Friday, October 19, 2007

Learning from Alan Hirsch

The other day Alan Hirsch spoke to the gathering of the Classis of California. He is the author of The Forgotten Ways and appears to be the latest of a group that is impacting RCA evangelicals. Others would include Erwin McManus, Leonard Sweet, Brian McLaren and Reggie McNiel. I personally am also reading books by Robert E. Quinn… highly recommended!

Alan Hirsch had some interesting things to say to the group at the classis meeting; below are some of my scribbles:
“The church does not have a mission, the mission has a church.”
He said the church needs both missional and incarnational people if it is going to be relevant.


MISSIONARY PEOPLE – look outward
INCARNATIONAL PEPOLE – are about deepening


We need to be about “recovering the ethos of apostolic movements.”
“Church growth has not worked in USA because we have institutionalized church growth movements.”


“Movements mobilize the people of God. Movements are reproducing and reproducible.”

“Missionary Movements employ ministerial leadership according to Ephesians 4. There is a distribution of gifts so we might mature in leadership.”

“Ephesians 4 mentions: Apostles (A), Prophets (P), Evangelists (E), Shepherds (S), Teachers (S) – How can you have a movement when you remove 3 of the 5? APE’s are exiled.”

“You must broaden out the idea of leadership if you are going to grow the church.”

“APE’s are “non status quo” people.”Ephesians 4 is genetic material for the movement of church

Apostolic movements:
“Be attractive, but don’t be attractional.”“Bring Jesus to the people and the people to Jesus.”


“Being attractional in a missionary environment is also a matter of being extractional.”

“We need to extract people out of their culture and institutions.”

For the MFCA context I heard Hirsch say that we should continue to prepare the best shepherds and teachers as we have in the past, and, that we should also legitimize and prepare apostolic leaders, prophetic leaders and evangelists. The question would be: “How do we do that; what do we need to add or do differently?” The input from others is welcome!

Cor

1 comment:

Pastor David Vandervelde said...

Your question assumes it is the task of the MFCA to prepare these "apostolic leaders, prophetic leaders and evangelists". Perhaps it is not. Perhaps the your question is better framed within the denominational context as a whole. For example, in what way can our increased emphasis on the offices of elder and deacon help to call out and equip the APEs? Or how does our new road toward commissioned leaders enable the increase of APEs in our denomination?

Perhpas your question is premature? Maybe the MFCA needs not to " to add or do differently". Maybe it is the RCA that does.