Conferences are good - conferences are bad. Ridley and I are finishing up the National New Church Conference "Exponential 08" in Orlando tomorrow. After a day and a half of listening to speakers known world-wide for their insight into the church planting movement, by brain is just about mush. No really. Allan Hirsch has led my track, dealing with the"Missional" understanding, and it has been great. I've heard him speak before, and he's been just as challenging as before. I wont begin to download all of my thoughts from these sessions, but I will say this. As a church, we have the greatest message the world could ever hear. If we continue to do things, do church, the way we've been doing it, and expect different results, we will continue to see our culture slide further and further in to chaos. We must do a better job of engaging the community. We must do a better job of being intentional in starting conversations. I did hear today that as churches become more missional in their understanding and practice, consumer driven participants will be propelled away. Interesting thought. We've seen a little of that at RCC.
I also heard an interesting statement that comes from the Korean church planting movement... "Every Christian, a church planter. Every church, a church planting church." I wish more of our people and churches could embrace that.
It's been a great experience to network with and talk with nearly three thousand people who are passionate about church planting. It's been both challenging and encouraging to be exposed to, and reminded of, the need for new church starts. Now is the difficulty of sorting through the info and prioritizing our action points. It's also been pretty cool to hang with my favorite pastor. I can't imagine this journey with anyone else.
Pam, Ben, I'm headed home tomorrow... get ready to listen to my download. See you soon!
www.exponentialconference.com
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