Last course of year two (moving ahead!)!  Three more years to go.  Last course was a focus on what it might mean to be a missional church and more specifically in this course we explore what is implied in being a missional leader.  Missional is adjectival to the word leader.  Every generation of pastors needs to understand what it means to be a leader in the context of the church and culture.  There are many values embedded in the descriptor “missional.”  Not all of them are new but some of them are.  At the heart of a missional leader is the awareness that the traditional forms of leadership require a transformation that is in keeping with the shift in our culture and times but more importantly rooted in the New Testament witness.   The major project of this course is to examine existing church structure and life, evaluating it from a missional perspective and recommending actions that could be implemented to help the church move forward as a missional community.

The Bellah Tickle Review–This is a review of two books.  Both provide an assessment of North American culture.  Tickle’s book provides a helpful way to enter into the confusing array of missional options.  Bellah’s book is a classic in that it explores the reality of individualism and the impact on culture.

Strangers at Worship–This was a challenging book in that it helped me to understand the role and purpose of worship in new ways but in particular it revealed to me some of my inadequate understandings of how to shape worship for those who are curious but on the margins of christian community.

Cultivating a Missional Leadership Community–This is the final project of this course. It is a paper that attempts to develop a new model of discipleship by first describing the major shifts that have occurred in ministry and culture and what the Spirit seems to be doing in our midst. I appeal to a number of others who help frame and provide insight into a rough model of discipleship at Pacific.

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