sustain:if:able kiwi

why missional is as easy as changing two letters

I suddenly realised how easy it was to become missional. The publicity brochure arrived from the historical denominational seminary. They used to train missionaries and pastors. Now they were missional and pastoral. So easy. Simply add “a” and “l” and you’ve got missional.

Contrast this with some reading today; “Integral Leadership can be taught“:
“Heifetz’s methodology implies that leadership can be taught, but it is not an easy task. It requires two major changes: methodological change and change of attitude toward learning. Given the second requirement the new methodology places the participants in the midst of what’s happening. Involvement is the key.”

In other words missional leadership is not a theory, nor a set of readings, nor a program. It’s a whole lot more than adding an “a” and an “l”.

Practically, today, as I prepared for my next Missional Leadership class, I am emailing asking one student to lead Dwelling the Word. I am emailing another student asking if we can use their assignment (a reflection on their real church community) for a case study that I will have to interact and engage with on the day.

Let’s not add two letters onto our slogans until we’ve done the hard working of placing participants – real church communities and real church leaders – in the middle.