Yohanus is the Director of Asia Pacific Christian Mission International (APCMI), a mission group that has planted 184 churches in Muslim villages over the past 30 years. And it’s exciting to hear how, in many cases, 30-50% of the village are now Christian and manage to live peacefully with their Muslim neighbors. They have a Bible College that trains church planters in Bandung and won’t graduate the students until they have planted a church! Under Yohanus’ leadership APCMI has recently established a formal relationship with Australian Churches of Christ through Global Mission Partners.

Accompanied by Dr Andrew Menzies from Stirling College, Yohanus Marsono will be sharing something of the exciting story of Churches of Christ in Indonesia over an informal long-lunch at the State Office at 12.30 pm on Thursday 9th February 2012.

RSVP for catering purposes is essential by close of business on Tuesday 7th February
(call: 8269 7873 or email reception@churchesofchrist-sa.org.au)

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13

I find it an enormous challenge as well. For centuries the model for Christian leaders has been that of pastor / preacher. It is expressed through pastoral care, oversight of the Sunday service, and preaching. A common thread in this teaching has been the call to adjust your lifestyle, attitude, commitment to sharing your faith. The preacher has stood outside, on high, and spoken a word of rebuke or encouragement into the lives of their hearers – inviting them to personal response. We have followed in the biblical tradition of the prophets and Jesus himself – “repent for the kingdom of heaven is near”.

But prophets rebuke a straying people. And here the words of Ephesians speak again: where in our current model of church is the place where people are developed, empowered and invited to participate in Christ centred community. Where are the words “come follow me” spoken?

The question Ephesians invites me to wrestle with is weather I am challenging people to repent, or inviting them to live as part of a transformational community? And if I am to do the latter what does it look like? Who apart from Jesus role models this community formation? In many ways it is a question reflected in the educational system – is passing on the Christian faith an exercise in information or vocation? Is Church more aligned to the higher education institutions where the goal is transferring knowledge, or are we part of the vocational education system who seeks to pass on competency and skills?

Perhaps you can guess my answer. Ephesians 4 would suggest that the teaching role we ministers should take is that of preparing the saints – of building competency – of more than that – creating learning opportunities and communities of practise.

I have heard it said a number of times that the Church is not a building or an event but a community of people. It is my belief that building and forming communities of people require a different model of leadership, one that stands with rather than against. One where the key message is “come follow me” as we together follow Jesus and live out his kingdom. One where empowerment, role modeling and developing shared practices and story are the primary methods of teaching. This is a style of leadership that bible college did not really prepare me for because it is not born out of information and knowledge. It is leadership that flows from character and wisdom, its default tools are relationships. Ephesians 4 challenges me to be a leader who embraces this calling.

• McCrindle Research has published a report on faith, religious views and attitudes to Jesus in Australian society. It’s a very recent report so it makes for some interesting statistics: via olive tree media.
• Sam Rainer has publishe 10 unexpected trends in the North American church over the next years. As with most American studies, there are some things that apply equally to the Australian church, and some that are culturally unique to the USA: via Church Executive.

A five-week interactive study from World Vision designed to facilitate Christian social engagement: you may recognise a familiar face or two.

Re-Imagining Theological Education | 3DM from 3DM on Vimeo.

• Is there a young (or not so young) person in your church in whom you perceive ministry potential? Have you considered talking to them about an internship?
• Do you have a role within your church that may be a good area of responsibility for an intern?
• Do you have finances that you may be able to invest in raising up a new generation of leaders?

Ministry Internships will begin in early March 2012. An approximate cost to employ an intern is $136 a week (based on a 1 day a week ministry role).
For more information contact Gavin Jones at the State office on 8269 7873.

• Being Countercultural
• Concerning the Church: Death to Innovation
• Who is my Neighbor?

As a result of this paper we have at Hampstead considered our need to work on Discipleship and have made some head way with that. Paul Turnbull, one of our Elders, has promoted the idea that we don’t just have a seminar on it and then go onto the next thing but rather that we have a Decade of Discipleship. He has encouraged us to allow God to change our Church culture so that we are more aware of the need of training each other, supporting each other and being led by each other. Some of the book, The trellis and the vine, has also helped us in this too.

Also, as a result of this paper and the subsequent Magarey at Victor Harbor, the ministers now meet as a group representing 7 Churches. We have explored the idea of Church leaders doing this too, but as yet with minimal success. However, activities like a seminar we are running at Hampstead, The Church on the Mezzanine Floor, from Maintenance to Mission in a time of Transition, with Gil Cann, are opportunities to invite the 6 other Churches. (That is happening here on November 11, 12 & 13).

As a result of many influences one of our Elders, Max Thompson, has encouraged us to do Church differently, with the support of the Elders and myself. So, once a month we have Cafe Church in place of our Sunday service. Not always well received by some of our older members because of the noise factor but the hope has always been to see our members grow spiritually. We want them to own the message for themselves, do some personal searching, to be free enough to put forward their opinion about God or a passage, to put it into their own words and express that with the others at their table. Some have remained silent but have participated by being there to encourage others. We also wanted to teach the members to listen to others, something that seems to be very hard for some. We are not sure about the future of this, it continues for now anyway. Few from our Church commit to a small group experience like a Bible study or sharing group or any sort of fellowship group, so this makes it important to continue with the Cafe Church for a bit longer yet.

I will share the attached paper with a few in our Church and hopefully we will get some replies.

Thanks for listening,
Wayne Shepherd
Hampstead Gardens Church of Christ.

In order to further stimulate such conversations, the Mission Resource Team is pleased to offer this discussion guide on Spirituality which we hope will be the first of a series addressing the five indicators of church health and vitality mentioned above.

We commend it to you for your use, either as a discussion guide in your Regional Group, or in other group discussion settings as you think appropriate.

We welcome your feedback on this paper, how helpful you found it, and whether you would find further similar resources helpful.

Mark Butler (on behalf of the Mission Resource Team)

• can mission be embedded into the worship DNA? a proposal