Sustaining Missional Living

This week I'm in Holland at a Learning Community with Paul Maconochie and Rich Robinson. The teaching and input which they give is excellent but sometimes it's difficult to engage with as I've heard it so many times before! However, I do find that God often highlights one little aspect of something I've heard again and again to pinpoint an area of my life where he wants to bring revelation and change. This week it was the teaching on the semi-circle and having a rhythm of abiding-fruitfulness, rest-work, Covenant-Kingdom. (You can find more on this in the various 3dm books, as well as in other posts on this blog.) The semi-circle is an important part of sustaining missional living.

The past term has been crazy and exciting and very busy for all of us in the team. For me, many things have felt overwhelming, stressful, and pressured. I've felt like I'm going to drown, have thought there's no way I'll make it through and have definitely questioned whether I was doing the right thing!*

In the middle of the storm, it's easy to forget who God is and what he says about me. I forget he's in the boat. I forget the vision he's given me. I forget that he has called me for such a time as this. I forget that his promises are to never leave me or forsake me. I forget that it's in his strength that I can do all things. I forget that his grace is sufficient for me. I forget so many things when I'm feeling buffetted by the wind and the waves.

The trouble has been that I've been trying to write these things on my heart in the middle of the storm. What I've realised is that by then it's too late!

I need to take the time to abide, to remain in him, to listen to God's voice and allow him to transform my mind BEFORE the storm comes. When there are less busy times I need to make time and allow God to change the way I think so that my behaviour is different when it's time to act. I need to talk with those around me about the prize that Jesus is setting before me so that they can remind me of it when I'm running just to keep up. And even in the midst of the busyness, before I head out into the fray I need to make time to connect with God so that I can be reminded of who he is, what he's done, who he says I am and what he's calling me to do.

I obviously still need to learn how to do this and I want to take the time over the quiet weeks coming up to rest and abide in Covenant with him so that I'm better prepared for the storms ahead.

Have you learned to do this? What has or hasn't worked for you?

*It hasn't all been bad! There have also been lots of times of joy and excitement and encouragement.

Training & Investing in Leaders (Part 2)

I'm writing this blogpost on the journey up the M1 to join in with a Learning Community at Sheffield with some members of our church team. As we chat in the car, we're reflecting on some of the things that have been helpful to us in our journey as disciples and missional leaders. We hope you find it helpful! - Jenny

Mike & Jenny

Invite people to share kingdom life with you. Jesus wasn't just a good manager or a strategic thinker. His way of doing mission and ministry was highly invitational and Incarnational - he lived with and amongst his team. What would it look like to invite some of your team to see your life as you follow Jesus? Not just the polished answers, but the hard decisions, not just the exciting breakthroughs, but also the disciplines?

Invest in the whole person over a period of time, not simply focusing on the present task at hand, but in their whole life, their relationships, their character, their lifetime calling. Who are you investing in for the long term? Are you using words to encourage them where you see their potential? Are you taking time to have the conversations that realty matter, including the hard questions of life?

Ignite them with a huge vision. Paint them a picture of what it would look like in your town or city when God's Kingdom comes that gives them space to grow and develop under you. Keep coming back to it, receiving it, interceding for it, and letting God enlarge it as a team together. Think about how to plan the year to give opportunities for this, think about a pattern of retreats, celebrations of what God has done and mission trips that will help leaders to look up from the details of life and catch sight again of God's call to join him in an adventurous lifestyle of mission.

With contributions from Gareth, Mike, Arun & Jenny

Training and Supporting Missional Leaders

So here we are again at the start of a new month and another new topic: Training and Supporting Missional Leaders. Once you've got a missional culture established and released some leaders into going for their missional vision you'll need to think about how to offer ongoing appropriate support and development for your leaders. It is crucial that leaders, who will effectively be leading small churches in their spare time, have enough support, training and encouragement to continue on with their vision and to see it bear much fruit. Without enough support there is a chance that they may find themselves over-burdened and under-equipped which could lead to burnout and failure of that community.

So what might be the key things to bear in mind as you think about supporting and developing your missional leaders?

1. Do it!

People will see what you value most by where you spend the majority of your time. If you really value growing a missional movement and supporting your leaders then I would suggest that they (and the rest of the church) need to see that worked out practically, as well as in just what you say. Look at your diary. Are MC leaders prioritised? If not, why not? Do they feel valued by how much of your time is spent on them and in visiting their communities, or do they see you focusing most of your time on central resources/events etc? Change your diary if necessary and put other people in place to do things you've been doing, or find someone whose job it is to take responsibility for coaching and supporting your MC Leaders. I know this is not always an easy one to change but I think it's vital for the growth and success of MCs in a church!

2. Apprenticeship

As much as possible take time to apprentice or coach your leaders in missional leadership. There are many ways to do this, not all of them requiring lots of time from you or them.

One of the best ways for a leader to be apprenticed is by them being raised up through a community by another leader using the Lifeshapes Leadership Square (going through a process of I do - you watch, I do - you help, You do - I help, You do - I watch.) Obviously when you are just starting MCs in your church this isn't possible, so then make sure that you spend time sharing stories of success and failure, your wisdom and your experiences of how you've led people before. Always give them the challenge to try and work things out for themselves with their team and the Holy Spirit - don't be tempted to 'rescue' them every time they have a problem or to tell them what to do. Keep them accountable for their decisions and actions (remember low-control, high accountability).

