Tag Archives: Frost

Missional Rhythms (or Frosty, Part III)

by ray on 21. May, 2008 in Church

The last thing I want to mention about the Frost conference I attended was a brief synopsis of something he called missional rhythms. Michael is one of the founding members of Small Boat Big Sea. There were core values that the founding group wanted to pass on to it’s new members, something they wanted to be a part of the DNA of the church. But they also knew that just teaching values wouldn’t work, especially with new followers and not-yet followers.

So, Michael and his group came up with the following (with the corresponding value in parenthesis):
If you are a part of SBBS you will -

  • Bless 3 people a week – 1 from the faith community, a believer, 1 from the community, and 1 from either group. (generosity)
  • Eat with 3 people a week – same breakdown as above. (hospitality)
  • Listen to God. (spirit filled life)
  • Learn the Bible, especially the Gospels. (Christ like life)
  • Sentness – journal ways in which you sense that you are being sent out. (missional)

Frost reasons that if you give the values, people won’t work out the practices. But if you give the practices, the values become part of the individual and therefore part of the faith community. Some might argue that this seems a little too “catholic”…that it’s a list of things to do, instead of a way to live. The argument would follow that if we’re dealing with new believers why would we want to put on them a list of things they have to do. It’s a decent argument, but one that I don’t adhere to.

As Frost said, I think people have a hard time taking a set of values or a mission statement and coming up with tangible ways to live it out. This seems to help in that process.

By the way, these rhythms spell out BELLS. Michael said this happened by chance, and wasn’t planned. He also made a point to say that these are the missional rhythms for SBBS, and don’t have to be the rhythms for your group. The challenge should be to come up with tangible ways to live out the values that are a part of the DNA of your church.

You can read more about BELLS at SBBS here.

-shorty

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The Function That Catalyzes (or Frosty, Part II)

by ray on 12. May, 2008 in Church

What drives your church? What is the function that is the catalyst for all other functions that exist in your church? Michael Frost would argue that the majority of churches today are driven by a single function. That single function is the catalyst for all other functions that the church carries out.

Frost would say that that single function that drives all others in today’s churches is worship. Stop and think about the church you’re a part of. What drives it? For many of us we immediately think of the Sunday event. We even call it “worship”. We invite our neighbors to it. We dress up for it. We set aside our Sunday morning for the “event”. The Sunday event (the worship event) drives our community structures (our small groups, our Sunday schools, our home groups), it drives our discipleship, and it drives our mission. In almost any church today if you took away the Sunday event the church would cease to exist.

Frost goes on to argue that there are four main functions that make up a church: mission, worship, community, and discipleship. None of these are more important than the others. They should all play an equal part in the life of a church. But one will usually be the catalyst for the others, and to Frost it should not be worship – it should be mission. The mission of our churches should drive the way we worship, the way we disciple, and the way we form community. And this is not a simple mission statement. It’s much more complex than that. To Frost mission plays itself out in the missional rhythms of a church (another post for another day).

So, what is the thing that catalyzes all things that your church does and is? Is it the Sunday event, or worship, or your desire to see community formed within your church body, or your desire to see disciples made? Or is it the mission that catalyzes all of these things?

I’ll conclude my series on the Frost conference with missional rhythms later this week.

-shorty

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Frosty, Part 1

by ray on 24. Apr, 2008 in Church

This weekend I had the opportunity to listen to Michael Frost. He’s the co-author of “The Shaping of Things to Come”, along with Alan Hirsch. This was my first time to hear him speak, and overall I was impressed.

One thing I want to quickly mention today is how Michael views the effectiveness of church today. And this is not limited to, or directed towards American churches. This would apply in Western Europe and in Australia (his home country) as well. He pointed out that in Australia about 10% of the population would say they are Christian and actively engaged in church. While 10% may be a little high, it’s probably closer to 5-8%, we’ll go with what he said. The church, according to Frost, is really good at reaching those in the church and those that are 1 to 2 cultural steps away from church. Those that are 1 cultural step away from church are those that are christians but they are not active in any church. If a church is going to reach someone it’s most likely this group. And in Australia this group would make up about 5% of the population. Those that are 2 cultural steps away from church would be non-christians but live with a “christian” worldview. In other words, they live like christians live, but have no faith in Christ. The church is also pretty good at reaching this group.

So, those in the church and those that make up these 2 groups make up about 20% of the population. And the majority of churches today are reaching this 20%. By and large, if a church is growing it’s because it’s pulling from this 20%.

But what about the other 80%? If culture is to be transformed this 80% must be reached. And this 80% won’t be reached “in” church. The church is going to have to go to them. They won’t be coming to us.

The question becomes: is the church fluid enough to come up with incarnational ways to reach this 80%? And if we can come up with ways, truly revolutionary ways, are we willing to implement them?

Just something to think about.
-shorty

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