Cohort Report: Missional Pastors - Group B
By Michael Hoy

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Our first cohort session was mostly an opportunity for introductions within the group. The second session was foundationally helpful in discussing what God is up to relative to Scripture and Tradition, Society and Culture, and Faithful living. Much of the conversation in this session focused on the matter of our listening to story telling, and particularly distinguishing the deeper distilling of what God is up to in the stories told vis-à-vis empathetic listening to stories in general. Wes Avram did an outstanding job of presenting this in the plenary session “fish bowl,” and with our thanks.

The third session focused on our discussion of what God is up to relative to our “founding missions” as congregations vis-à-vis the continuing journey in the process of missional thinking. Is there a connection between the original founding story and the story we are telling in light of where God is leading us today? The sense of how that story is also deepened within the congregation was also important (i.e., the missional story is not fully embraced until others can see it also as their heard and authenticated story). There were also reflections on the missional challenges in matters of justice, and there were helpful remembrances again of how we enter into these conversations with a spirit of repentance, openness, and humility to a variety of narratives.

For me personally, the cohort experience was one of the highlights of the Missional Think Tank event. It provided more than just an opportunity to reflect and develop new relationships with peers on where God is leading us in missional church. From my observations, we are all at different points in the journey; but these cohort conversations helped me learn a valuable lesson about listening and witnessing how all our stories and narratives are significant and important for shaping us, wherever we are, because they coalesce with THE Narrative that brings us all together, carries us, and leads us in this process – not an end-point goal or objective – of being missional church. I look forward to the journey!