Being Missional

I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I would want a church to be like lately, especially since I am sometimes asked to fill out questionaires about my philosophy of ministry. A term that I have come to use as part of my ministry philosophy is "missional." I have read several articles this year on that subject as well as part of a book called "Shaped by God's Heart--the Passion and Practices of Missional churches." So I would want my next church to have the vision of being missional.
What does that mean?
Here is a little excert from an article that summaries the philosophy:
Missional churches understand that things no longer work as they once did. Indeed, what worked even as recently as last Sunday may not work this Sunday. Through the process of "branding" , we discover that what the church thinks it is doing does not necessarily reflect what is actually happening.
Missional churches need to be transformational. This begins with God and you. If your life is not being transformed by the power of God, missional is just a word - nothing more. Now, more than ever before, it is imperative to take a creative, relevant approach in preaching the whole gospel. In other words, sin, repentance, faith, confession and living a life of holiness is crucial for today. The content of the gospel does not change, but the packaging changes continually. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. (Rom. 1:16)
Read the rest of the article at http://exp.etelos.com/sys/nl/ai.esp?cid=a1e28c563f453874aabd1b3f37a712fe&iid=4144&taf=0&show=13046

On another note, the Lord closed the door on a church that I was in contact with this week. We are still praying that God would lead us to a church where I can work with them to become the type of church mentioned above. Meanwhile Karen has enjoyed me being at her school again today.