Reflections on the 2010 Missional Church Think Tank
By John Mueller Nowell

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Gradually the eight people assigned to the small group cohort named “Young Missional Pastors B” entered our assigned room. It became apparent fairly quickly that not everyone in our group was a young missional pastor. There was a retired pastor, a very involved lay person, and a moderator who has not heard the word “young” as an adjective to describe him for several decades. But as we entered into the missional church conversation these differences of age and ordination disappeared.

In small groups, these persons were invited to reflect on presentations heard in a large group setting. The primary question that was asked over and over again in the small group time together was “what are we learning about what God is up to in the stories we have just heard?” We did some brainstorming, we did some quite reflecting, and we did some deep sharing.

Conversations were exciting and meaningful. Some of our primary ponderings included the realization that:

• Our culture has a very firm grip on the church
• In many cases the church is so acculturated that we are fearful to speak the Gospel
• The Gospel of Jesus Christ will alienate people
• The church in most cases will do everything possible to avoid conflict
• It is important to pay attention to the “rumblings of the Holy Spirit”
• The church needs to reclaim the boldness to preach the Gospel
• Often it is our own traditions and our buildings that cause us to become stuck
• One answer to the question “How does the Missional Church Look?” is that the work of the Holy Spirit will cause it to look different in every local church setting
• A sense of relationship building with the community surrounding any church is critical…a movement from a narrowly defined “you” to “y’all” to “all y’all
• Paying careful attention to the movement of the Holy Spirit as it occurs may create blurring of long range visions and goals...a frustration to those who like to exercise control by having everything neatly planned

As the cohort participants shared in their last small group time together, there was a sense that the Missional Church conversation would alter their re-engagement with ministry in their own ministry setting. One spoke of a clearer call to missional ministry in the suburbs of Chicago. Two others spoke of renewed commitment to the hard work of urban ministry in Pittsburgh. Several spoke of the importance of seeing missional ministry as seed planting, and relationship development. Several spoke of their commitment to do the hard work of taking the missional conversation back to their well-established congregation. One spoke of the way the conversation had created a wresting within the soul, and a re-examination of ministry call.

As we prepared to go our separate ways, we affirmed that it had been good to be together and we spoke words of appreciation for what each had contributed to the conversation. We were mostly grateful for the work God’s Holy Spirit is up to in God’s church and in and through God’s people. The stories we were able to share helped all of us to have a better sense of how the Missional Church looks.

John Mueller Nowell is Director of Consulting at Church Innovations. Among his responsibilities at Church Innovations, John talks monthly with each of the pastors/spiritual leaders whose congregations are participating in Partnership for Missional Church.