Sustaining a Life of Mission
As well as the title ‘Sustaining a Life of Mission’ I’ve been asked for some key principles that help sustain me in a life
Making disciples. Equipping leaders. catalysing movements.
Blog Resources
Sustaining a Life of Community
Community. Extended Family. Oikos. Family on Mission. If you’ve been around this movement for any length of time the chances are you’ve heard or read about
Sustaining a Life of Worship as a Leader
A life of worship is one filled with the vivid and joyous awareness of God near us. When I live in the light of how
How to…Train, Equip & Support MC Leaders
Here are a few reflections I’ve had from my time overseeing Missional Communities: Listen My number one reflection would be to make time to
But How Can I Make Missional Communities Work With…? Part Two
This is the second part to a post which asks the question Are the principles of Missional Communities really transferable? Today, Ben gives some more
But how can I make Missional Communities work with…? PART ONE
Are the principles behind missional communities really transferable? Can you really make a community fruitful in any context? I’ve got to be honest, I think
Leading Missional Communities as teams
However a Missional Community begins, there will inevitably be a core team of people around the leader(s) in order for that community to maintain long
ABCs of UP, IN, OUT: OUT
This is the second in a 3-part series designed to help your Missional Community have a good balance of UP (focus on relationship with God),
ABC’s of Up, In and Out: UP
Part 1 of a three part series to help your Missional Community have a good balance of UP (focus on relationship with God), IN (focus
The Idiots Guide to Missional Vision!
What is missional vision, and how do you get it? A missional vision sets out where you and your group are going – it is
Are Missional Communities just ‘Miniature’ Church?
Question: We are interested in Missional Communities and have read somewhere that the only rule is that they don’t do ‘miniature church’ on Sundays. Why
From Small Group to Missional Community: Part 2
Today’s post follows on from an earlier post on tips from moving from a traditional small group to becoming a missional community. In this post David
From Small Group to Missional Community: Part 1
Is it possible to transition from a traditional small group to a vision led Missional Community? This question is one many of us have had
How to…occupy social space as a Missional Community
The term “social space” is borrowed from a theory within sociology which identifies different sized groupings that form community. Social space describes the extended-family sized
Growing an Oikos: getting people to commit!
I wonder if you have been here: You’ve come up with a plan for mission in your community, you’re doing something new and are excited
Sustaining a Life of Mission: On not burning out!
How do you feed yourself while holding down a job/family/life and leading a Missional Community? Most of us manage to keep ourselves physically fed
Does Summer means 6 weeks off from being a Missionary?
Rest is not the opposite of mission. Yes some of the tasks will stop, yes it is rightly a time for slower rhythms of
Growing an Oikos: Changing a Culture
Last Sunday our extended family spent our afternoon going to a nearby splash pool followed by a picnic in the sunshine. We’re a missional
Growing an Oikos: Changing Mindsets
A few years ago, when I was a member of our church staff team responsible for our missional communities, and before ‘oikos’ and ‘family
On Leading a Families Missional Community: Part 2
Keep asking if it “fits” We got to a point in our Missional Community where we weren’t sure what we were doing or why we
On Leading a Families Missional Community: Part 1
A few thoughts from Lucy and Andrew Buckley who lead an MC called ‘Kin’ in Sheffield, UK, on their experiences and thoughts about leading a
When it went wrong….and what we learnt: Multiplication
Imagine the scenario: You have a thriving growing group which you seek to multiply and end up killing the group. Oops. This is a
Real Life Discipleship: Multiplying Life
At the heart of missional communities is the understanding that discipleship primarily happens through relationships lived out in extended families on mission. It means they
Foundations for MCs: Communities of Good News
Missional Communities exist to draw people to Jesus and see them transformed in community to become disciples of Jesus as they follow him. So in launching
Foundations for MCs: Organised & Organic
One of the principles from the Leading Missional Communities book is that MCs exist on a continuum of organized and organic life. The community needs
Foundations for MCs: Finding the Person of Peace
Finding the Person of Peace is a very important principle in our leading of a Missional Community. Jesus sets out the Person of Peace strategy
Foundations for MCs: Extended Families on Mission
The key marks of this family on mission life are: Prayer Meals Shared resources Fun Mission As Mother Theresa said, the gospel is simple but
Real Life Discipleship: Continuous Breakthrough
In the New Testament the word disciple literally means ‘learner’. Yet the way we do learning within the church is so often limited to giving
Foundations for MCs: Building a Discipling Culture at the heart of MCs
At the heart of the Missional Communities movement is a rekindling of the primary commission Jesus gave us which was to ‘go and make disciples
How to…lead your peers
If we are involved in leadership, inside or outside the church, there will inevitably come a time when we have to lead our peers. By
Most commonly skipped steps in MCs: Stop, Look, Listen
STOP, LOOK, LISTEN But what we really need to do is hear from the Lord and let his Spirit show us the way.
What happens if….MC leaders step down
“What happens if…MC Leaders step down?” I write this as someone who is currently co-responsible for overseeing the MCs in our church, where this has
Sustaining a Life of Mission…Spiritual Disciplines
Discipline…. Ooh I can just feel the shudder down my spine! I wonder how many of us grew up in the Discipline = Death
How to…engage with the prophetic in your missional community
Prophecy is a wonderful gift from the Holy Spirit that brings life to people and connects us with the heart of our heavenly Father. Through
How to…multiply your missional community
How easy is it to multiply a Missional Community? Given our title it could be assumed that it is a simple and straightforward process.
Real Life Discipleship: Passing on the Torch
I was reading the old Jewish story about Elijah and Elisha today, where the protege gets to see the old prophet go up to heaven, and
Oikos: is it sustainable?
Oikos, some days it just doesn’t seem efficient. Maybe community life seems to distract you from achieving your aims or feels hard work
Oikos: part one
Some of the most common questions you hear people asking about MC’s are “what’s so unique about Missional Communities?” or even “why is a Missional
Sustaining a Life of Mission…Bible
One of the first things I remember being told in cluster leader training (clusters were prototype Missional Communities back in the day), was to
How to…inspire your leaders
In another post in our How to… series, Jenny Irvine gives us a few pointers in inspiring our leaders to keep going. Where are your
Sustaining a Life of Mission…Prayer: Part 2
Yesterday I wrote about prayer as an essential ingredient of missional community life. Today I want to suggest some practical ways you can develop
Sustaining a Life of Mission…Prayer: Part 1
I hate to be the one who breaks this to you, but being in and leading a good missional community is hard work! This
Lessons in Mission…Families
How do you make Missional Communities and Children work together? There have been countless studies on how children learn, how they interact with information, and how
Training and Supporting Missional Leaders
“How do you support your leaders?” This is one of the most common questions people ask, whether they are leading a missional community, ministry
Why mission is culture before structure
What culture are you part of?? Having spent a lot of time abroad recently, I have often found myself speaking about “culture” whilst processing my
Discovering and Developing Missional Vision – Part 2
As promised, here is the follow up to last week’s post on Discovering and Developing Missional Vision, where we shared some questions to ponder on setting a
Discovering and Developing Missional Vision – Part 1
So……… we are going to kick off our “Highlights” series with this two-part blog from last summer on Discovering and Developing Missional Vision. Enjoy! As