3. Training

Operate under the principle of 'just enough information, just in time.' In other words, don't 'front-load' your leaders with lots of information or training in areas they haven't yet experienced. The likelihood is they won't remember much of it. Give them the specific training they need as and when their experience demands it. Do balance this however with regular general leadership training/development input so that your leaders feel they are being invested into as they lead.

4. Value a range of leadership types

Don't assume that everyone ought to lead like you! Remember each leader is different, has different skills, gifts and passions and should be released to lead in their own identity rather than feeling they need to be like someone they're not. This might mean you need to help them discover some of what this is.

5. The most important thing is not the community they lead

Don't let your desire to grow healthy and fruitful communities within your church get in the way of growing healthy and fruitful disciples in your church. The most important things your leaders should invest in is their relationships with the Lord and with their family. Make sure they are putting regular time in their diary to spend in rest and re-creation. This might mean they can't get to everything you ask them to come to.....this is ok!!! You're much more likely to get healthy communities and people willing to step up to leadership if they see leaders who have healthy relationships and a healthy rhythm to their life.

6. Encouragement is vital

Nobody can get too much encouragement in their leadership. It usually comes rarely from the people we lead so make sure you give them as much as you can! Without it it's easy for a leader to become discouraged and disillusioned, especially when times are hard, so make sure you give them praise for specific things you've seen in them, and cheer them on when things get tricky.

I hope these few thoughts help you Church Leaders as you work out how best to train and support your Missional Leaders!

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Discovering and Developing Missional Vision: Leadership Part 2

Yesterday I shared some questions to ponder on setting a good foundation of a leadership culture within your church, focusing on releasing vision especially in those who might not look like a 'typical' leader. Today, some practicals.

Here are a few tips for releasing vision in the non-pioneers, the under-encouraged or those lacking in confidence:

1. Get to know people's passions, dreams & desires, especially those who are less 'obvious' as leaders. Make some time for those who don't seek you out to tell you their new vision or idea - look for those who are putting away the chairs, or serving coffee. Often these guys make brilliant missionary leaders because they know how to serve and love others.
2. Help potential leaders to clearly articulate their vision - writing it down or talking it through with friends can help with this. It doesn't have to be complicated, just clear. If it helps, get them to think about what they want to see in the UP-IN-OUT of their community. It can (should!) be that simple!
3. You can't encourage the unconfident too much! They need to know you believe in them. Take plenty of opportunities to let them know what gifts/skills you see in them and how you see God's call on their life. However....
4. Don't let them get away with procrastinating about getting to grips with vision and/or getting started. Hold them accountable and pin them down to a plan of writing a vision/plan/asking team/etc, or they might well never bite the bullet and get on with it!
5. Give people space to experiment and fail. Sometimes this might be easiest / feel safest for them within the context of a larger community from which they can then be released at the right time.
6. Train them to lead in their own style/giftings rather than in yours or someone else's. They stand a much better chance of succeeding! Help them to develop team who will balance out their giftings.
7. Good coaching is key to their success. They might well need more coaching than a 'natural' leader. Concentrate on encouragement and helping them to make decisions for themselves rather than giving them all the answers (or telling them what you would do!)
8. Don't necessarily expect their communities to grow as quickly or easily as other more experienced leaders - after all, they are just learning how to be a leader and how to lead with a vision. This will be especially true if their vision is quite 'specialised' or has quite a narrow focus.
9. Keep them missional! It's easy to get overwhelmed with leading people so keep their eyes on why they're doing it.
10. Celebrate success! Share testimony, encourage (again!) and remember that mobilising a whole variety of leaders across the body into missional vision and leadership is worth your time and effort!

Discovering and Developing Missional Vision: Leadership Part 1

I hope you've been enjoying the blog posts over the last month. I've really enjoyed reading the contributions based on the theme of Establishing a Missional Culture.

Today marks the start of a new theme: Discovering and Developing Missional Vision. One of the things that gets me most excited is being able to release and support people into putting into action the vision God has given them. Seeing people live out their calling, especially those who aren't your typical pioneer or confident leader, is something I find really fulfilling.

I expect most of you who have been on a journey with Missional Communities with us for a little while will have been thinking about and concentrating on releasing your pioneer leaders, the ones who are 'early adopters' - those who are usually bursting with vision and raring to be released. Great! That's definitely the place to start.

This week however I'd like to use this blog post to explore a little how to help those for whom vision comes a bit less easily, who are less 'self-promoting', more introverted or simply lack confidence or experience. For Missional Communities to become fully established within a church it is important to be raising up leaders of all shapes and sizes - MC leadership is not just for the raving extroverts or the 'obvious' leaders you have in your church!

I'll post in 2 parts; today I'll ask a few questions of you to ponder on, thinking about some of the underlying foundations and leadership culture in your church. Tomorrow I'll give a few tips of how to help encourage more people into leading with a missional vision.

So, some questions for you to consider:

• Do you have a vision for raising up leaders?
• What is the culture of leadership in your church? Do people know that leadership isn't restricted to one 'type' of person? Do they have a biblical understanding of leadership?
• Do you have a process by which vision is taught, released and nurtured across the whole body? Are you making it simple or expecting too much?
• What examples of leadership are you holding up to the church?
• Are the testimonies you profile of God at work in every day life as well as the more 'spectacular'?
• Are your MC leaders able and equipped to encourage and release others in their MC into their own vision and calling?

Setting good foundations and a biblical view of leadership in your church is vital in enabling people to discover the vision and call God has given them.

Tomorrow I'll share my top 10 tips on releasing vision in the non-pioneers, the under-encouraged or those lacking in confidence!