two weeks, a group of Kenyan pastors and church leaders. Mostly, he taught about leading borderland churches, the theme of this book. What struck me as I watched those leaders—listening with riveted attention, taking copious notes, interacting vigorously—is that Gary is speaking a word for his time and place, but also for every time and place. He is not merely promoting the latest fashion in methodology. He’s imparting enduring wisdom. And it’s not just a message for leaders. Gary writes, not for some elite priestly guild, but for the priesthood of all believers. He’s writing for those men and women who make up our churches—who sit on its