The Traveling Companion: episode 1

I just started my next to last class for my D.Min at Perkins - Spiritual Leadership in Missional Churches. One of our assignments is to keep a journal during the 2 weeks of class. I decided to blog mine...

MONDAY, JUNE 14

When I came to Perkins I expected to have to recontextualize most of my course content. I felt good about the program but didn’t really expect that a mainstream denomination school would really understand my very not-mainstream church planting context. I was okay with that because I just didn’t imagine many advanced programs (yet) would be much different and the folks at Perkins seemed generally excited to have a missional church planter in the program. Last semester’s efforts at digging deeper into the new monasticism have been deeply transformational for me, Rachel and the Chappotins...nobody is able to know me and not experience what I’m experiencing!

And now I’m in a class with 6 other folks and a great professor exploring spiritual leadership in missional churches!!! I didn’t expect to find any classes this tailored to our experience in pioneering new mistakes!

Today was a good start. We began with a spiritual formation exercise in which we fleshed out a metaphor for leadership development using the image of a mountain range. I want to unpack what I drew.

But first, I also want to mention a quote that grabbed my attention. In an interview describing her departure from “professional ministry” Barbara Brown Taylor was asked if doubt played a role in her decision. She said that doubt caused her to poke and pry at her beliefs and issues of faith, and whenever something toppled over she knew that was an idol. Wow! Just last night, Rachel and I were talking about the misconception that doubt is the enemy of faith. I told her that I believe it is fear, not doubt, which is the true enemy of faith. Barbara Brown Taylor beautifully described why doubt is not the enemy.

But back to the mountain metaphor:

Early on as we attempted to lead other leaders up this mountain (a metaphor we’ve used explicitly) we tried to get people to pack appropriately. In reality all of us, myself very much included were trying to carry too much luggage up this steep terrain. Our packs were loaded to capacity and in addition to that 80 lbs many of us were also carrying an extra duffel bag, toiletry bag, computer bags, printer/fax/copier combos, kayaks, hairdryers, stuffed animals, televisions, an Xbox and a 30 volume leather bound commentary set from 1950.

Eventually as we tried to readjust our packs we began to realize that 1) we’d simply overpacked. Some stuff was good, we just couldn’t carry it all - we’d have to distribute the load amongst the group and share resources. Also 2) some stuff just didn’t translate well in the new terrain. It didn’t make sense to try to carry some of the heavy programming stuff that seemed so essential at base camp.

But trying to get everyone to be willing to let go of their teddy bears and comfort blankets was just too much. We simply had to get to climbing and then give people permission to drop their extra stuff along the trail when they got tired of carrying it.

When that point came, however, sadly some of our traveling companions decided they’d rather turn back to base camp rather than part with their extra gear. We’ve met other travelers along the path. We’ve met some along the way who grew too tired to continue and are even now sitting on a rock just off the path, too tired to continue but not sure they can find their way back down the mountain...or that they’d even like what they returned to if they did.

We’ve encountered some who decided they’d traveled far enough and erected a chapel with a nice view of the scenery where they could sing about mountain climbing...with their packs and hiking boots sitting in a neat pile outside.

Truth be told, that was a tempting option for a while. But we’re climbing again.

We catch glimpses of other hikers up ahead - some even seem to have balanced their loads. One of our greatest temptations now is to resist the urge to pick up the extra gear they’ve discarded.

We’re also meeting lonely hikers who are woefully under-equipped and facing great peril by traveling alone. We’re inviting them to experience the safety of climbing with a group. Some have had some bad experiences with mountain climbing expedition groups - some got stuck in the chapels we passed along the way and don’t want to do that again. But we find that as we share food and shelter they often begin to realize that a community on journey together can indeed be a great thing.

I don’t know what the top of this mountain will look like, I don’t even know what lies over the next ridge, I just know that I’m being drawn upward and the scenery is more amazing each morning.

Ministry Journal

Ten Days left. 

I haven't blogged at all lately because I've been scrambling to prepare for my first round of classes at SMU. Our classes meet from June 15 to July 3 - normally I'll only take one at a time, but during this first session there are two that function together for a more terrifying experience. 

Ministry/Theology degrees involve lots of reading and writing, so I'm used to having a significant load of pre-course work. What I'm not used to is only 2 months to prepare this amount. Welcome to big boy school I guess.

So far I've written about 13K words for this class (around 30 single spaced pages) and I have probably another 8-10K to go BEFORE class begins. Then the real stuff begins!

I don't say this to drum up sympathy - I'm loving it! It has been a bit overwhelming trying to readjust to school, but I'm slowing finding a groove. But the material itself has been great. Of all the books we have for these two courses I only knew of 1 before hand and very few of them were written in the last 20 years...but so far they've all been great.

