A Layperson’s View of the Sustaining Missional Leadership Conference
By Amy Lewis

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Like a first-time visitor to a small neighborhood parish, I felt apprehensive and overly conspicuous as I crossed the Luther Seminary campus in St. Paul, Minnesota, for the Sustaining Missional Leadership Conference. As a marketing communications consultant to Church Innovations, I have been observing the missional church movement from the sidelines just over a year. I felt ill equipped to converse with church leaders, seminary professors and judicatory officials on the topic.

The distances from which participants came point to the widespread interest in missional church as well as the attendees’ commitment to progressing the movement. From Vancouver, British Columbia, to Dallas, Texas, from Christ Church, New Zealand to Johannesburg, South Africa, they came to learn how to introduce missional church to congregations, sustain missional energy and experimentation, and benefit from cluster discussions.

Three church systems and Abilene Christian University (representing the non-systemized Churches of Christ) shared their journeys in the missional church process. Each being at different stages and having varying system structures had a unique story. Following each of the presentations, participants broke out by denominations to discuss the takeaways from each session. Mealtimes crossed denominational boundaries, leading to spirited and Spirit-filled conversations.

I expected discouragement and resignation from the participants, who represented denominations including Presbyterian, Mennonite, Church of Christ, Reformed Church of America, the Dutch Reformed Church and the Episcopal Church (USA). Instead there was passion and excitement, words of encouragement, whole-hearted brainstorming and friendly debate. They were thirsty for stories of how missional church was working, whether from their peers or Church Innovations’ Patrick Keifert and Allelon’s Alan Roxburgh.

Keifert and Roxburgh’s point-counterpoint dialogue demonstrated an ease and a deep friendship established over many years of advocating for missional church. Their combined expertise withstood the participants’ barrage of questions.

I heard several recurring themes during the three-day conference. Importantly, many stressed that missional church is not a program to be implemented with the hopes of growing church membership. Missional church is a process that results in a cultural change; it’s a new way of doing “church” and being church. It has a more altruistic purpose: to reach people and communities for God, in practical ways that make a difference. It’s about putting the church back into the community; or, if you prefer, it’s about a church responding to its specific call within its surrounding community.

Language is vital to introducing missional church to congregations. While church leaders are immersed in the lexicon, congregations find it vague. Church Innovations will be developing materials to help church systems share the Partnership for Missional Church process with lay leaders and congregations. A future issue of this newsletter will also discuss the topic of language and introducing PMC to churches.

Based on my learning at the conference, I see missional church as being, in its very essence, a response to the second greatest commandment: loving our neighbors and doing it in the practical ways in which they want to be loved. My second observation is that everyone involved in the missional church movement, regardless of denomination, shares more similarities than differences. Denominational lines fall as we live out God’s call as Christians in our communities.

I, too, was among the participants energized at the conference. I also discovered that no matter what my knowledge or background, there was no need to be intimidated. Everyone left more filled than when they came. Missional church, the stories and the people behind those stories came to life in a fresh way. I look forward to next year’s conference to hear how this year’s participants used what they learned.

Amy Lewis is principal of Renown Marketing Communications and an advisor to Church Innovations.