I'm thrilled that we will have MRTs in 15-20 different locations in two cohorts this summer! Each MRT is committed to the same core practices for three months but how they work out those practices will look different in each situation.
Other MRTs might connect via Skype. Or, they might meet in a home. It would help the rest of us if you could give us a picture of your MRT this summer. Who is in it? Where do you meet? What is your mission field? What's a sample of what you are learning?
You can write your description as a comment below. Or, you can send photos. Or, you can make a short video like we did. This is a community of practice and it's very helpful to see how each group is "practicing".
John
PS. In the video below, you will see that we had we had visitors on that morning. Kent Smith, representing the Abilene MRT, was with us. Also, Chadd Schroeder, representing the MRT in Guadalajara (and, a new by-faith MRT in Texas). To me this is a fore taste of the day when there are a thousand MRTs and you can visit one in any city in the world. How's that for faith!?
It seems God has put me in a position of having or starting multiple MRTs that all look differently.
ReplyDeleteRichard & I pray, SASHET, and discuss our regions of New Mexico and SE Colorado various times through out the week, but are deciding to be more 'intentional' about it the next 3 months. We mostly 'meet' over the phone.
Carolyn lives in Clovis, NM, about 4 hours away. She is new to MRT, but has such a burning desire to see new churches started in her region, that it will be difficult to NOT meet with her. We will skype, pray, and listen to the Lord regularly, when she gets back to town. She has friends who are well equipped to start 3 new house churches, but didn't know how to do that until we recently sat together and asked God to put things into place.
There are about 7 of us throughout New Mexico and SE Colorado who have started audio skype calls on the weekends. We all represent different towns or cities, even a Wycliffe Translator from Finland who has recently joined us. Our times of prayer and discussion have been great, and God is refreshing our hearts with a larger vision for the state of NM, and beyond. There are about 30 of us leaders meeting in Ruidoso, NM, this weekend to meet each other face to face, pray together, and ask the Lord what His plan is for the state. We plan to have a joint retreat later in the fall when we can invite simple churches to gather all in one place. We sense a real "knitting and netting" of believers that will change the culture here in the SW. I would never have imagined it would look like this, but God is going before us, showing us what HE wants. We're praying that as we grow, the harvest will have a place to find a healthy spiritual home in any part of the state.
Nick & Ramona & I will meet spontaneously and regularly to pray for Albuquerque and God's heart for our city. Nick has already demonstrated his heart in helping others start simple churches, and is planning to meet with various ones in the city to encourage and strengthen the body. He is a great gift to me in the work here.
I appreciate partnering with all of you in MRT. John, I'm glad you mentioned that they will all look a bit different, but I know God has the same end result in mind.... that we send laborers into the harvest, to reap and bring in the harvest. What exciting times we live in!
I, like Peg, have stepped into an opportunity of a couple of MRTs.
ReplyDeleteI participate with John White, Tim Pynes, Desi Starr, and Hugh Brandt at the Sojourners Coffee Shop on Thursday mornings from 9 to 11:30. We start with a check-in, move to a teaching time around coaching, and then listen to the Lord together about church planting in the Denver Metro area.
I participate with Robbie James on Sunday nights from 9:30 to 11:30. We alternate between our basements. We begin with a check-in. We lay out the things that we think we need to talk about and then ask the Lord what he wants to say and then we process what we heard.
I am hoping to start one more with some of our house church leaders in the Brighton, Ft. Lupton, and Thornton area (Northern Region) to equip some of our overseer figures as Robbie and I plan to continue moving along planting more and more churches. We hope this will be an experiment toward developing a leadership culture within a local network of pastoring figures who stay behind and shepherd and guard the DNA of apostolic tradition.
Hobby,
ReplyDeleteI like how you worded the last sentence above..."developing a leadership culture with a local network of pastoring figures who stay behind and shepherd and guard the DNA of apostolic tradition." Thoughts I'd like you to clarify:
1. ...Leadership culture within a local network
2. ...Shepherd and guard the DNA of apostolic tradition.
I feel I need to move into this type of leadership role a bit more here in NM, so if you have time and space sometime, could you expand on these thoughts? Especially describe your definition of "DNA of apostolic tradition" that you would reproduce in others. If not here, you have my email address. Thanks.
A while back I read through 1 Timothy. When I was in chapter 3 I was very impressed with the term overseer (episkopos). I looked it up in one of my Greek Lexicons (Danker). The past few years I have thought of an overseer as a shepherd of the people. Danker defined the term "Guardian". My initial thought was that Guardian is like a Shepherd tending to the hearts of the people and helping communities along. Then I kept reading. The Overseer is not a Guardian of the people, but of the apostolic tradition. This was very impressive to me. It clicked in my mind to think, if we are apostolic leaders who are planting, nurturing, and moving on, a leadership culture must be equipped and left behind to hold to the DNA embedded by the apostolic leaders. So, I see the leadership culture to be very significant if we will see a true movement.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the DNA, I don't know that I have it all figured out right now. As a foundational element, I would propose that listening to the Lord as the leader of his church is a crucial piece of the DNA. A sense of missionary identity, shalom and families, respect and honoring of spiritual gifts, the gospel life and message . . . these are a few things that I would include as foundational to our DNA. What else would you include?
Is this helpful? How do you interact with this idea of overseer as Guardian of apostolic tradition?