When we (Soma Communities) train around the world, one of the most asked questions after training on The Story Formed Way is this: How do you get your neighbors to come to the Story? While this question is pretty natural, we need to be careful in how we handle the Story and "getting people to...
The term "missional" and the term "missional community" has taken on many definitions and lived out in many different ways. In this video, put out by New Frontiers, Jeff Vanderstelt seeks to answer the question with the way that Soma Communities would define both of these terms with the gospel...
One of the questions I'm asked most is: "How do you keep missional communities healthy?" "How do you help them grow?" At Austin City Life, we've learned this one the hard way. Some of the mistakes we've made include: Installing (unqualified) leaders too fast Multiplying without vision or a...
Here's the final post in our series expanding the GCM distinctives. 7. The goal of teaching and preaching is gospel transformation that equips for ministry Gospel teaching and preaching are not ends in themselves. Our goal is not simply to have good Bible teaching, but for the Bible to shape...
The GCM Collective has identified some of our key distinctives and are working an explanatory paragraph for each one. Here's the fifth ... 5. Everyone exercising gospel ministry Mission is communal. Gospel ministry is not the preserve of a professional elite or people in full-time...
Last year the UK publishing group Authentic Media went bust before being bought out by Koorong Books. One of the casualties in this process was Andrew Baughen's book Therefore Go. It was released around this time and so received very little publicity or attention. This is a big shame because...
Here is the fourth part of my course preparing people for cross-cultural mission. What do you think you will miss most? friends and family home comforts familiarity (e.g. favourite foods) entertainment a professional environment Christian community corporate worship and...
Here is the third part of my course preparing people for cross-cultural mission. (Here are parts one and two.) God is great What are the worries you have about doing mission in another culture? The refrain we kept repeating when I visited missionaries in the Middle-East was: ‘fallen...
Here is the second part of my course preparing people for cross-cultural mission. God is glorious You are going to be very conscious of what other people think about you. Your fellow team members Do they think you are competent? What are they making of your progress? How do they...
I recently ran a short preparation course for people about to go out as cross-cultural missionaries. We looked at some standard material on culture and contextualization. But half the course was based on a conversation with a missionary we have sent to the Middle-East. As we talked about...