Hi David, On May 1, 2012, at 7:53 PM, David R. Block wrote:
> And just what does "reinventing the Christian Church" mean? The short version is that, pretty much since the birth of Western civilization, Christianity has been propagated by three distinct institutions: * local congregations (by nurturing families) * missionary organizations (by creating converts) * seminaries (by training pastors and missionaries) A gross oversimplification, but even a casual reading of church history shows the power and durability of all three institutions. And the sometimes awkward relationship between them. My current hypothesis is that we need to re-integrate those three functions into new, more holistic concept of church that includes outward-facing mission and theological training as part of its *core* reason for existence. You might call it "Viral Church", in that the goal is to make the regional church self-reproducing (though not self-sufficient; there still needs to be some level of outward accountability). You can get a taste of our first steps at: http://www.kingsway.us/about-us/church-spread/?view=mobile It'll probably take a decade or so to flesh out the full vision, but if it works, it literally changes everything. :-) -- Ernie P. See also: http://2transform.us/grow/ http://triversity.org/ -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
