Cohort Report: Missional Church Planters
By Joshua Kirby

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The church planters cohort was lively! Containing young and the advanced in years, educators, lay leaders, and students, the cohort exhibited a passion for God from God for the sake of the world. No one claimed to have the answers, only ideas. Everyone contributed, and the conversation that emerged blessed all through the power of the Spirit.

We struggled with how we could move from an outcome driven agenda to one based on faithfulness. What would ministry look like if the primary (and possibly only) outcomes we looked for were fruits of the Spirit emerging from God’s work in and through us in our contexts? Continuing with the theme of fruitfulness, we wondered how would our views of results and outcomes change if we embraced that which the natural world lives into: seasons. We should not be surprised if we have periods of barrenness, winter, and new life and hope. These are the natural rhythms of Creation, yet we, as humans, rail against them constantly.

Throughout the flow of the conversation, one thing was clear: the world is changing. God is moving. Rather than merely acting on our own initiative, as is all too easy, we must attend faithfully to God's movement to meet the challenges of a world crying out for something more, a more that has less to do with power, possessions and sex appeal and more to do with meaning and purpose, a meaning and purpose found in the meaning maker and purpose giver, God. Thanks be to God for a room full of passionate people who were dedicated to attending to God’s desire and movement.