One of the more time consuming projects has been a daily "reflective journal" on my ministry activities. This is where the bulk of my writing has come from. My entry last night struck me as something worth putting here on the blog. It may be a little different from my normal style (which might be a good thing), but it chronicles a very exciting aspect of our ministry...

Thursday, June 4

I didn’t meet with Robey and Chappotin for our formation group today. We knew that the  arrival of summer would mean sporadic meetings - particularly since Robey is a youth minister. 

So Chappotin and I played racquetball early and then I had all day to read, study and prepare for our house church gathering tonight. 

Tonight we discussed the final episode of the Foundations series - Culmination - unfortunately it was just the Hunters, Tooles and I. I wasn’t overly surprised, nor was I that bothered by it. With this being the last week of school most families have been running around like crazy and I suspected that most were not likely to join us. 

I took the opportunity to do some leadership development, only I didn’t tell anyone that’s what I was doing. The five of us sat around the kitchen table and began telling stories from our childhood - it was mostly impromptu, but I knew that if I told a story, this group would run with it. Sure enough we were soon discussing different trials and the ways we wished things had turned out differently.

I let this go on for quite some time and then I asked why these stories are so compelling. The reality is that we tell these stories because we know that 1) they represent a way of life that is all too common and 2) we know that they are not the way things were intended. We tell these stories so that we can hope they’ll eventually be set right. We tell these stories because we long for the day when they will no longer be reality.

I talked to our group about the power of storytelling and the need for confession/testimony. Stories resonate. Narratives draw us in to truth. People need to know that what they experience connects with others and can be set within a larger story. Our individual stories often seem to be nonsensical and it is fruitless to even attempt to make them appear logical. And yet, when set in the context of the larger Story, things begin falling in place.

Often this is what a great leader does - listens to the stories of others and comes alongside them as they seek to discern how their story fits into The Story.

The episode of Culmination is about our anticipation of God setting things right. The intended harmony in creation that was seemingly destroyed in the crisis has been lingering for entirely too long. We know that all creation - everything - is groaning in anticipation of that day when that which is broken (which is pretty much everything) gets mended.

Until the day that things ARE set right people will likely dispute just how they anticipate it coming about. This realization set the stage for the next issue for discussion with our two leading couples. 

Sorting through to a final draft of the “end times” is not the point and there is room for people to hold differing opinions. The issue for the leader, we discussed tonight, is not necessarily to get everyone to espouse a certain picture of how the Culmination will play out, save for one major detail. If our eschatology is not one of hope in the reconciling work of God then the rest of our theology begins to fall flat. 

When helping people think about our future we need to remember that we are putting all our eggs in one basket - that God really does care about his creation and is willing to see this whole ordeal through to the end.

We spent some time discussing what needs to happen during June in order to help solidify commitments from our other friends in Shenendoah. We talked a little about the Tangible Kingdom material and what Robin and Ronnie will need to be ready to lead this  house church. 

Its a formality really. I’m leading the discussions right now, but the Hunters have already emerged as leaders of God’s people in the midst of their community. 

Robin has been involved in starting a homework club in her living room and a Neighborhood Watch to address the growing problem with vandalism and other crimes. Showing a true love for people over mere protection of assets, she has also talked about getting together some kind of "safe house" program for teens to have constructive and positive place to hang out - boredom inspires as many crimes as malevolence. 

Robin and our friend, Jeanie have gotten community cookouts scheduled for June 27 and July 25. These get-togethers (based loosely on the Wednesday front yard barbecues at Chris and Heidi's) are a way to get those who live on Remington Circle involved and invested in each other's lives. The Christ Journey worship band has been invited to provide live music - I hope that my weekend schedule during class in June will allow me enough time to attend and play. 

Robin also told me that she and a couple other folks involved in the neighborhood watch have decided to start a crisis ministry - encouragement and assistance for single moms in difficult situations, people in the middle of divorces or loss of loved ones, etc. When she was talking about this my mind started racing and I didn’t have time to properly dwell on it, but now at midnight, I can’t stop thinking about it. 

We haven’t had more than 9 people at any one time in our Thursday night gatherings; outside of the Hunters, Tooles, Jeanie and I, no one has made it to consecutive meetings. And yet, this gathering of God’s people is already turning the Shenendoah community upside down. They are concerned about teenagers having a safe place to hang out; students have been helped with their homework, mothers are going to have help with their lives, mourners will have friends around them, neighbors will share meals, one family will watch out for the well-being of another...in short, the Kingdom of God is being experienced. 

This is beyond me. I am brought low in humility by the greatness of a God who works through the weakness of his people. And I have been blessed to watch true church planters at work.

I love my life.